The Landmarks Preservation Commission will meet in the spring to discuss adding the historic and former Brooklyn Union Gas headquarters building at 180 Remsen St. to its roster of landmarked buildings.
The LPC sent over a statement explaining why they consider the building to be significant:
Former Brookyn Union Gas Company Building
180 Remsen Street
Built in 1914, the former headquarters and general office building of the Brooklyn Union Gas Company was designed by the prominent Brooklyn architect Frank Freeman. Established in 1825 as the Brooklyn Gas Light Company, it originally manufactured gas to illuminate city streets. In 1895, it merged with several rival suppliers to create the Brooklyn Union Gas Company, serving customers in both Brooklyn and Queens. The company prospered, tripling its manufacturing capacity and quadrupling storage. Such developments coincided with the growth of the borough and during the 1910s and 1920s business doubled. It was during this period, under company presidents James Jourdan and James H. Jourdan, that the new headquarters was planned and constructed, consolidating three hundred employees in a single building. A late work by Frank Freeman, the architect’s austere monumental design reflected the current taste for neo-classicism and the client’s desire to be perceived as a public institution. The Brooklyn Union Gas Company occupied the building for 47 years. Sold in 1962, the current owner is St. Francis College.
Check in here or with the LPC for the meeting date, as it nears the spring.
