Forgotten New York

BOWERY LANE THEATRE, NoHo

Passing by #330 Bowery on the NW corner of Bond a short time ago, I was marveling at the new paint job. I hadn’t seen something so purely white in a long time. Remember those Pepperidge Farm 3-layer cakes? They still sell them in supermarkets, and as a kid, I’d always gravitate toward the 3-layer vanilla, which I believed was also as blindingly white. The building sports a refurbished exterior and new paint job after a 2-year restoration.

The building has undergone a number of uses since the 5-story Italianate  went up in 1874 as the Atlantic Savings Bank, soon after the Bond Street Savings Bank and by 1879, the German Exchange Bank. After years of mixed use, one  of which was for fabrics storage space, it finally was converted to the Bouwerie Lane Theatre (using the old Dutch spelling) in 1963, and it remained a theater building until 2006, when rising rents forced it out (the fate of other Bowery venues such as the Amato Opera and CBGB).

The building was purchased by a developer as a private home in 2007, while the ground floor hosted the Rogan Boutique from 2008-2013.

9/30/15

 

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