A Building With Many Faces: 98 Beach Street

 

98 Beach Street, btw 1943 and 1947

It's only recently I learned this building burned down in 1976. Growing up in Stapleton, we went up and down to the stores and library around Tappan Park almost weekly, but I haven't the slightest memory of the building. The site was vacant for about forty years, only being built on about a decade ago.

I first caught sight of the building when I was doing research on the Van Duzer - Beach Street intersection. There's no full-on view as with many of the tax photos. The photographer approached it from an angle, which was a good thing, because it allows us to see the building in the context of its neighbors and street. 

 ca. 1940 - I was immediately curious about the name "WALTER" across the front in my first glimpse of the building

ca. 1940 - Walter is revealed as Walter B. Cooke

According to this informative page, Walter B. Cooke was a major entrepreneurial undertaker who opened funeral parlors across the region. He sold his chain in the early fifties, but the name lives on in several locations.

When I say the building had a complicated history, it's more that I mean it had several very distinct uses in its lifetime. From the various maps, I can tell it was built sometime before WWI, but not what specific year or for what purpose.

The first tenant I can discern is Walter B. Cooke's funeral parlor. Around 1943, it became home to the United Seamen's Service. It's a non-profit established in 1942 to support Americans connected to the maritime industries. It operated there for about four years before moving to South Beach and then closing. 

After the USS, it became the Villa Restaurant. That doesn't seem to have lasted that long and the next tenant was the Meurot Club. It had been a fixture of St. George and Staten Island nightlife for decades. Its original location was located on the corner of St. Marks and Fort Place. 

the Meurot Club from in front of Brighton Heights Dutch Reform Church, ca 1940

the Meurot Club from the east side of Fort Place, ca. 1940

The Meurot Club decamped to Stapleton in the sixties and seems to have operated there for less than ten years. In 1972, 98 Beach St opened as the Keyes, a dinner theater. The opening show was The Owl and the Pussycat. In 1974, a new owner took over the spot and it became Beau's La Comedie Restaurant (and discotheque). It was open until January 1976 when it burned down. 

And that's the way it stood for the next forty years.

January 13th, 1976