by Barclay » Sat Feb 01, 2014 12:39 am
It was named for Rockefeller in 1931 HistoryRockefeller Center's landmark plaque.EnlargeRockefeller Center's landmark plaque.Rockefeller Center was named after John D. Rockefeller Jr.("Junior"), who leased the space from Columbia University in 1928 and developed it between 1929 and 1940. Rockefeller initially planned to build an opera house for the Metropolitan Opera Company on the site, but changed his mind after the stock market crash of 1929, and withdrawal of the Metropolitan from the project. Construction of buildings in the Art Deco style began in 1931. Principal architect for the complex was Raymond Hood, working with a team that included a young Wallace Harrison.It was the PR pioneer Ivy Lee, the prominent adviser to the family, who first suggested the name "Rockefeller Center" for the complex, in 1931. Junior initially didn't want the Rockefeller family name associated with the commercial project, but was persuaded on the grounds that the name would attract far more tenants.[1]What could have become a major controversy in the mid-1930s concerned the last of the four European buildings that remained unnamed. Attempts were made by Ivy Lee and others to rent out the space to German commercial concerns and name it the Deutsches Haus. Junior ruled this out after being advised of Hitler's Nazi march towards World War II, and thus the empty office site became the International Building North.[2]This subsequently became the primary location of the US operations of British Intelligence(MI6) during the War, with Room 3603 becoming the principal operations center for US intelligence, organised by William Joseph Donovan, as well as the office of the future head of what was later to become the Central Intelligence Agency, Allen Dulles.[3] Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockefeller_Plaza#History TakeaChillPillYo 85 months ago Please sign in to give a compliment. Please verify your account to give a compliment. Please sign in to send a message. Please verify your account to send a message.