At yesterday’s LPC hearing about plans for the recently landmarked Domino refinery, preservationists criticized the building’s proposed 5-story glass addition while the project’s developer argued that the alterations to the building were necessary to offset the creation of affordable housing. None of the commissioners seemed too keen on the glass box addition, according to a report on Gowanus Lounge, and neither did other preservationists. Lisa Kersavage, director of advocacy and policy for the Municipal Arts Society, said the proposal missed the opportunity to preserve some of the most interesting and distinctive architecture on the waterfront and to assimilate the memory of Brooklyn’s industrial heritage into its new life, and Frampton Tolbert, deputy director of the Historic Districts Council, called the addition architecturally incongruous. The fact that the iconic Domino sign is missing from the renderings also caused concern, and LPC chairman Robert B. Tierney said the developers should look hard for a place to incorporate it. Michael Lappin, the president and CEO of CPC Resources (which is developing the site along with Isaac Katan), talked up the affordable housing aspect of the development (about 660 units). The present needs are not for bigger or faster centrifuges, vats, or char-burning furnaces, but for housing, affordable housing, said Lappin. We are proudly proposing a striking five story modern addition to the top of the industrial structures. The LPC didn’t take a vote on the proposal at the meeting, sending the plan more or less back to the drawing board.
Plans for Domino Sugar Refinery Elicit Criticism [NY Times]
No Action on Domino’s Big Glass Box [Gowanus Lounge]
More Domino Plans [Brownstoner]
Domino Sugar Factory Proposed Addition Revealed [Brownstoner]
BREAKING! LPC Approves Historic Designation for Domino [Brownstoner]
CPC Shows and Tells Its Plans for Domino [Brownstoner] GMAP
Plans for ‘New Domino’ Released by City Planning [Brownstoner]
New Domino rendering courtesy of Rafael Viñoly Architects; snapshot of old Domino sign from PhotoJeff.