1978Manhattan, New YorkCommercial

Manhattan Squash Club — W.R. Grace Building

A wonderfully specific late-1970s New York job: the Bryant Park squash club opened with Diana Nyad playing George Plimpton, then became a major pro venue—all inside the W.R. Grace Building.

The swooping facade of the W.R. Grace Building on West 42nd Street, photographed in 2013.

Current view · 2013 · Photo: WestportWiki · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source

01The story

Why this project matters

Project identity: Very strong
Kelly connection: Family source
Masonry scope: Probable

Rita’s list

Rita Bartscherer’s handwritten entry: Manhattan Squash Club — 1978

Transcription: Manhattan Squash Club — 1978

Recorded by Rita Bartscherer · Bartscherer family record

Entry

KM-136

Sheet

2 of two

As written

“Manhattan Squash Club — 1978”

The 22,000-square-foot club had ten singles courts plus doubles, racquetball/handball, restaurant, bar and gym; it operated from 1976 to 1984.

Why it matters

It turns a contractor line item into a vivid social-history scene: corporate Midtown, Bryant Park before its revival, celebrity exhibition sport and the brief fashion for elaborate private squash clubs.

02What Kelly did

What Kelly did here

Kelly connection

Family source

Scope confidence

Probable

Likely: selective masonry alteration: likely CMU/block partitions and fire-rated walls, infill or enlargement of openings, patching/rebuilding of existing masonry, and localized brick/stone work rather than the building's original structural frame.

This scope is recorded as probable, not documented. It is a disciplined reading of the building and the trade practice of the period, not a contract-level record of Kelly’s work.

03Who built it