Dome

620 Fifth Ave. Entrance; "Industries of the British Empire"; detail, Fish; To John D. Rockefeller, Jr., the British Empire Building, the Maison Française, and Rockefeller Center itself were “symbols in stone and steel of the common interests… and good will of three great powers.” Both of the foreign buildings were the beneficiaries of a special act of Congress that made the warehouses beneath them “free ports”; that is, goods could be imported, stored, and displayed duty-free, with taxes payable only on sale.