January 3rd, 2022
In its fifth year, Technology Publishing Co.’s commercial honours program, The Elevation Awards, expanded its reach by partnering with the Commercial Painting Industry Association. As a result of the partnership, the Elevation Awards received the most competitive nominations that the judges had ever seen.
In recognizing the very best work in commercial painting, in addition to the people behind the coating jobs—the architects, painting contractors, interior designers, decorative artisans, manufacturers and suppliers—the annual competition continues to raise the bar for industry excellence.
Assessed by our panel of painting experts, the following project was awarded in the program’s “Interiors, Commercial + Public Buildings” and “Judges’ Choice” categories:
James Farley Post Office
Originally opened in 1912, the James A. Farley Building in New York City was designed by McKim, Mead & White in the Beaux-Arts style and, in its prime, served as the city’s central the United States Postal Service branch. The building’s Corinthian-inspired facade, which includes 20 monumental columns that span from 31st to 33rd Streets, was intended to match the scale of the architect’s original Pennsylvania Station building.
In 1966 the structure was recognized as a New York City landmark. A little under ten years later, in 1973, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
According to reports, interior restorations were first launched in 2019. They were carried out by who is touted as the nation’s largest specialty contractor for the preservation and restoration of historic buildings and architectural art, EverGreene Architectural Arts. Headquartered in New York, EverGreene also has offices in Chicago, Washington D.C. and Los Angeles.
EverGreene was reported to be heavily involved with the restoration of many of the building’s historic spaces, including the original Postmaster’s suite, the 33rd Street lobby and cafe, and the 8th Avenue postal lobby. Restorations also connected the building’s main postal lobby to the Moynihan Train Hall. Many of the spaces had gone unused or were neglected for decades and required major attention to bring them back to their near original design.
“The Farley Post Office Lobby has been an incredibly rewarding project to be part of,” said Project Manager Andrew Maziarski. “Knowing what the space looked like a year ago, and seeing what it has become, has been a career highlight. The craftspeople involved with this restoration took great pride in their work and have helped to renew a New York City Landmark.”
EverGreene’s scope of work included restoring plaster, paint, metal, terrazzo, marble, wood and historic lighting. The work can reportedly be best viewed by walking through the main postal lobby and looking up at the ornate plaster ceiling that was meticulously repainted to give the space a much-needed makeover. For the project, EverGreene used roughly 100 gallons of Regal Select by Benjamin Moore and about 20 gallons of Scumble Glaze by Polyvine. “Amazing restoration!” said Awards Judge Michael Capulong. “Great photos of the progress and the completed job. The finished product looks perfect.”
“The intricacy of the design required the utmost craftsmanship,” added Judge Jeff Theo, PCS, Vice President of Business Development, Vulcan Painters. “Well done!”
