An Alternate Proposal for Domino Sugar Factory

With the scoping session for the Domino Sugar Factory scheduled for 2 p.m. today, a faction of artists and investors led by Brooklyn artist Greg Stone and gallery owner Joseph Amrhein is making a big push to promote the idea of turning the iconic waterfront property into New York’s answer to the Tate Modern in London. According to a slide show uploaded to You Tube, the group (which has no official name yet) points to the Tate’s success as a stand-alone entity (3rd biggest tourist attraction in London with 3.5 million visitors annually) as well as an economic engine for the city ($200 million in revenues and 3,000 jobs). While it’s easy for us to imagine the Domino-as-Tate scenario being a big success, there’s one small problem: The site is already privately owned by a group that’s spent a lot of time and money in creating a plan for residential conversion. On the other hand, perhaps there’s room for some kind of compromise: CPC Resources has already said that the main refinery building—the one piece of the existing property it plans to preserve and the piece that the artists have their eyes on—is not particularly well-suited to residential conversion. In that scenario, there’s no reason CPC couldn’t still build the other 40-odd residential buildings it has planned for the site. On the other hand, the waterfront apartments that are slated for the refinery building are likely to be the most profitable units in the complex. If this plan doesn’t work out for the Williamsburg artists, perhaps they should consider starting a p.r. firm, judging from the amount of free publicity they managed to generate within less than 24 hours of sending around their email!
Domino Sugar – An Alternate Plan [YouTube] GMAP
Domino Should Become A ‘Tate Modern,’ Artists Say [NY Sun]
Domino Plant a Museum Piece? [Lost City]
Should Domino Forego Commerce for Art? [Curbed]
Domino Plant as as Art Museum? [Gowanus Lounge]
CPC Shows and Tells Its Plans for Domino [Brownstoner]