New York City Center (former Mecca Temple)

The building at 131 West 55th Street was constructed in 1923 as the Mecca Temple and was converted into New York City Center, a nonprofit performing-arts venue, in 1943. City Center is the longtime home of the Encores! series of staged concert musicals and presents dance, theater, and music programming by national and local companies. The facility's conversion from a fraternal temple to a civic arts center is a noted example of adaptive reuse in the city's cultural history.