Destruction of the Lamb's building, former home of the famed Lamb's Club, has begun in earnest.
A construction outfit—presumedly hired by the Hampshire Hotels Group, which bought a 99-year-lease on the property—was kicking up a duststorm carting tons of lumber out of the first floor entrance on March 13 and dumping the debris in a dumpster and on the sidewalk. Hampshire can't totally destroy the Lamb's, since the 1906 Stanford White exterior and parts of the interior are landmarked. But, from the looks of things, one of those interior parts isn't the first floor. The boys were tearing up that level pretty good. Nothing of the lobby as I remember it seemed to remain.
The deal between Hampshire and The Church of the Nazarene, which owned the Lamb' since the early '70s but has now moved to the Lower East Side, was closed in January. The address is to become a hotel according to reports. Otherwise, Hampshire has been pretty secretive about the whole thing.
To read more about the Lamb's history, click here.
By the way, on the eastern cornerstone of the building you can still read the words "Floreant Agni." This was the Lamb's Club motto. It means "May the Lambs Flourish." Well, let's hope so.
Wow, how times have changed. I lived at the Lamb's Club from 1976-78 and was involved in many of the goings on there. Who'd have thought it would become a hotel. One thing's for sure, though. It needed renovating!
ReplyDelete