Preservation League Awards

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2006 Guidelines

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2006 Annual Meeting and Awards Presentation

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2006 Excellence in 

Historic Preservation Award Recipients

Project Excellence

• Harmony Mills, Cohoes, Albany County
• Reverend J. Edward Nash House, Buffalo, Erie County
• 256-262 State Street, Carthage, Jefferson County
• Weeksville Heritage Area, Brooklyn, Kings County
• Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn, Kings County
• Historic Front Street, New York, New York County
• 90 West Street, New York, New York County
• MTA-Metro North Railroad Station Restoration,
  Yonkers, Westchester County
  

• Greene County Industrial Development Agency

• Henry McCartney, Rochester, Monroe County

This is an exemplary preservation project: what was once a symbol of the decline of the rich architectural and industrial heritage of upstate New York is now a beacon of hope, providing high-quality, desirable rental housing. Preservation League staff has already cited this project as evidence that the recent New York State Building Code revisions have been genuinely helpful in fostering the re-use of historic buildings across the state.

Constructed soon after the Civil War, the Harmony Mills complex utilized the water flow from the Cohoes Falls to produce the power to operate the mills. After many years of success, the 20th century brought changes in power technology and labor practices, and the mills were closed down. Vacancy, neglect and a pervading sense of hopelessness had long been associated with the mills. The entire site which includes Mill #3 is on the State and National Registers of Historic Places. The present owner acquired the complex and began work to convert Mill #3 into an apartment complex, The Lofts at Harmony Mills.

“The Harmony Mills project has been used to illustrate how historic buildings can be renovated using the New York State Building Code,” said Peter Seidner of the Clover Group, Architects and Planners. “More than 300 code officials toured the site and asked questions as part of New York State Building Officials council code seminars, then brought what they had learned back to all parts of the state. The Preservation League’s award will bring even more attention to this project, and encourage investment in similar buildings.”

Key Participants:

Fundraising for preservation efforts in neighborhoods where so much of the surrounding historic fabric has been lost is often difficult. Through significant community effort, support for the Nash House has been carefully cultivated – and now heritage tourists, students and residents alike are reaping the benefits. The restoration work was carried out with an evident respect of the building’s integrity, and the home of one middle-class African American family can tell the story of a lifestyle and a community shared by many others whose homes no longer exist.

The Rev. J. Edward Nash House stands today as one of the few remaining landmarks of Buffalo’s 20th century significance in local and national history across racial lines. The house at 36 Nash Street, in particular, has a very special place in the story of the African-American community in Buffalo.  It was from this house that Reverend Nash, early in the twentieth century, led and helped orchestrate some of the foremost civil rights causes of Buffalo and the nation. The five year process of saving, landmarking and restoring this simple, vernacular two-family house is a model demonstration of a joint public/private effort to save an ordinary building where extraordinary lives and events played out.
 
“The restoration of the Nash House is the first instance of a serious restoration effort in Buffalo’s East Side community, adjacent to downtown” said Theodore Lownie of Hamilton Houston Lownie Architects. “It has jump-started preservation efforts in the nearby Michigan Street Baptist Church, where Rev. Nash was pastor, and at the Colored Musicians Club.”

Key Participants:

Michigan Street Preservation Corporation
Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency
Hamilton Houston Lownie Architects
The Jesse E. Nash Family; The Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo; The Margaret L. Wendt Foundation; The Zemsky Family Foundation; The M&T Bank
Foundation; Hadley Exhibits

With the losses faced by Carthage after a devastating fire, the creativity, coordination and attention to detail required to bring this project to fruition are even more inspirational. And in fact, the outcome is already inspiring others, with owners of several neighboring buildings now investing in façade rehabilitation.

In 2003, the Village of Carthage found itself in a position not unlike that of many other small towns in rural New York. Its once vibrant downtown was in a state of decline with businesses moving out or giving up in the face of competition from regional “big box” stores. Upper story spaces had gone unused for generations, and a disastrous fire had destroyed nearly one quarter of its National Register Historic District.

“Carthage, however, is fortunate to have a number of enlightened, dedicated citizens who were not willing to let the community dry up and blow away” said Randall T. Crawford of Crawford & Stearns, Architects and Preservation Planners, the project architect. “Two adjacent but separate vacant historic buildings were combined under a single ownership and rehabilitated to provide 20 one- and two-bedroom units of affordable housing on the upper floors and 7,800 square feet of retail space on the first floor. This award demonstrates the commitment of the Preservation League to promoting upper floor residential development as a means to downtown revitalization, and we’re glad that this project serves as a compelling example.”

Key Participants:

Carthage Industrial Development Corporation 
ConTech Building Systems 
Crawford & Stearns Architects & Preservation Planners 
Affordable Housing Consultants 
Development Authority of the North Country
Senator James W. Wright
Village of Carthage; Jefferson County Planning Department; Economic
Development Corporation of Carthage 
Congressman John M. McHugh; Towns of Champion and Wilna; Tug Hill Commission; River Area Council of Governments; Niagara Mohawk

This project is a celebration of both African-American heritage and Brooklyn’s vernacular architecture. It took a sensitive approach to historic preservation in light of the changes required for public access, provided the opportunity to interpret the buildings and landscape in an exciting and informative context, and has bolstered pride in the local community.

The Hunterfly Road Houses are the only surviving remnants of Weeksville, a free African-American community in Brooklyn. The buildings restorations represent several periods from the 1860s to 1930, and are being interpreted as African-American house museums. Constructed shortly after the Civil War, the group of four wood-frame houses (one of which is a reconstruction) is located in the Crown Heights neighborhood.

“Three of the houses face mid-block, and show the location of a no-longer extant native-American path, subsequently a Dutch route known as Hunterfly Road,” said Pamela Jerome of Wank Adams Slavin Associates LLP (WASA), who prepared the project’s master plan. “The siting, massing and materials of these buildings are rare examples of their type and age in New York City, as most such structures have been demolished in New York’s never-ending redevelopment of itself.”

According to Pamela Green, Executive Director of the Weeksville Heritage Center, “The restoration of the Hunterfly Road Houses was envisioned for years by the Society for the Preservation of Weeksville and Bedford Stuyvesant History. We are so pleased that the Preservation League’s award will further promote this rediscovered remnant of a once-thriving community of free blacks.”

Key Participants:
David Burney, NYC Department of Design & Construction
Susan Chin, FAIA, City of New York Dept. of Cultural Affairs
Joan Geismar, Ph.D.
Pamela Green,  Executive Director; Robin Cloud, Director of Preservation;
Penny Fujiko-Willgerodt, President, Board of Directors; Weeksville Heritage Center
Pamela Jerome, AIA, Wank Adams Slavin Associates
Leith ter Meulen, LandAir
Gretchen Sorin, SUNY Oneonta, Cooperstown Graduate Program

Front Street is an integral part of the urban fabric of Lower Manhattan. This project has combined responsible stewardship and thoughtful renovation of the remaining historic treasures with sensitive infill, and produced award-winning results.

In April, 2003, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission passed a unanimous and unprecedented vote approving a redevelopment plan for 14 properties in the South Street Seaport. Just one block south of the Brooklyn Bridge, the plan encompassed eleven historic but woefully neglected buildings and three empty lots lining a cobblestone block. Over two and a half years, Historic Front Street has been redeveloped into 95 rental apartments and 13 ground floor retail spaces.

“By anchoring a residential community in the Seaport’s northern blocks, Historic Front Street helps build the livable core of Lower Manhattan” said Richard Cook of Cook + Fox Architects. “With a vision of historically-minded stewardship, the project revives both the past and an entire neighborhood. We are delighted to receive this recognition from the League.”

Key Participants:

F.J. Sciame Construction Construction Manager
Robert Silman Associates, P.C. Structural Engineer
Laszlo Bodak Engineer, P.C. Mechanical Engineer
NYSERDA; DMJM + Harris; Steven Winter Associates, Inc.; Water Energy Distributors, Inc.; Saratoga Associates; Higgins & Quasebarth; Mary B. Dierickx; Jablonski Berkowitz; Milrose Consultants, Inc.; D.T.M. Inc.; Michael Wein, P.E.; Landmarks
Preservation Commission; City Planning Commission; Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities

 

Few structures downtown are as highly ornamented and no landmark was as badly damaged on September 11, 2001. The restoration of the exterior required the expertise of many trades,  from historic consultants to stone masons to roofers — and its  completion marks a milestone in the efforts to rebuild Lower Manhattan.

90 West Street, a Cass Gilbert-designed building, has elements that make it not only rare among skyscrapers, but extraordinary even among the modern marvels of New York City. Commissioned in 1905, it remained a functioning office building until its ruin in the events of 9/11. The mere fact of its survival, only 100 yards from the Trade Center, is a testament to Gilbert’s efforts to construct the safest building of his day. 

“For almost 100 years, 90 West Street has been a proud part of New York City’s rich architectural heritage,” said Peter Levenson, R.A., of the Kibel Companies. “It was almost lost, but after three years of planning and reconstruction, it has been meticulously restored as residential condominiums. This building is a survivor, and is an important step in the renaissance of the World Trade Center site.”

Key Participants:

Richard Born, BD Hotels
Moshe-Dan Azogui, Brack Capital
Peter Levenson, The Kibel Company
Richard Lefever, Façade Maintenance Design
H. Thomas O'Hara, Architect, PLLC
MGJ; Desimone Consulting Engineers, P.L.L.C.; Higgins & Quasebarth; Levine Builders; Seabord Weatherproofing; Continental Services Corporation; Lacroix; Kepco + Inc.; Conventional Stone and Marble; Eagle One Roofing Contractors, Inc.; Seal Reinforced Fiberglass, Inc.; Boston Valley Terra Cotta; Towne House Restoration.

We salute Metro-North not only for its commitment to historic preservation, but for the example set through their careful and creative restoration of this structure, long neglected by predecessor railroads. The project has returned the building to its 1911 Beaux-Arts glory, and has contributed to the renaissance of downtown Yonkers.

Designed by Warren and Wetmore, the architects of Grand Central Terminal, Yonkers Station boasts high quality features and materials, but both the station and the surrounding area had fallen on hard times. Not only has Yonkers Station been restored to its traditional role as gateway to Yonkers from New York City and beyond, it now provides access to the Hudson River waterfront, via a beautifully landscaped public park that replaced a bus layover lot as a part of the project.

“Over 1,000 travelers pass through this station daily and enjoy the fruits of the restoration effort,” said Mari Miceli, Deputy Director, Facilities Engineering, Metro-North Railroad Company. “Metro-North is pleased that this project, with its extensive scope and profound impact on the local quality of life, has been selected for this prestigious award.”

Key Participants:

Metro-North Railroad
DMJM Harris (CTE Engineers)
Gannett Fleming
Sowinski Sullivan Architects; Twin Towers Enterprises; CNA Enterprises; ECCO III Enterprises; Jablonski Berkowitz Conservators; Lynn Drobbin Associates;
Mary B. Dierickx Architectural Preservation Consultants; James J. Pinto, City of Yonkers; Metro-North employees Karen Timko, Jennifer Barry; Theresa Paster, Joseph Strada.

The Greene IDA’s strategy, presentation materials, marketing and initial results were enthusiastically endorsed for an award. This innovative approach to marketing properties for re-use, rather than just promoting shovel-ready green space for business development, recognizes that preservation sells. The project, which included collaboration with the Troy Architectural Program (TAP), could easily serve as a model for other municipalities.

Recognizing the value of historic architecture to the landscape of Greene County, the Greene County IDA last year identified 11 historic buildings – from the grand former Coxsackie School to a commercial row once slated for demolition in downtown Catskill – and made them the focus of a polished marketing program to attract appropriate owners and tenants.

“With $50,000 of IDA funds and assistance from a $25,000 grant from the Governor’s Office of Small Cities, we set out to identify properties that would appeal to up-and-coming high-tech firms, who would crave the ‘cool space’ of a former opera house, Gothic church or 19th century storefront,” said Dan Frank, Chairman of the Greene IDA Board of Directors. “Ultimately, the buildings speak for themselves – but this marketing package is unique in its focus on adaptive use, and for making historic preservation part of economic development.”

According to Frank Stabile, Jr., Chairman of the Greene County Legislature, “The message here is that Greene County values its past and is committed to preserving our historic assets while moving aggressively toward the future. We are very appreciative of this honor and proud of our IDA and its leadership with this unique effort.”

Key Participants:

Greene Industrial Development Agency
TAP, Inc.
Smith & Jones
River Street Planning & Development, LLC

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Individual Excellence
Henry McCartney
FORMER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR,
LANDMARK SOCIETY OF WESTERN NEW YORK
Rochester, Monroe County

As Executive Director of the Landmark Society of Western New York, Henry has been a true leader, bringing best practices from other regions and states to their nine-county service area. During nearly 22 years at the helm, he continued to explore new avenues to preserve, interpret and promote the Empire State’s cultural, historic and natural resources.

Mr. McCartney contributed significantly to the historic preservation of the City of Rochester, raising public awareness of and appreciation for its architectural gems and beautiful parks. He successfully highlighted homes and buildings, bringing numerous people to the city for a variety of tours each year. Under his leadership, the Landmark Society published seven books (with an eighth slated for release in June); saved the National Historic Landmark Roycroft Inn in East Aurora; and began well-regarded educational programs about historic preservation.

“I’m grateful to have been part of the historic preservation movement for 35 years, as I know of no other movement that can equal our impact on the livability and vitality of the cities and villages of New York State,” said Mr. McCartney. “I am honored and humbled by this award from the Preservation League, and thankful for the colleagues and volunteers who’ve helped me so much and made this award possible.”