Preserve New York Grants - 2009

The Preservation League of New York State and the New York State Council on the Arts has announced the recipients of the 2009 Preserve New York Grant Program, which provided $96,400 in funding to 16 projects in 15 counties. Since 1993 Preserve New York has awarded over $1.4 million in direct support to 233 projects undertaken by nonprofit groups and municipalities.

ALBANY COUNTY

Historic Albany Foundation

Grant of $7,500 for an intensive-level cultural resource survey of lower Washington Avenue in Albany. Situated just west of the New York State Capitol, these blocks boast some 30 grand 19th-century rowhouses interspersed with early 20th-century commercial buildings, as well as a few modest early 19th-century houses. Construction dates range between 1832 and the 1920s, but most of the buildings were completed between 1850 and 1890 and illustrate the city’s westward expansion. The survey, to be completed by Landmark Consulting of Albany, will provide detailed documentation for these properties with a goal of historic district designation.

BROOME COUNTY

Village of Whitney Point

Grant of $7,500 for a cultural resource survey of the Village of Whitney Point. Located at the confluence of the Otselic and Tioughnioga rivers, the Village was once a trade center and shipping point for much of Broome and Cortland counties, and its buildings reflect its 19th century prosperity. The survey will identify historic and architecturally significant places throughout the village as well as provide detailed documentation for 15 commercial buildings. Preservation consultant Jessie Ravage of Cooperstown will complete the project, and the results will inform economic development efforts and use of state tax credit programs.

CATTARAUGUS COUNTY

Village of Franklinville

Grant of $7,000 toward a historic landscape report for Park Square, a circular green space in downtown Franklinville. This 1876 village green is the focal point of a 20-building State and National Register historic district. The report, to be prepared by New Energy Works Design of Rochester, will guide private and public projects and investments in the park, and provide context for the Village’s downtown revitalization strategies including commercial upper floor redevelopment.

MAYVILLE, CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY

Chautauqua Home Rehabilitation & Improvement Corporation (CHRIC)

Grant of $6,000 toward a cultural resource survey of the Village of Sherman. CHRIC, one of 235 organizations of the national NeighborWorks® network, is assisting Sherman with its downtown rehabilitation projects. The survey will provide documentation on the village’s early nineteenth to mid-twentieth century commercial blocks, homes, churches, and the Yorker Museum complex. Clinton Brown Company Architecture of Buffalo will complete the project which will help position Sherman to take advantage of New York’s tax credit and grant programs.

CHEMUNG COUNTY

Historic Elmira

A grant of $7,500 toward a cultural resource survey of Elmira’s South Side neighborhood. The area south of the Chemung River developed as a streetcar neighborhood due to a trolley line that ran along Maple Avenue and connected Elmira to Wellsburg. The project, to be completed by preservation consultant Nancy Goblet of Sterling, Virginia, will result in a reconnaissance level survey of the South Side’s 3,600 properties and detailed documentation for approximately 50 residences, some architect-designed, on Maple Avenue. The findings will be used for local planning and possible future landmark designations.

CHENANGO COUNTY

Guilford Historical Society

A grant of $2,000 toward the completion of a State and National Register nomination for Rockwells Mills, a community on the Unadilla River. The hamlet of Rockwells Mills retains a stone former mill, worker’s housing and three Rockwell family residences constructed between 1849 and 1870 for the mill owners. The nomination will be completed by consultant Jessie Ravage of Cooperstown with the goal of historic district designation to provide a measure of protection and encouragement for sensitive rehabilitation for the buildings.

COLUMBIA COUNTY

Historic Hudson

A grant of $9,000 toward a historic structure report for the Plumb-Bronson House, included on the Preservation League’s 2009 Seven to Save list. Originally built in 1811 in the Federal-style for Samuel Plumb, the house was retrofitted by A. J. Davis in 1838 for Dr. Oliver Bronson and then reoriented to the Hudson River by the addition of a western façade in 1848. The original floor plan and major architectural features remain intact. Mesick Cohen Wilson and Baker Architects, LLP, of Albany, will complete the report, which will advance emergency measures to halt water infiltration and inform a planned stabilization project.

ERIE COUNTY

Local Initiatives Support Corporation-Buffalo (Buffalo LISC)

Grant of $7,500 toward a cultural resource survey of a section of the Cold Spring/Masten Park neighborhood. The survey will provide documentation on the historic and architectural significance of over 350 residential, commercial, religious and public buildings in a neighborhood that has seen recent reinvestment but also suffers for building deterioration and vacancy. The project will be completed by preservation consultants Frank Kowsky and Martin Wachadlo of Buffalo who will be assisted by Preservation Buffalo Niagara. The results will better position the area for grant and state and federal tax credit opportunities designed to foster community revitalization in distressed neighborhoods.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY

Village of Fort Plain

A grant of $6,500 toward a reconnaissance-level cultural resource survey of the Village of Fort Plain. Located on the historic Erie Canal, now the Barge Canal, just west of Canajoharie, Fort Plain developed as a trading center and small industrial center with numerous mills. The village’s architecture reflects all periods of its development and includes worker housing, mill owner dwellings, several large churches, commercial blocks and other canal-related buildings. The survey, to be completed by Jessie Ravage of Cooperstown, will help prioritize planning efforts, the creation of historic districts, and the rehabilitation of individual buildings.

NEW YORK COUNTY

Carnegie Hill Neighbors, New York City

A grant of $2,000 toward the completion of a State and National Register nomination of the Park Avenue Historic District. Park Avenue from East 79th to East 96th Street is renowned for its architecture, with early 20th century apartment buildings designed by architects including Emery Roth, Rosario Candela, and Delano & Aldrich. The area was developed after the below-grade railroad tracks were covered by a landscaped mall. The proposed district retains a high degree of its architectural integrity and its nomination will be prepared by Mary B. Dierickx Historic Preservation Consulting of New York City.

OTSEGO COUNTY

Otsego 2000, Cooperstown

A grant of $3,500 toward the preparation of a National Historic Landmark nomination for the Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, Herkimer County. Founded in 1930 by Russian émigrés, the Monastery is historically and architecturally significant as a traditional cultural property. It is also associated with the ethnic, social and religious life of Russian Orthodox Christians in America. The 750-acre property is distinguished by a Byzantine style cathedral, chapels, three cemeteries, boundary crosses, vernacular buildings, and agricultural and scenic lands, and was included on the Preservation League’s 2008 Seven to Save list. Preservation consultant Rachel Bliven of Canajoharie and photographer Andrew Baugnet of Cooperstown will complete the project.

ROCKLAND COUNTY

Town of Ramapo

A grant of $10,000 toward a historic structure report for the Crow House, included on the Preservation League’s 2007 Seven to Save list. Designed and built in 1920-1921 by ceramic artist Henry Varnum Poor for his residence and studio, the appearance of this unique home was heavily influenced by French farmhouses Poor saw during World War I. The interior retains Poor’s furnishings and artwork and many handcrafted elements – ceramic doorknobs, carved wooden door latches, and an Art Deco bathroom installed in 1931. The Town of Ramapo acquired this property using Community Preservation Funds. The report, to be prepared by the architectural firm of Jan Hird Pokorny of New York City, will guide future restoration work.

SARATOGA COUNTY

Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation

A grant of $9,000 toward a cultural resource survey of the Saratoga Race Course, included on the Preservation League’s 2008 Seven to Save list.Saratoga Race Course is the oldest continuously-operating Thoroughbred racetrack in the country. The property has a wealth of Victorian structures, including the turreted grandstand, and many horse barns dating from 1864. This enclave was the “summer camp” for the horses of early racing luminaries -- Vanderbilt, Astor, Whitney and others. The survey, to be completed by Landmark Consulting of Albany, will gather data about the properties to ensure that future changes have no adverse impact on the historic context of the complex.

Village of Round Lake

A grant of $5,000 toward a Historic American Engineering Survey of the Ferris Tracker Organ at the Round Lake Auditorium. The Round Lake Auditorium was built in 1885 for a Methodist Meeting Camp and expanded in 1888 with an annex to house the Ferris Tracker Pipe Organ. The organ was purchased from Calvary Episcopal Church in New York City and may have been designed by architect James Renwick. The project will result in the completion of a history, drawings, and photography by the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER). HAER staff notes that “a pipe organ, one of the earliest mechanical engineering creations, has never been documented by HAER and this fine example would be an excellent candidate.”

STEUBEN COUNTY

Market Street Restoration Agency, (MSRA)

Grant of $2,400 toward a cultural resource survey of the City of Corning. Although Corning is nationally acclaimed for its downtown revitalization successes, in recent years there has been growing interest in citywide and neighborhood preservation programs. The reconnaissance level survey will be completed by consultant Nancy Goblet of Sterling, Virginia and will provide documentation that can be used for rehabilitation strategies and possible future local landmark designations by the city’s new preservation commission.

ULSTER COUNTY

Town of Rochester

A grant of $4,500 for an intensive-level survey of historic farmsteads in the Town of Rochester. Settled in the 17th century, farming was the primary use of the town’s land through the 19th century. Working farms remain in the Rondout Valley and historic farmhouses and outbuildings are still in use, including some of the town’s distinctive stone houses. The survey, to be completed by Larson Fisher Associates of Woodstock, will allow the local preservation commission to foster local designations, advance some properties to the State and National Registers, and develop a preservation plan for the town’s rural landscape. The project complements land preservation efforts already underway by the Open Space Institute.