[2] The foundation stone was laid on June 30, 1891 by Brooklyn Mayor Alfred C. Chapin, with New York Lieutenant Governor Edward F. Jones and a large crowd also in attendance.

After the ceremony, a sumptuous banquet for 300 Democratic Party dignitaries was held, at which were read letters from former U.S. President Grover Cleveland and Governor David B. Hill expressing their regrets at being unable to attend.

[3] The building was officially opened on September 23 of the following year, with Lieutenant Governor William F. Sheehan and Brooklyn Mayor David A. Boody giving the main speeches.

[6] An "astounding, round-edged cube ... wrap[ping] a tight skin of precise decoration around a compact mass",[1] the building was described shortly after its construction in the following terms: It is a beautiful structure, Romanesque in style, slightly modernized.

There is a court yard of twenty-five feet in front of the building, and the main entrance is reached by a series of steps and landings, on which are handsomely wrought bronze lamps with incandescent electric lights.