Street continued east through the center of the building, while the west-east Reade Street continued eastward through what is now the building's northern edge. City Hall Place (now Cardinal Hayes Place) originated at the intersection of Chambers and Centre Streets, crossing southwest–northeast through the building site. The area to the south of the Municipal Building was once known as Tryon Row, a one-block east–west street between Centre Street and Park Row. The Municipal Building's site was occupied by buildings including the old headquarters of the New Yorker Staats-Zeitung. Immediately to the south were two elevated railway stations: the Park Row Terminal of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (closed 1944) and the City Hall station of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (closed 1953). After the Municipal Building was finished, New Chambers Street ran through the building's central archway. Park Row bounded the building to the southeast and Duane Street abutted it to the northeast. Park Row was rerouted in the mid-20th century, and New Chambers and Duane Streets were closed in 1971 as part of the construction of 1 Police Plaza. These streets subsequently became part of a pedestrian plaza surrounding the Municipal Building and 1 Police Plaza. Architecture William M. Kendall of the architectural firm McKim, Mead & White designed the Municipal Building. Two of the firm's other partners, Burt L. Fenner and Teunis J. van der Bent, were tasked with leading construction, while the city's Department of Bridges supervised the project. Alexander Johnson was chief engineer, Purdy and Henderson were consulting engineers, and the Thompson–Starrett Company was the general contractor. The Mount Waldo Construction Company provided the granite, while Robert Wetherill & Co. installed the original elevators. The foundations were dug by the Foundation Company. The Municipal Building is one of the largest governmental buildings in the world, with about of interior space and 2,000 employees. Of this, about is used for offices. Enormously influential in the civic construction of other American cities, the building's architectural style has been "variously described as Roman Imperial, Italian Renaissance, French Renaissance, or Beaux-Arts." Its construction marked the end of the City Beautiful movement in New York. The Municipal Building was the first of several ornately-designed civic office buildings, influencing other structures such as the Terminal Tower in Cleveland, the Fisher Building in Detroit, the Wrigley Building in Chicago, and the Helmsley Building in Midtown Manhattan. The base was an inspiration for the