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Chinatown Bank Building Designated a City Landmark

The Landmarks Preservation Commission voted unanimously to designate the Citizens Savings Bank at 58 Bowery.
The Landmarks Preservation Commission voted unanimously to designate the Citizens Savings Bank at 58 Bowery.
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DNAinfo/Patrick Hedlund

CHINATOWN — The city has landmarked a prominent 1924 bank building at the base of the Manhattan Bridge.

The massive domed building that formerly housed the Citizens Savings Bank at 58 Bowery, at the corner of Canal Street, received a unanimous vote Tuesday in favor of the designation by the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

The 110-foot-tall Beaux Arts-style structure topped by a large dome features rusticated bases, a massive arched window framed by pilasters and a decorated cornice.

The building was purchased by HSBC in 1999.

The Citizens Savings Bank, which originally opened on Avenue A in 1860, moved to the Bowery address in 1862. It demolished that space decades later to make way for the grand structure designed by architect Clarence W. Brazer, who also helped Cass Gilbert design the U.S. Customs House in Lower Manhattan and the State Capitol building in St. Paul, Minn.

“The design and materials were meant to convey the bank’s financial stability and assure the public that their deposits were safe,” Landmarks Preservation Commission chairman Robert Tierney said in a statement. “At the same time, the building was a strong visual anchor for pedestrians, [Third Avenue] El [train] passengers or anyone coming on and off the Manhattan Bridge.”