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HALF-CENTURY-OLD marble columns
from a Paterson hospital, wrought iron from the Passaic County
Jail, cobblestones from Jersey streets, a foyer from the Paramount
Theater, lights and stone from the Japanese Pavilion at the New
York World's Fair -- these and dozens of other materials each
with a history of its own have been blended into a new office
building that dominates the crest of a six-acre hill on Preakness
Avenue in Paterson, N.J.
The building is the
new headquarters of V. Ottilio & Sons. It was built and decorated
with material salvaged by the company, most of it from structures
the company had been commissioned to demolish.
The large contracting
company, operating throughout the New York metropolitan area,
derives about half its revenue from demolition jobs, and the
other half from heavy construction, such as excavation, foundations
and paving.
Though completed only
last month, the Ottilio Building covers a span of 57 years, and
reaches back in decorative tangents to still earlier times. Although
construction work started three years ago, the project is more
than 15 years old, dating from the time when Carmen and his brother,
Michael Ottilio, began collecting the materials.
The building was designed
by Carmen Ottilio, a square-set man whose mobile face glows when
he speaks of the project.
"It was a labor
of love," he says. Carmen is now the chief executive officer
of the company founded by his father, Victor, in 1914.
Even the labor that
went into the building is salvaged. It was spare time conserved
when company crews were between jobs or temporarily delayed on
other projects.
A visitor first views
the building from beyond a fence formed by a massive chain dragged
from the bottom of the Hudson River during demolition of a pier.
Each link of the chain weighs 94 pounds.
The visitor enters
the building through a glass enclosed vestibule with doors and
material from the old Paramount Theater in New York.
Inside, a fountain
from the Japanese Pavilion at the World's Fair forms the focal
point of a spacious lobby, set in the center of a marble floor
also preserved from a World's Fair pavilion.
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Upper Exterior Wall Stone / Vatican Pavilion
Hanging Lamps / Vatican Pavilion
Gate from Chapel / Vatican Pavilion;
originally from a church in Sicily
Carrara Marble Floor from Pieta Display
/ Vatican Pavilion
Marble Pedestal / Vatican Pavilion
Marble Bench / Vatican Pavilion
Lava Stone from Mt. Fuji / Japanese Pavilion
Pavilion
of Japan, New York World's Fair 1964/1965 (note the Jade Stones
in the middle of the moat and the Lava Stone walls)
Ottilio Building Lobby featuring Jade
Stone from Japanese Pavilion moat
Stairs / Transportation & Travel
Pavilion; Railings / Seven-Up & Equitable Pavilions
Stairs / Transportation & Travel
Pavilion; Railings / Seven-Up & Equitable Pavilions
