Damage to the
facade between the first and second stories of this building reveals the
way in which ornamental cast-iron plates were typically bolted
onto the brick facade. Easily attached to a modest brick base by
unskilled laborers, mass produced cast-iron panels and decorative elements
afforded straightforward and inexpensive means with which to aggrandize
simple, utilitarian commercial buildings. Circular
glass discs embedded in metal stairs running the width of the entire
building illuminate the basement storage/work area which extends beyond
the facade to the edge of the sidewalk.