Meet the Fiske Terrace-Midwood Park Landmark District

Among the many actions taken by the Landmarks Preservation Commission yesterday was a vote to create a Fiske Terrace-Midwood Park Historic District. The new district will be bounded by Foster Avenue on the north, Avenue H on the south, Ocean Avenue on the east and the subway line carrying the Q and other trains on the west. There are more than 250 homes in the district. Per the LPC, in a document prepared for the session:

The proposed Fiske Terrace – Midwood Park Historic District is a planned development consisting of approximately 250 predominantly free-standing single-family residences constructed during the first two decades of the twentieth century. The predominantly Colonial Revival and Shingle Style houses are largely intact, asymmetrically massed and feature spacious porches, elaborate projecting towers, oriels and bays, Palladian windows and deep eaves. The neighborhood also has an unusual street plan that includes landscaped malls and short streets that dead-end at the BMT subway cut.

Fiske Terrace – Midwood Park occupies land that was originally part of the Lott farm, and is now considered to be part of the larger neighborhood of Flatbush. The initial impetus for development of Flatbush occurred with the completion of the Brooklyn Bridge in 1883 and followed with the construction of the Brooklyn, Flatbush and Coney Island railroad in 1895. The first development in the area was Tennis Court in 1886. The construction of park-like suburbs such as Prospect Park South (1899) provided a model for the developments of Fiske Terrace and Midwood Park.

Despite their visual similarity Fiske Terrace and Midwood Park developed independently. Theodore B. Ackerson, one of Brooklyn’s most important contractors and real estate developers purchased the 30-acre estate of George P. Fiske in 1905. Ackerson constructed residences in series of tens from stock plans. The houses had uniform features and standards of quality but with some exterior variety suited to the buyers’ tastes. The construction of Fiske Terrace was virtually completed by 1920. Midwood Park was developed by contractor and architect John R. Corbin also starting around 1905. Corbin used innovative prefabrication techniques. He built a factory on Jamaica Bay at East 56th Street that was capable of turning out 1,000 homes a year. All frames, beams, and interior trim were cut at the factory and then shipped to the construction site for assembly. Corbin’s clients could hire their own architects, or they could employ one of Corbin’s designers. Midwood Park was nearly completed by 1910.

There is an item on all of the landmark action yesterday at the CityRoom on the landmarking and a lot of material at the LPC’s website, if one scrolls down to the section on the new district.

Hope for Loew’s Kings in Flatbush

The status of the rehab of the Loew’s Kings Theater in Flatbush has been a mystery for a while, but today’s Post seems to confirm a report that appeared on Brooklyn Junction back in January that there is significant progress in finding a developer. In January, Brooklyn Junction noted that a “major” operator was interested in theater. Today, the Post notes that the city “has begun soliciting bids” for the theater, although efforts have actually been underway since 2006 to find a developer. The 79-year-old theater closed in 1978 and has been deteriorating ever since. The bigger project would involve air rights, a big parking lot, “a boutique hotel” and retail. The Post puts the cost of rehabbing the theater at $70 million, which is double figures that have been previously noted.

Pratt Students Trying to Develop Admiral’s Row Compromise Plan

Some Pratt professors and students are trying to come up with plans for Admiral’s Row in the Brooklyn Navy Yard that would allow for both preservation of the Historic Structures and development of a supermarket on the property. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle reports that “City planning and architecture students have come up with a number of ideas that they plan to present to community groups and, ultimately, the Navy Yard itself.” A Professor involved in the exercise says “We’re trying to please, I think, everyone, as much as possible.” One design involves “restoring the houses and reusing them for businesses like a bakery, a bookstore, a daycare center and cafes, with a green roof uniting the entire site.” The Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corp. has insisted the only way to go foward with the supermarket project is to demolish the historic buildings. The Federal Goverment estimates that preservation would cost about $18 million. The disupute has become heated at times. Here is how one of the students put it:

“We found that the Navy Yard’s proposal is quite heartless and doesn’t really do anything for the rifts in the neighborhood,” said Kuz, who assigned the project to her students. “We are keeping the Admirals’ Row houses in our designs because we think it’s a good reference in terms of scale and history. But we also incorporated a big shop, like the Navy Yard wanted.”

The full story is quite interesting.

LPC Sends Domino Designers Back to Drawing Board

[Rendering courtesy of Rafael Viñoly Architects]

The Landmarks Preservation Commission considered the proposed changes to the landmarked Domino Plant in Williamsburg yesterday, and told the architects to come back with a different design. The WGPA blog brought news of the hearing yesterday afternoon. New Domino architect Rafael Viñoly even appeared at the hearing, but it was Beyer Blinder Belle, which produced the design that includes a glass box at the top, whose work was the focus yesterday. The Beyer architects compared their work to a variety of structures including the Tate Modern, but the feedback was not entirely positive. Some LPC members felt addition was either “too tall,” “not the right design” or too “tame.” Other said it needs to be “more visionary” and emphasize the “industrial rigor” of the landmark, whatever the latter might mean. Domino Plant V. 2.0 to come.

Related Stories:
Landmarks Commission Calls for Revisions [Sun]
Overhaul of Domino Plant Back to Square One [NYDN]

No Action on Domino’s Big Glass Box

[Image courtesy of Rafael Vinoly Architects]

The Landmarks Preservation Commission heard testimony about the five-story glass box developers propose to put atop the historic Domino Factory in Williamsburg yesterday, but took no action on the plan. It will hold another session in a few weeks. The Williamsburg-Greenpoint Preservation Alliance’s blog said that the LPC commissioners didn’t seem inclined to support such a big addition to the top of the landmarked structure:

The comments that we did hear from the Commissioners made it clear that none of the Commissioners are ready to stand up and support a five-story rooftop addition on the refinery. Some Commissioners seemed to be comfortable with an addition of two or possibly three stories, assuming that such an addition was more architecturally integrated with the historic refinery and the rest of the new development.

Preservationists delivered the most negative reviews of the alteration. The Municipal Art Society’s Lisa Kersavage called the plan a “missed opportunity to create something that celebrates the history and architecture of these landmarks.” The developers said that the addition is necessary for the project to succeed, while the architect likened it to the Tate Modern in London. Ms. Kersavage and other seemed to take issue with the Tate analogy. “As designed the proposed glass box addition, plunked on top of the landmark, is simply too large and lacks the compositional organization and the arrangement of details that would relate it to the landmark,” Ms. Kersavage said. “The architects referenced the Tate Modern’s addition in their presentation to us, but that low-slung and horizontally oriented building has a completely different spatial volume and composition than the Refinery – and that addition is architecturally a much better fit.”

Meanwhile, Mary Habstritt of the Williamsburg-Greenpoint Preservation Alliance said:

While believe that there are many positive aspects to this proposal, the project does not come together as a cohesive whole. The various components – the rooftop addition, new windows, new window openings, masonry repairs, bay windows and balconies, storefronts and entries – all seem to be unrelated to one another. And in too many cases, they are unrelated to the historic refinery itself. This brand new landmark deserves a more comprehensive preservation approach.

Commissioners were also said to have appeared skeptical about some other modifications to the building, including the design of proposed retail entrances. Landmarks Chair Robert Tierney strongly urged the developers to find a way to preserve the iconic Domino Sugar sign, which is not included in renderings that have been released. His advice about finding a place for the sign: “Look hard.” Since the plant was landmarked last year, the Commission has to approve any changes.

More Renderings of the Domino Glass Box

We will refrain from extended comment on what we will be calling Williamsburg’s Nightmare in Glass until Monday. In the meantime, that should offer an indication of our general feelings about the modification to the landmarked Domino Sugar Plant on Kent Avenue that developers are proposing. Yesterday, Brownstoner offered a first look at renderings that had been revealed at a Community Board 1 committee meeting on Thursday night. Today, the Waterfront Preservation Alliance of Greenpoint & Williamsburg has more detailed renderings of the modifications to the factory building itself. (Notably, the renderings do not show the towers that would surround the building.) The Landmarks Preservation Commission will be holding a public hearing about the proposal on Tuesday, February 5 at 2:00 p.m., at the Municipal Building (1 Centre Street), 9th Floor North. According to the Alliance, “the big story” is the rooftop addition to the Filter House .” The firm Beyer Blinder Belle is proposing to put a five-story addition on top of the Filter House. If one includes mechanical bulkheads, the addition will be almost eight stories tall. The group will be meeting on Monday evening to formulate its own position on the Nightmare in Glass. The Beyer Blinder Belle proposal is similar to the glass addition that has been proposed to the landmark Battery Maritime Building in Manhattan, which would fundamentally alter that structure.

Upcoming: Domino Plan Presentation

The plans for Williamsburg’s landmarked Domino Plant will be presented to Community Board 1’s Landmarks Committee tonight. The meeting is at the Board’s District Office, 435 Graham Avenue, which is at the corner of Frost Street. It takes place at 6:30PM. It will include presentations by Susan Pollock, Project Director/Community Preservation Corporation and Mr. Michael Wetstone, Architect/Beyer Blinder & Belle. An application for approval of the plans will go before the Landmarks Preservation Committee on February 5. They include removal of all of the interior “structure,” the creation of a courtyard on the eastern half of the building to provide light and air for apartments on the upper floors (with retail and community facilities on the lower three floors and a five-story glass addition to the filter house (the taller portion of the structure, where the smokestack is), with mechanical equipment enclosures on top. Some of the changes, like the five-story glass addition are significant.

The New Domino development would have 2,400 apartments. The preserved factory building would be surrounded by towers up to 40 stories tall. The total project would be 2.86 million square feet–Brooklyn’s largest after Atlantic Yards.

Federal Goverment Not Rushing Admiral’s Row Decision

Proponents of the plan to tear down the historic structures on Admirals Row in the Brooklyn Navy Yard are upset that the Federal government will not be making a quick decision about the property. The National Guard Bureau of Cultural Resources is required by law to review whether the mansions can be preserved or whether they can be turned over the city for demolition and it says it won’t start holding a series of meetings with officials and preservationists until March. Preservationists are cautiously optimistic that the agency is considering saving the buildings. The Brooklyn Paper reports that the tear down has been “delayed indefinitely.” Here’s an excerpt:

A plan to tear down 10 historic houses at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and replace them with a supermarket has been delayed indefinitely thanks to a decision by federal officials to review whether the dilapidated 150-year-old mansions can be saved.

“There is absolutely no way we can give any sort of end date at all … there is no mandated time limit,” said Kristin Leahy, the manager of the National Guard Bureau Cultural Resources Program, which is investigating the mansions’ historical integrity — to the frustration of those eager to see the run-down buildings torn down.

Leahy said the earliest that she could hold a meeting with the city, area residents and preservationists is March. And that meeting would be just the first of a series.

Supermarket supporters say the need of local residents for a supermarket outweighs preserving the buildings and that they are working behind the scenes in Washington to try to speed the process of turning over the land to the city for development.

GL Analysis:
We have said before and we will say again that if Brooklyn officials can not be entrusted with the proper stewardship of an important historic asset, preferring to bulldoze it and build a supermarket and parking, then we would prefer the Federal government to hold on to the property until public officials take office that see the value of Admiral’s Row. The National Guard Bureau’s approach would indicate that they are interested in helping to work out a compromise that would accommodate the interests of all sides or, at least, that there is some interest in having a public process that appears to be fair.

Admiral’s Row is not just a piece of Brooklyn history. It is part of American history, and as such, part of the decision rightly rests with the Federal government. We are not particularly big fans of Federal interference in local affairs or believers that Federal bureaucrats possess wisdom that local officials do not. Quite the contrary, in most cases. Yet, the sad plan to demolish Admiral’s Row, which could be an asset for future generations, needs to be stopped.

We believe that any transfer should include a mandate to preserve these historic buildings and that a compromise that would allow for the preservation of Admiral’s Row and the construction of a supermarket for residents can be developed. All it requires is the willingness to do so. It might not be the most expeditious or inexpensive solution, but it would be the right thing to do. Much of the historic Navy Yard is slowly falling to the wrecking ball, with photos and pieces of buildings to be displayed in a new historical center. In a city that thought creatively about preserving and capitalizing on the past, parts of the Navy Yard would be an asset that could be preserved and re-purposed.

The least we could expect, though, is that this small and important piece of our heritage be saved so that our children’s children can go there someday and understand that something very, very important to the country’s history once took place at the Navy Yard. And, that they be able to see some evidence of it that is more real than pictures hanging on a wall in a historical center.

We hope the Federal government brokers a compromise that saves Admiral’s Row.

Battle of Amity Street Begins

[All photos courtesy of a special GL Correspondent]

Yesterday morning, an email went out with a number of renderings of the building proposed for 110 Amity Street (Amity and Henry) in Cobble Hill. The email said, in part:

The local community is vehemently opposed to this development that changes the block structure around to create a gated community shoe-horned into the block only to maximize profit. They call it a “mews”. The plans will be submitted to CB6 January 3 at 6pm at 250 Baltic Street. Please circulate this and tell everyone you know. Please come if you are able to. Following this meeting, the project is scheduled to be presented for approval at the Landmarks Preservation Commission on January 8 (time to be specified).

Back in December, Brownstoner called it a possible “Amity Street Horror.” The developer, Time Equities, would put an addition atop an historic 1903 building and build six very large “town houses” next door. Chances on this one getting through unscathed or not causing deep bitterness in the community: Zero.

Bklink: "Brooklyn Under Seige"

From the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Best & Worst of 2007 list comes “Brooklyn Under Seige.” Needless to say, Brooklyn is included on the “worst” list. Topics covered include Ikea, Coney Island and Ward Bakery.–Preservation Nation via No Land Grab