Building of the Day: 138 South Oxford Street

The BOTD is a no-frills look at interesting structures of all types and from all neighborhoods. There will be old, new, important, forgotten, public, private, good and bad. Whatever strikes our fancy. We hope you enjoy.

Address: 138-140 South Oxford Street, between Atlantic Avenue and Fulton St.
Name: Visiting Nurse Association of Brooklyn Building, now Alliance of Resident Theaters
Neighborhood: Fort Greene
Year Built: 1930
Architectural Style: Colonial Revival
Architects: Clark & Arms
Landmarked: No

South Oxford between Atlantic and Fulton is chock full of interesting architecture that few people notice. What intrigued me initially was the smartly carved, Art Deco-ish font used for for the Visiting Nurse Association’s name, carved right above the door.

What was the history, and when was this building built? This was the site of the Lockwood Academy, a private school for both boys and girls that operated out of a brownstone building on this location from the 1870’s until 1929.

In 1930, the Visiting Nurse Association bought the school, and tore it down to erect this headquarters. The donor for the building was an anonymous benefactor.

One of the architects, John Taylor Arms, had been an associate at the firm of Carrere and Hastings, and is best known today as the Dean of American Etchers for his artistic work, especially in renderings of Gothic architecture.

Today, the building is owned by the Alliance of Resident Theaters, which operates Off and Off-Off Broadway theaters, and also has offices in Manhattan. 22 small and midsized theater companies use the space for offices, rehearsals and storage.

The South Oxford Space, as it is now called, has kitchen and mail room facilities and rents rooms for rehearsals, meetings and performances. They also host events for the children of the Fort Greene and greater Brooklyn community.

[Photos by Suzanne Spellen]