Summary: At the turn of the 20th century Columbia University and the IRT subway changed the face of Manhattans Morningside Heights neighborhood. In 1897 Columbia University had moved uptown to its current campus, defining the neighborhood as we know it today. Speculation about subway construction in the area also helped to spur development. By the time the 116th Street station opened in 1904 vacant land in the neighborhood was a scare commodity.The subways chief engineer, William Barclay Parsons, was a Columbia alumnus and trustee of the university. He made sure that the architects Heins amp LaFarge paid special attention to the station ceramics. Fittingly, the ceramic design is derived from the Columbia school seal and a prominent campus sculpture.Columbias seal designed in the 1700s when the school was known as Kings College depicts the figure quotAlma Materquot holding a book of wisdom with three children seated at her feet. While we now think of quotAlma Materquot as referring to the college one attended, its Latin meaning is quotnourishing mother.quot A statue also named quotAlma Materquot sits on the Columbia campus. Designed by the noted American sculptor Daniel Chester French, quotAlma Matersquot design was approved in 1901 and dedicated in 1903. The sculpture is rich with imagery the chair arms each have a torch that symbolizes Sapientia Wisdom and Doctrina Teaching. An open Bible sits on her lap.In the subway quotAlma Materquot is set within a wreath and surrounded by blue faience plaques. These plaques are the school color, known as quotColumbia blue.quot Parsons himself selected the exact shade of blue in October 1903. The plaques are flanked on each side by a torch designed from the ones that the Alma Mater sculpture holds. These torches are not just decorative, though. There are holes in the ceramics negative space, through which excess water can seep out of the station walls.Spaced in between the plaques lower on the station walls are more typical subway ceramics. The name quotColumbia Universityquot is written in mosaic tiles surrounded by floral and geometric motifs. Heins amp LaFarge used this ceramic treatment at many stations, including Wall, Fulton, and 33rd Streets. Parsons ensured that even this standard design was special at Columbia. The top two corners of the name plates feature icons of the university. On the left is an open book, and on the right is a lamp of knowledge.While the ceramics remain intact, significant changes have been made to the station since it opened. Until the 1960s, passengers entered and exited the station through a control house located in the median strip on Broadway. This control house was similar in design to the ones that still stand at 72nd Street and Bowling Green in Manhattan, and Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn. During a 1960s renovation the control house and its stairs into the station were removed. They were replaced by the current stairways on the side of each platform.The new 85 square foot newsstand on the downtown platform was an expensive addition to the station. Because the station is a historic landmark, the construction could not interfere with the original station details and had to be approved by the local community board. Due to the high cost of construction, the lessee was allowed a longer licensing term than the standard five years. Newsstands and other concessions can be found in the busiest hundred subway stations.
