(b Kennebunk, ME, 23 Sept 1845; d New York, 25 Dec 1919). American architect. Following service in the Civil War, he began his study in the Boston architectural studio of Louis P. Rogers. Eventually employed by this firm, he did most of their work in Hartford, CT. Encouraged by the English architect William Burges, he travelled in 1875 to London to study outstanding Gothic structures. Five months later he returned to Hartford to complete work on Trinity College. In 1879 he opened his own office in New York and began a series of revival designs. For the next 12 years he applied various period styles to churches, clubs and theatres. His eclectic approach is exemplified by the Catholic Apostolic Church (1895), 417 W. 57th Street, which is in a Romanesque Revival style, with a large rose window, and the Montauk Club (1891), 258th Avenue N.E., in Brooklyn, which suggests Venetian Gothic. The theatres he designed (all of which have disappeared or undergone extensive renovation) each reflected a different architectural style. The Casino Theater (1880-82; destr. 1930), on the south-east corner of Broadway and 39th Street, exemplified Moorish architecture, with a prominent minaret-like tower on the corner and lavish mosaic work in the lobby. In 1892 he joined the architect George K. Thompson (1860-1935) and began designing high-rise buildings. Their development of deep concrete caissons as foundations for these buildings revolutionized skyscraper construction. Although most of their tall buildings have been replaced, the Selegman, later called the Lehman, Building (1907), 1 William Street, remains standing. The parts left unchanged strongly suggest Kimball's application of the Italian Renaissance style.
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