Newsday (Nassau Edition) from Hempstead, New York • 63

By Amei Wallach Kewsday Cultural Affairs Specialist Jcuing1 tlje cArt Of a QxarjdefiAge U'STO yi b-f EL In 1902 when construction began on the grandiose architectural fantasy that has housed local representatives of the federal customs bureau for the past seven decades customs duties were the chief souce of revenue for the US government Those were the days before income taxes when great fortunes allowed for extravagant life-styles and grand gestures were cultivated enthusiastically The customs house was a grand gesture of the first order It was designed by Casa Gilbert a leading classical architect It took five years to build on its $2500000 Biteat the junction of Battery Park and Bowling Green in lower Manhattan By the time what seemed like an endless supply of artists artisans and sculptors had finished working on it in 1907 construction had cost another $5130000 in 1907 money In the end die Maine granite neoclassical extravaganza loaded down with carvings and statues of shells snails dolphins sea gods and allegorical figures was -a fitting setting for a moment of glory He would be the master of the Mauretania say in from yet another successful voyage He would cross Bowling Green to where the great steps rose between statues of reclining in the seat of achievement with her hand on a book of law holding the torch of progress backed by huddled masses bowed under ages of injustice and drowsing and hopeless Those monuments had been created by Daniel Chester French best known for his Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial When the captain began to mount the steps the crowd of onlookers would cheer He would enter the grand hall with its cipollino (onion-patterned) marble columns its gilded ceiling its massive gondola lamps and everywhere the carvings of eagles and ships He would reach the enormous elliptical white marble rotunda with its dome and 140-ton skylight and under the dome he would present his papers In those days the customs house and those who used it played to the galleries But those days are long gone Now there is a new architectural wonder the World Trade and the regional offices of the US Customs Bureau will move there later this year The building which they are leaving has grown sadly shabby during their tenure Those grand front steps have been dosed off for years no one knows exactly how long in the interests of security Visitors enter through an unassuming doorway on a lower floor The water fountains have not worked for some time Someone made a halfhearted attempt at cleaning the marble up to shoulder level a few years back and the grand two-story hallway is almost dark Things are less than perfect now but What will happen to the customs house when the customs bureau vacates it? A group of downtown businessmen has joined with the office the Landmarks Preservation Commission and the Landmarks Conservancy to try to see to it that what happens to the customs house next will be good indeed They could very well succeed with the help of'a law an amendment to the Surplus Property Act of 1944 which was signed in the summer of 1972 Under the law cities and townships have been acquiring surplus federal airfields and shipyards The amendment allows for the transfer of historic and architecturally important federally owned buildings to local governments for revenue-producing purposes Iii the case of the customs house it works this way: Once all customs personnel are vacated in the next few weeks the building will be declared and offered to any other federal depart- ment that might mpt it If none floes it will become will be leased to the city which can then make some arrangement with a local preservation group to maintain on the condition that it will be self-sustaining financially Indications at the moment are that despite the need to offer the building around first the city will get it The interest of the downtown businessmen helped especially since die committee formed to see to the saving of the customs house is headed Continued on Page 16 StfttMlHy I'lMlHM IK The ornate facade of the customs house above is a preview of the neoclassical wonderland of decoration inside Below the carved lintel and ceiling coffers over the partition of an office The building cost $5130000 in 1907 dollars 1 0.