State Tower Building

The Art Deco State Tower Building is located on a plot where Genesee, Warren, and Water streets intersect. The whole block is occupied by the structure, with a tower jutting up on the Warren Street side. The building is made of steel and concrete with a limestone, terra-cotta and brick facade; with the bricks gradually getting lighter towards the top, enhancing the building's perceived height. It has 21, 23, or 24 stories, and is or tall. The building was designed as a large office building with the first 10 floors being large, and the top floors being setback and smaller such that one entity might occupy an entire floor. On the roof of the tenth floor was a deck on which there was a full-service restaurant. When first constructed, the building had hollow chambers between the outer and inner walls for insulation. It had about floor space, and was designed to provide maximum light. It was connected to a parking garage. ==History==

Block The area where the State Tower Building was constructed was previously occupied by the Bastable block, which had been standing since at least 1852. The block was four stories tall and housed the Shakespeare Hall and arcade. It burnt down on November 20, 1891. Two years later, Frederick Bastable built the Bastable Theatre in its place. Sam S. Shubert managed the theatre to profitability in 1897, booking a variety of sensational shows and comedies. The Bastable block was virtually razed in a 1923 fire; the theatre itself was completely destroyed. Construction In the aftermath of the fire, Stephen Bastable, who owned the block, resolved to replace the Bastable Theatre with an office building. In July 1923 he announced that the block would be filled by a "modern office building". The tower was completed by April 29, 1928, and scheduled to be formally opened two days later. On the 29th, an article in the Herald wrote that the tower marked the beginning of a "new era in progress of [the] city". Before opening, 80 percent of the building was leased to commercial tenants. Later history The building's exterior was lit at night from its opening to the 1960s. It was renovated in 2003. Two years later, a developer purchased the building for $5.4 million. As over half of the building was unoccupied, the developers kept only the first 7 floors of the building as office space and from 2016 to 2018 redeveloped the upper floors into 61 high-end apartments. All windows, the roof, and substantial portions of the facade were replaced. A second stairwell was added to the top floors. ==Reception==

The architectural historian Evamaria Hardin describes Syracuse's tallest building as seeming to be the city's "counterpart to New York's Empire State Building". Upon its completion in 1928, the Syracuse Herald described it as "a massive yet graceful combination of colored brick, concrete, tile and hidden steel framework" and deemed it Syracuse's first "skyscraper". ==See also==