By Peter Wolf
The man who built the Commonwealth’s present clubhouse a century ago on Northview Avenue in Upper Montclair, Corydon Tyler Purdy, was a renowned engineer whose resume would eventually include principal work on the Plaza Hotel, the Flatiron Building, Pennsylvania Station and the National Capitol Building in Havana, Cuba.
In the Souvenir Program of the 1912 Commonwealth Circus, Purdy drew praise for “genius and incomparable energy” in building the clubhouse. Purdy was a member of the first council of trustees beginning with the Club’s formal incorporation in 1906.
Educated as a civil engineer at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, where he specialized in bridge design, Purdy was already an accomplished engineer when he took on the three-year clubhouse construction project in 1904.
In 1900, Purdy & Henderson -- the New York City-based firm he owned along with partner Lightener Henderson -- had established an office in Havana to take part in the building boon engulfing Cuba. Because business practices on the island at the time demanded soup-to-nuts services from contractors, the firm expanded to include construction and materials management.
Over more than a half-century, they would become involved in a score of significant projects in Cuba, among them the construction of the National Capitol Building, patterned after the U.S. Capitol. Purdy & Henderson oversaw 8,000 laborers working eight-hour shifts, 24 hours a day. The building was completed in just three years and 50 days, a Wikipedia entry notes.
According to “Exporting American Architecture, 1870-2000” by Jeffrey W. Cody, Purdy & Henderson “became renowned for helping to erect the Flatiron Building, the National City Bank, the Plaza Hotel, and Pennsylvania Station.” [See Google and Google Books search for more.]
For his work on the Commonwealth clubhouse, Purdy was honored at a lavish dinner at The Montclair, a magnificent hotel on First Mountain. Today, the Rockcliff Apartments at 10 Crestmont Road in Verona occupy the hotel grounds.
Corydon Purdy
Club’s original building
One of the few photos depicting both buildings
4 lanes, before the porch was built in 1910.
The Porch -- today’s Bar
From Exporting American Architecture 1870-2000
National Capitol Building in Havana
National Capitol Building in Havana
National Capitol Building in Havana
Penn Station, New York
Penn Station, New York
Penn Station, New York
Plaza Hotel, New York
Flatiron Building, New York
Flatiron Building, New York
From Circus Program
From Circus Program
From Circus Program
Blueprint of Club’s 1906 Year Book cover
