Pratties Have 'Cake-and-Eat-It' Design for Admiral's Row
Pratt Institute architect Brent Porter and his students have designed a plan for Admiral’s Row that would involve preserving the 10 old buildings and also constructing a supermarket and a parking lot. The design would result in the restoration of the houses for commercial and community use, and put a supermarket—one that’s smaller than the…
Pratt Institute architect Brent Porter and his students have designed a plan for Admiral’s Row that would involve preserving the 10 old buildings and also constructing a supermarket and a parking lot. The design would result in the restoration of the houses for commercial and community use, and put a supermarket—one that’s smaller than the one the city wants—on old parade grounds. The proposal, which comes in advance of Tuesday evening’s public meeting at Borough Hall and days after Councilmember Letitia James expressed a willingness to preserve at least some of the buildings, does not come with a price tag.
Meet the New ‘Row’ [Brooklyn Paper]
Guard Starts Talks ‘To Come Up With Alternatives’ For Row [Brownstoner]
James Opens Door to (Partial) Admiral’s Row Preservation [Brownstoner]
Model c/o Gordon LaPlante / Brent M. Porter and Associates for BP.
sorry, g man. waterfalls were funded by The Public Art Fund. The Public Art Fund is a non-profit organization supported in part with Public Funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, A State Agency, the City of New York Department of Cultural Affairs. Public money.
Yeah, the Pope is the Pope… The former Hitler Youth and head of an organization which encourages the spread of AIDS by opposing the use of condoms in Africa, seeks to limit womens’ rights, and condemns gay folks to an eternity of flame. I *totally* like seeing my tax dollars go towards his visit rather than the preservation of historically significant, and architecturally impressive, structures…
Why can’t they make the supermarket two stories if they need it bigger? You can put all the junk food on the second floor.
Waterfalls were privately funded, the Pope is the Pope (for Christ’s sake, pun intended) and … okay, the city has given away hundreds of millions in subsidies to developers.
Considering the fact that an optimistic pricetag on preservation is a mere $20 million, and a pessimistic one is still only $40 million, there’s no reason these buildings should not be preserved.
Especially when you consider that the city has recently:
– dumped 15 million dollars into artificial waterfalls
– spent millions of dollars on the Pope’s visit
– pledged hundreds of millions in subsidies to rich developers
even $40M seems like a drop in the bucket when contrasted with losing a valuable part of Brooklyn’s heritage.
The Pratt design is elegant, and should provide a blueprint for a fair compromise between preservationists and residents. Although the exact plan might have flaws, it shows feasibility, which is the first step towards actual preservation.
If you put a Hoagie or Meatball Sandwich shop in one of the restored Admiral’s Row houses then I’m sure Marty would back this plan in a hearbeat.
Great idea! I’d much rather see City, State and Fed dollars spent on this project than Forest City Rats arena or the Brooklyn Bridge Park for that matter.
Marty won’t do anything until it’s absolutely clear which way the wind is blowing. That’s just the way he is. I’d complain about him, but since I voted for him I hardly feel entitled to complain. I will say that I regret that vote, though.
My hope is that the Row will be saved, but I’m still not optimistic.
Hey, it’s a start – something tangible we can all look at and evaluate. I truly believe something can be designed that preserves the Row, serves community needs, and makes some money to pay for itself. This may be the first step. Kudos to the prof and his team. This is not easy.