[Sidenote:  Power House Superstructure]

The design of the facework of the power house received the personal attention of the directors of the company, and its character and the class of materials to be employed were carefully considered.  The influence of the design on the future value of the property and the condition of the environment in general were studied, together with the factors relating to the future ownership of the plant by the city.  Several plans were taken up looking to the construction of a power house of massive and simple design, but it was finally decided to adopt an ornate style of treatment by which the structure would be rendered architecturally attractive and in harmony with the recent tendencies of municipal and city improvements from an architectural standpoint.  At the initial stage of the power house design Mr. Stanford White, of the firm of McKim, Mead & White, of New York, volunteered his services to the company as an adviser on the matter of the design of the facework, and, as his offer was accepted, his connection with the work has resulted in the development of the present exterior design and the selection of the materials used.

The Eleventh Avenue facade is the most elaborately treated, but the scheme of the main facade is carried along both the 58th and 59th Street fronts.  The westerly end of the structure, facing the river, may ultimately be removed in case the power house is extended to the Twelfth Avenue building line for the reception of fourteen generating equipments; and for this reason this wall is designed plainly of less costly material.

The general style of the facework is what may be called French Renaissance, and the color scheme has, therefore, been made rather light in character.  The base of the exterior walls has been finished with cut granite up to the water table, above which they have been laid up with a light colored buff pressed brick.  This brick has been enriched by the use of similarly colored terra-cotta, which appears in the pilasters, about the windows, in the several entablatures, and in the cornice and parapet work.  The Eleventh Avenue facade is further enriched by marble medallions, framed with terra-cotta, and by a title panel directly over the front of the structure.

The main entrance to the structure is situated at its northeast corner, and, as the railroad track passes along just inside the building, the entrance proper is the doorway immediately beyond the track, and opens into the entrance lobby.  The doorway is trimmed with cut granite and the lobby is finished with a marble wainscoting.

The interior of the operating room is faced with a light, cream-colored pressed brick with an enameled brick wainscoting, eight feet high, extending around the entire operating area; the wainscoting is white except for a brown border and base.  The offices, the toilets and locker rooms are finished and fitted with materials in harmony with the high-class character of the building.  The masonry-floor construction consists of concrete reinforced with expanded metal, and except where iron or other floor plates are used, or where tile or special flooring is laid, the floor is covered with a hard cement granolithic finish.