5Ws of... The Woolworth Building

Who: Designed by Cass Gilbert, the building, at Park Place and Barclay Street, was commissioned by the retail magnate Frank W. Woolworth and constructed between 1910 and 1913. Woolworth famously financed the building without loans or help from developers.

What: “The Skyscraper and the City: The Woolworth Building and the Making of Modern New York,” by Professor Gail Fenske, contains numerous illustrations, including one showing a 1929 advertisement for the building, calling it a "Cathedral of Commerce" -- a name that has stuck -- and lauding its height (792 feet), number of floors (60), weight (206 million pounds), floor area (15 acres), exterior windows (3,000), tons of steel (24,000), bricks (17 million) and tons of terra cotta (7,500).

When: On the evening of April 24, 1913, President Woodrow Wilson pressed a tiny button inside the White House, lighting up the Woolworth Building in Manhattan. It was "the tallest structure in the world, with the one exception of the Eiffel Tower in Paris," The New York Times reported, and it was a marvel of architecture and engineering.

Where: Construction will begin soon to turn The Woolworth Building’s neo-Gothic tower, one of New York City’s most recognizable landmarks, into about 40 luxury apartments, including a five-level penthouse in the cupola.   An abandoned 55-foot-long basement swimming pool, originally part of a health club, will be restored as an amenity for residents.

Why: “The question of whether the Woolworth Building is, indeed, a great work of architecture may still be open to debate. Yet Woolworth and Gilbert's project represented in the eyes of contemporaries more than a vulgar contraption for producing a profit, and more than a dubious expression of corporate power, egregious advertising, or an aggressive assault on New York's new signature skyline.” – Professor Gail Fenske

Note: The information in Who, What, When and Why is reprinted from “A New History for an Old Skyscraper,” by Sewell Chan, published on NYTimes.com on July 25, 2008.  The information in Where is reprinted from “Luxury Living in Old Temple of the 5 and Dime” by Michell Higgins, published in the New York Times on August 7, 2012.

Images: Big City Blog Boy, Ronnie Elgavish (2, 5, 6), Saturday Evening Post, New Construction Manhattan.