1913 and was funded by Hearst. The statue is a memorial to sailors killed aboard the battleship USS Maine, whose mysterious 1898 explosion in Havana harbor precipitated the Spanish–American War. South Actors' Equity was founded in 1913 in the old Pabst Grand Circle Hotel, on the southern side of the circle. The original structure at 2 Columbus Circle was torn down in 1960. It was replaced by 2 Columbus Circle, an International Modernist tower designed by architect Edward Durrell Stone to house the Huntington Hartford Gallery of Modern Art. Vacated since the city's Department of Cultural Affairs departed in 1998, 2 Columbus Circle was listed as one of the World Monuments Fund's "100 most endangered sites" in 2006. After a renovation by architect Brad Cloepfil, the building became the new home of the Museum of Arts and Design in 2008. Its radical transformation was controversial for the failure of the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission to hold hearings on its worthiness for designation. Southeast Several buildings are on the block bordering the circle's southeast section. 240 Central Park South, a balconied moderne apartment building across Broadway from the museum, is directly on the southeast corner of the circle. Built between 1939 and 1940 to designs by Albert Mayer and Julian Whittlesey, it is a city-designated landmark and a National Registered Historic Place. 240 Central Park South has 28 stories across two apartment blocks, and is variously quoted as having either 325, 326, or 327 apartments. The building contains several roof gardens, and from the outset, was marketed toward people who wanted suburban lifestyles. On Central Park South, just east of 240 Central Park South, is the Gainsborough Studios. Designed by Charles W. Buckham, it was built between 1907 and 1908 as artists' cooperative housing, and rises 16 stories with 34 studio units, some of them double-story units. The facade has a bust of the English painter Thomas Gainsborough, a bas-relief by Isidore Konti, and tile murals by Henry Chapman Mercer. It is a New York City designated landmark. To the east of 240 Central Park South and the Gainsborough Studios is 220 Central Park South, a 70-story residential skyscraper designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects and SLCE Architects, and completed in 2019. The building contains some of the most expensive residences ever sold in New York City. On 58th Street, east of 220 Central Park South, are two New York City