Bethlehem supplied steel that built the Empire State and Chrysler buildings. 20,000 employees once occupied the company's sprawling complex, where this Admin Building was active for over 80 years. It is a reminder of a history that warrants preservation in the face of brazen neglect.

Taken from a perspective of a former employee, these images capture moments frozen at the building's closure in 1982. Desks piled with papers, chairs situated at the controls, closets filled with supplies: evidence of acquiescent departure, or of hope that the doors would open again?

This historically and architecturally significant structure has recently been razed, despite calls for its restoration. Perhaps through a closer look, we can confront the neglect that betrayed its legacy.

1901 image courtesy the Steel Plant Museum of Western New York