Luckey, Platt & Company Department Store
Encyclopedia
The Luckey, Platt & Company Department Store
building is located at the corner of Main and Academy streets in downtown Poughkeepsie
, New York
, United States
. For most of the 20th century it was a major retail
destination not only for the city but the entire Hudson Valley
. Its closure in 1981, after years of losing customers to suburban shopping mall
s, was a serious blow to the city's Main Mall
. The structure remained vacant until December 2008, when after several years of renovation it was reopened as a residential development with 143 rental apartments, with additional commercial space on the ground floor, as an anchor and catalyst for further downtown revitalization.
structure was designed by Percival Lloyd and opened in 1923. There are from 11-17 bays
. The roofline features a parapet
roof with a molded
cornice
below featuring small lion's heads. The frieze
has other features of the style
, such as anthemion brackets, egg-and-dart and dentil
moldings. Further down the facade
are found pilaster
s with foliated capitals
.
Immediately adjacent on either street are older, more Italianate
buildings which housed the store's operations before the construction of the main building. They are included as contributing resources
to its 1982 listing in the National Register of Historic Places
.
for every item in the store, and doing business only in cash
.
The partners moved it to the first of the three original Main Street buildings five years later, beginning a half-century of rapid growth at that location, with the help of a third partner, Smith DeGarmo. In 1882 they added an elevator
so patrons could more easily navigate the store.
By 1901 it was necessary to expand again and two more buildings were purchased. Nine years later an annex was built to sell furniture
. The store considered itself "the peer of all mercantile establishments on the Hudson River
and the most complete store of its kind in any city in the U.S. the size of Poughkeepsie." Their advertisements claimed to have the equivalent of 30 stores under one roof, 175 sales clerks and 2 miles (3.2 km) of counter space.
The new building was completed in 1923. For almost half a century afterwards, the store remained the region's major retailer, although it did not grow as it had in its earlier years. By the early 1970s, however, increasing suburbanization and the growth of the automobile had given it its first serious competition, in the form of the South Hills Mall
. Luckey Platt opened a branch at one, the Dutchess Mall
, roughly 10 miles south of Poughkeepsie near Fishkill, but it still lost customers.
In the early 1970s, the city tried to revive its downtown by closing off the two blocks of Main Street west of the store to create Main Mall
, a pedestrian mall
that would offer shoppers a comparable experience to the suburban malls. Since it was necessary to raze some other adjacent stores and buildings to create parking lot
s, the plan actually exacerbated the neighborhood's decline. Seven years after the mall was created, in 1981, Luckey Platt closed both its main store and the Dutchess Mall branch.
The building has remained vacant since then. Ownership eventually reverted to the city. In the early 1990s, Dutchess County
needed space to expand its nearby courthouse
and considered using the building. Instead, it built a new annex next to the existing courthouse. Artist Peter Max
looked into starting a museum and arts center in the building in the early 2000s. But the deal fell through, and three of the building's upper floors collapsed the following year. In 2004 Congress appropriated the city a $250,000 grant
to renovate the building.
In 2006 Alma Realty, a Queens-based developer, purchased the property from the city for a token $1 and began an ambitious plan to convert it to mixed commercial/residential use. It was beset with delays, however, such as a stop-work order when the actual work exceeded the scope of plans approved by the city. However, in April 2008 the stop-work order was rescinded and work resumed to finish the renovation, with a temporary certificate of occupancy issued on Monday, December 8, 2008, allowing Alma Realty to start renting the space.
Department store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
building is located at the corner of Main and Academy streets in downtown Poughkeepsie
Poughkeepsie (city), New York
Poughkeepsie is a city in the state of New York, United States, which serves as the county seat of Dutchess County. Poughkeepsie is located in the Hudson River Valley midway between New York City and Albany...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. For most of the 20th century it was a major retail
Retailing
Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...
destination not only for the city but the entire Hudson Valley
Hudson Valley
The Hudson Valley comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in New York State, United States, from northern Westchester County northward to the cities of Albany and Troy.-History:...
. Its closure in 1981, after years of losing customers to suburban shopping mall
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
s, was a serious blow to the city's Main Mall
Main Mall
The Main Mall was an outdoor pedestrian shopping plaza in downtown Poughkeepsie, New York, which was in existence from 1973 until 2001. A urban renewal project designed with the intention of stopping the decline of the central business district of downtown Poughkeepsie, the mall was created by...
. The structure remained vacant until December 2008, when after several years of renovation it was reopened as a residential development with 143 rental apartments, with additional commercial space on the ground floor, as an anchor and catalyst for further downtown revitalization.
Building
The massive, gray, five-story Classical RevivalNeoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
structure was designed by Percival Lloyd and opened in 1923. There are from 11-17 bays
Bay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
. The roofline features a parapet
Parapet
A parapet is a wall-like barrier at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony or other structure. Where extending above a roof, it may simply be the portion of an exterior wall that continues above the line of the roof surface, or may be a continuation of a vertical feature beneath the roof such as a...
roof with a molded
Molding (decorative)
Molding or moulding is a strip of material with various profiles used to cover transitions between surfaces or for decoration. It is traditionally made from solid milled wood or plaster but may be made from plastic or reformed wood...
cornice
Cornice
Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
below featuring small lion's heads. The frieze
Frieze
thumb|267px|Frieze of the [[Tower of the Winds]], AthensIn architecture the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Even when neither columns nor pilasters are expressed, on an astylar wall it lies upon...
has other features of the style
Architectural style
Architectural styles classify architecture in terms of the use of form, techniques, materials, time period, region and other stylistic influences. It overlaps with, and emerges from the study of the evolution and history of architecture...
, such as anthemion brackets, egg-and-dart and dentil
Dentil
In classical architecture a dentil is a small block used as a repeating ornament in the bedmould of a cornice.The Roman architect Vitruvius In classical architecture a dentil (from Lat. dens, a tooth) is a small block used as a repeating ornament in the bedmould of a cornice.The Roman architect...
moldings. Further down the facade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
are found pilaster
Pilaster
A pilaster is a slightly-projecting column built into or applied to the face of a wall. Most commonly flattened or rectangular in form, pilasters can also take a half-round form or the shape of any type of column, including tortile....
s with foliated capitals
Capital (architecture)
In architecture the capital forms the topmost member of a column . It mediates between the column and the load thrusting down upon it, broadening the area of the column's supporting surface...
.
Immediately adjacent on either street are older, more Italianate
Italianate architecture
The Italianate style of architecture was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. In the Italianate style, the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian Renaissance architecture, which had served as inspiration for both Palladianism and...
buildings which housed the store's operations before the construction of the main building. They are included as contributing resources
Contributing property
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing resource or contributing property is any building, structure, or object which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district, listed locally or federally, significant...
to its 1982 listing in the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
History
The company long predated the building, and even its name. In 1869, Edmund Platt bought Luckey's, a retailer that had been established almost a quarter-century earlier. It was ahead of its time in charging a fixed pricePrice
-Definition:In ordinary usage, price is the quantity of payment or compensation given by one party to another in return for goods or services.In modern economies, prices are generally expressed in units of some form of currency...
for every item in the store, and doing business only in cash
Cash
In common language cash refers to money in the physical form of currency, such as banknotes and coins.In bookkeeping and finance, cash refers to current assets comprising currency or currency equivalents that can be accessed immediately or near-immediately...
.
The partners moved it to the first of the three original Main Street buildings five years later, beginning a half-century of rapid growth at that location, with the help of a third partner, Smith DeGarmo. In 1882 they added an elevator
Elevator
An elevator is a type of vertical transport equipment that efficiently moves people or goods between floors of a building, vessel or other structures...
so patrons could more easily navigate the store.
By 1901 it was necessary to expand again and two more buildings were purchased. Nine years later an annex was built to sell furniture
Furniture
Furniture is the mass noun for the movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating and sleeping in beds, to hold objects at a convenient height for work using horizontal surfaces above the ground, or to store things...
. The store considered itself "the peer of all mercantile establishments on the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
and the most complete store of its kind in any city in the U.S. the size of Poughkeepsie." Their advertisements claimed to have the equivalent of 30 stores under one roof, 175 sales clerks and 2 miles (3.2 km) of counter space.
The new building was completed in 1923. For almost half a century afterwards, the store remained the region's major retailer, although it did not grow as it had in its earlier years. By the early 1970s, however, increasing suburbanization and the growth of the automobile had given it its first serious competition, in the form of the South Hills Mall
South Hills Mall
South Hills Mall was an indoor shopping mall on U.S. 9 in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York. The 675,000 ft² plaza opened in 1974 and included four stores, a small food court, and an eight-screen second-run cinema...
. Luckey Platt opened a branch at one, the Dutchess Mall
Dutchess Mall
Dutchess Mall was an enclosed shopping mall in Fishkill, New York, United States. Currently, the former mall property is the site of a Home Depot, as well as two vacant buildings , with the rest of the property awaiting further redevelopment. Dagar Group manages the shopping center. R.C...
, roughly 10 miles south of Poughkeepsie near Fishkill, but it still lost customers.
In the early 1970s, the city tried to revive its downtown by closing off the two blocks of Main Street west of the store to create Main Mall
Main Mall
The Main Mall was an outdoor pedestrian shopping plaza in downtown Poughkeepsie, New York, which was in existence from 1973 until 2001. A urban renewal project designed with the intention of stopping the decline of the central business district of downtown Poughkeepsie, the mall was created by...
, a pedestrian mall
Pedestrian mall
Pedestrian malls in the United States are also known as pedestrian streets and are the most common form of pedestrian zone in large cities in the United States. It is a street lined with storefronts and closed off to most automobile traffic...
that would offer shoppers a comparable experience to the suburban malls. Since it was necessary to raze some other adjacent stores and buildings to create parking lot
Parking lot
A parking lot , also known as car lot, is a cleared area that is intended for parking vehicles. Usually, the term refers to a dedicated area that has been provided with a durable or semi-durable surface....
s, the plan actually exacerbated the neighborhood's decline. Seven years after the mall was created, in 1981, Luckey Platt closed both its main store and the Dutchess Mall branch.
The building has remained vacant since then. Ownership eventually reverted to the city. In the early 1990s, Dutchess County
Dutchess County, New York
Dutchess County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York, in the state's Mid-Hudson Region of the Hudson Valley. The 2010 census lists the population as 297,488...
needed space to expand its nearby courthouse
Dutchess County Court House
The Dutchess County Courthouse is located at 10 Market Street in downtown Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. It is the third county courthouse to stand on that site....
and considered using the building. Instead, it built a new annex next to the existing courthouse. Artist Peter Max
Peter Max
Peter Max is a German-born Jewish American artist. At first, works in this style appeared on posters and were seen on the walls of college dorms all across America. Max then became fascinated with new printing techniques that allowed for four-color reproduction on product merchandise...
looked into starting a museum and arts center in the building in the early 2000s. But the deal fell through, and three of the building's upper floors collapsed the following year. In 2004 Congress appropriated the city a $250,000 grant
Grant (money)
Grants are funds disbursed by one party , often a Government Department, Corporation, Foundation or Trust, to a recipient, often a nonprofit entity, educational institution, business or an individual. In order to receive a grant, some form of "Grant Writing" often referred to as either a proposal...
to renovate the building.
In 2006 Alma Realty, a Queens-based developer, purchased the property from the city for a token $1 and began an ambitious plan to convert it to mixed commercial/residential use. It was beset with delays, however, such as a stop-work order when the actual work exceeded the scope of plans approved by the city. However, in April 2008 the stop-work order was rescinded and work resumed to finish the renovation, with a temporary certificate of occupancy issued on Monday, December 8, 2008, allowing Alma Realty to start renting the space.
External links
- Information page from building manager