National Bible Institute School and Dormitory
340 West 55th Street | Hell's Kitchen | built 1925
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The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1925
The National Bible Institute opens its school and dormitory
Architects McKenzie, Voorhees and Gmelin design the building for the National Bible Institute, which opens it on October 13, 1925; the cost is $1,350,000. It has rooms for 240 resident students, and its main floor holds classrooms, a library, a laboratory, a lecture hall, a dining room, and an auditorium.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1952
The institute becomes Shelton College and later sells the building
In May 1950, the New York State Board of Regents allows the National Bible Institute to rename itself Shelton College, for its founder Don O. Shelton, and to grant bachelor's degrees. Two years later, in 1952, the college sells the West 55th Street building and moves to Ringwood, New Jersey.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1955
Cardinal Spellman dedicates the building as a Catholic home for the aged
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York buys the building in 1952, and the firm Voorhees, Walker, Foley and Smith alters it for use as a home for the aged. On March 20, 1955, Cardinal Francis Spellman blesses and dedicates the $2,250,000 Josephine Baird Home for the Aged. The home closes in 1972 because it can no longer meet building codes.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1975
Hare Krishnas buy the building before it becomes a co-op
The Hare Krishna movement buys the former home for the aged in 1975 for $1,000,000. After its founder, Swami Prabhupada, dies in 1977, financial troubles follow, and local leaders decide in 1981 to sell. In 1982 the building is converted into cooperative apartments, known today as the Sherwood.
Source: Wikipedia
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