In
1928 Clark Savage Sr. and his son, Doc Savage, purchased the The
Waldorf-Astoria
Hotel and it's property at 5th Avenue and 33rd Street on New York's
Manhattan
Island for a little under $20 million. All the legalities and
transactions
were handled by Ham Brooks. The dummy corporation Ham used to make the
purchase was named the Bethlehem
Engineering Corporation.
Ham gave it the name because
he believed that the site would become "the home of a new savior for
humanity."
Doc Savage first had the idea for a skyscraper home and headquarters in his teen years. By that time he was already looking to the future when his studies and training would be completed, and he would begin his strange career.
Designed by
Doc and Renny Renwick to be the world's tallest skyscraper,
construction
began in early 1930. A unique approach to the construction sequencing
of
structural steel, concrete and stone masonry activities devised by
Renny,
accelerated the installation, and the building opened for business in
record
time on May 1st 1931.
Doc Savage took occupancy of the 86th floor 3 weeks later. From a height of 1,050 feet above the street below, his offices command a view of all of Manhattan Island as well as the Hudson and East Rivers.
Doc's
skyscraper is the only building in the world to be topped by a
dirigible
mooring mast. Doc wanted this feature because he was also in the
process
of designing a ultra-modern airship he would use in his travels around
the globe. Due to the fact that this was the tallest building ever
built,
there was no scientific data on the updraft effects such a tall
building
would have. Doc knew updrafts would be caused by the winds around the
towering
building. He took the gamble and had the mooring mast built. The winds
were later found to be too strong. The mooring mast proved to be "about
as useful as a pair of tonsils." Including the mooring mast, the huge
edifice
rises to 102 stories.