Preserve New York Grants - 2007

At its August meeting, the Preserve New York Grant Program panel selected 14 projects in 12 counties for support totaling $87,200. Preserve New York is a partnership grant program of the Preservation League of New York State and the New York State Council on the Arts. With the announcement of the 2007 awards, the total support provided by Preserve New York since its launch in 1993 is more than $1.2 million to 201 projects undertaken by not-for-profit groups and municipalities throughout the state.

CHENANGO COUNTY

City of Norwich

Grant of $6,000 toward the cost of a reconnaissance level survey of the City of Norwich. Although Norwich has two State and National Register historic districts, large parts of the city have either never been surveyed or have not been evaluated since the 1970s. The project will be completed by consultant Cynthia Carrington Carter of Syracuse and will update earlier surveys and provide new documentation on residences, commercial blocks and industrial buildings throughout the city. The results will inform the city’s planning and economic development activities and provide a basis for any future landmark designation efforts.

COLUMBIA COUNTY

Hillsdale Economic and Community Development Corporation

Grant of $7,500 toward the cost of an intensive level survey of approximately 100 properties in the hamlet of Hillsdale. The hamlet was established as an agricultural community in 1790 and saw a surge in population with the arrival of the railroad in the 1870s. As a result, architectural styles prevalent during that time period – from Greek Revival to Queen Anne – are well represented throughout the hamlet. The survey will be completed by Larson Fisher Associates based in Woodstock. The results will be used to generate greater community awareness of Hillsdale’s special character, inform on-going planning efforts and encourage future landmark designations.

ERIE COUNTY

Town of Clarence

Grant of $5,000 toward the cost of an intensive level survey of the Town of Clarence. Clarence is the oldest municipality in Erie County and is characterized by several hamlets and considerable open land. However, it is also the county’s most rapidly growing municipality and suburbanization threatens the town’s rural character. A survey completed in 2005 identified up to 300 historic properties worthy of detailed documentation. This project will provide the needed documentation that can be integrated into the town’s master planning process and lead to local designations under the municipal landmark ordinance passed in July 2007. The survey will be prepared by Clinton Brown Company Architecture of Buffalo.

NASSAU COUNTY

Old Westbury Gardens, Inc.

Grant of $8,000 to support the completion of Part 1 of a cultural landscape report for Old Westbury Gardens. Old Westbury Gardens was the country estate of financier and sportsman John S. Phipps, his wife Margarita Grace Phipps, and their four children. Initially a collection of Quaker farmsteads acquired by Mr. Phipps in 1903, the house and grounds were designed by George A. Crawley with technical assistance from architect Grosvenor Atterbury. The mansion and 160 acres of formal gardens, allées, lawns and ponds were completed by 1907. Open to the public, the historic property reflects the Phipps family occupancy through the 1950s. Heritage Landscapes of Vermont and Connecticut will complete the project. Part 1 of the report will survey the evolution of Old Westbury Gardens, assess its history and current conditions and establish a comprehensive planning process for the property.

NEW YORK COUNTY

Historic Districts Council

Grant of $7,000 toward the cost of a cultural resources survey of Addisleigh Park, an early twentieth century neighborhood of Tudor and Colonial Revival style homes located in the western section of St. Albans in Queens. The neighborhood is culturally significant as a suburban bedroom community for many prominent African-American New Yorkers beginning in the 1940s. These renowned residents included: Count Basie, Brook Benton, James Brown, Mercer Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Lena Horne, Thomas “Fats” Waller, Joe Louis, and Jackie Robinson. The survey will be undertaken by Jane Cowan of Brooklyn and Maxine Gordon of New York City. The consultants will produce a narrative regarding the physical, social and cultural development of the neighborhood, architectural descriptions of key buildings and biographies of important individuals associated with this special neighborhood.

Seventh Regiment Armory Conservancy, Inc.

Grant of $7,500 toward the cost of an historic structure report for the Seventh Regiment Armory, located on Park Avenue in Manhattan’s Upper East Side. The Armory was designed by Regiment Veteran Charles W. Clinton and constructed between 1877 and 1881. The Armory’s 55,000-square foot Drill Hall was considered a marvel of engineering in its time and it remains one of the largest unobstructed interiors in New York City. The interior spaces of the Armory’s Administration Building are the work of some of the most prominent designers of the time including Louis Comfort Tiffany, Stanford White and Candace Wheeler. The report will be produced by Platt Byard Dovell White Architects and Building Conservation Associates, and will guide the restoration of the Armory. The building is a New York City landmark, listed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places, and a National Historic Landmark.

West Harlem Art Fund

Grant of $7,200 for the preparation of a nomination to the State and National Registers of Historic Places for the proposed Upper Broadway Historic District. Broadway between West 135th and 165th Streets contains approximately 135 buildings and reflects the construction boom that took place with the arrival of the IRT Broadway Subway line in 1904. The area is characterized by c.1905-1910 six-story apartment blocks, some designed by New York’s most prolific apartment architects including George F. Pelham, Schwartz and Gross and Neville and Bagge. The historic district nomination will be completed by Andrew Dolkart of New York City. The results will position property owners for the benefits of the newly established New York State tax credit programs for residential and commercial properties.

ORANGE COUNTY

Village of Warwick

Grant of $7,500 toward the cost of a cultural landscape report for the Madison Lewis Woodland in Warwick. The Madison Lewis Woodland is a 14-acre park that remains of what was once a 38-acre estate called Belair. The property was saved from extensive development by the Garden Club of Dutchess and Orange Counties, but in 2004 the village acquired the property with the goal of re-establishing trails, carriage roads, scenic views, gardens and several built elements as part of a park restoration plan. Heritage Landscapes of Connecticut and Vermont will prepare the landscape report with assistance from local historians and the final product will guide public and private initiatives related to the park’s restoration and use.

OSWEGO COUNTY

Heritage Foundation of Oswego

Grant of $3,400 to complete a State and National Registers of Historic Places project for the City of Oswego. The origins and growth of Oswego relate to the founding of Fort Ontario and the community’s prosperity as a port and county seat. As a result, Oswego has a full complement of historic and architecturally important residential, commercial, industrial and public buildings reflecting over 200 years of development. The project will bring together previously completed surveys and result in the preparation of a National Register Multiple Property Documentation Form that will allow for future listings in the State and National Registers of Historic Places for properties throughout the city. In addition, a historic district nomination will be prepared for Washington Square, a park laid out between 1811 and 1839. The proposed historic district is distinguished by some of Oswego’s most significant properties including the 1859 Oswego County Courthouse, the 1855 Oswego Library, the 1875 Ladies Home and several houses of worship. Cynthia Carrington Carter of Syracuse will serve as the project consultant.

RICHMOND COUNTY

Tottenville Historical Society

Grant of $5,100 to complete a State and National Registers of Historic Places project for the Tottenville neighborhood located at the southwestern tip of Staten Island. The historic buildings of Tottenville reflect a mid-nineteenth century community created by the oyster industry and related maritime trades. Many of the homes constructed between the late 1840s and 1880s were built for oystermen, dockworkers and owners of sailing ships. They range from simple Greek Revival style vernacular dwellings to large Second Empire and Queen Anne style houses of Tottenville’s “Quality Row”. The project will be completed by consultant Barnett Shepherd and will result in a National Register Multiple Property Documentation Form and several individual National Register of Historic Places nominations.

ROCKLAND COUNTY

Town of Ramapo

Grant of $5,000 toward the cost of completing a historic structure report for the Jacob Sloat House in Sloatsburg. The Jacob Sloat House, a Greek Revival style country home, was built in 1848 by Jacob Sloat, a noted inventor and grandson of Sloatsburg’s founder. Also known as Harmony Hall, the building was acquired by the Town of Ramapo in 2006 to prevent further deterioration and possible demolition. The report will be prepared by Crawford and Stearns, Architects and Preservation Planners of Syracuse, and will guide the restoration of this State and National Register-listed house. The town’s goals are to interpret the property and to make the house available for community use.

SUFFOLK COUNTY

Town of Shelter Island

Grant of $5,000 to support an historic structure report for the Smith-Taylor Cabin on Taylor’s (Cedar) Island. The central structure, a one-story cedar log cabin and veranda, was built c.1905 by Francis Marion Smith, a California businessmen known as the “Borax King,” who used the cabin for family picnics and clambakes. In 1938, hotelier and philanthropist S. Gregory Taylor acquired the cabin and constructed a two-story observation tower and other additions to create a comfortable summer home. In 1997, the property and cabin were donated to the Town of Shelter Island. The report will be completed by Zachary Studenroth, Architectural Preservation Consultant based in Sag Harbor, and by John Fokine, PE, of Shelter Island. The report will aid the town’s plan to restore and reuse the State Register-listed cabin.

ULSTER COUNTY

Town of Rochester

Historic Preservation Commission Grant of $5,000 to update the 1993 cultural resources survey of the Town of Rochester. The town was settled in the seventeenth century as a farming community along the Rondout Creek. Many farms survive today, with Dutch barns and other early agricultural buildings dotting the landscape. The town is also known for its early stone houses. The project will add new research to the 14-year old survey and include documentation of a type of building called a plank house that was not identified during the original survey. Harry Hansen of Kyserike Restorations in High Falls will complete the project that will guide future landmark designations and planning efforts.

WAYNE COUNTY

Wayne County Historian’s Office

Grant of $8,000 toward the cost of completing a cultural resources survey of properties associated with Abolitionism and African American life between 1820 and 1880 in Wayne County. The survey will identify the homes, churches, business places and other sites significant to the lives of freedom seekers and their sympathizers throughout the county. The research will be completed by Judith Wellman, Historical New York Research Associates of Fulton, historians Marjory Perez and Peter Evans, and area volunteers. The results will be used for planning, heritage tourism activities and landmark designations. This project is the fifth countywide survey associated with the nationally significant themes of Abolitionism and the Underground Railroad supported by the Preservation League.