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Downtown Athletic Club

New York, Italy

Downtown Athletic Club

The Downtown Athletic Club, also known as the Downtown Club, was a private social and athletic club that operated from 1926 to 2002 at 20 West Street, within the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The Downtown Athletic Club was known for issuing the Heisman Trophy, an annual awa

rd for outstanding college football players that was named after John Heisman, the club's first athletic director. The Downtown Athletic Club was founded in 1926 as an all-male club. The club bought land for their building near the Hudson River in 1927 and completed the structure in 1930. The building was sold off in 1936 following the club's bankruptcy, but was reacquired in 1950. The club started admitting female members in 1977, and after facing further financial troubles in the late 1990s, sold off part of its building. After the September 11 attacks on the nearby World Trade Center, blockades in the neighborhood rendered the clubhouse largely inaccessible; the club filed for bankruptcy and then shut down. The 35-story Downtown Athletic Club building was designed in the Art Deco style by Starrett & van Vleck, who also designed the adjacent 21 West Street at the same time. The building...

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