Letter of Support from the League and National Trust following Building Conditions Report of Brooks-Park

Click here for a PDF of this support letter.

April 3, 2023

Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc and Members of the Town Board
Town of East Hampton
159 Pantigo Road
East Hampton, New York 11937

Dear Supervisor Van Scoyoc and Members of the East Hampton Town Board,

The National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Preservation League of New York State were pleased to learn that Michael Devonshire of Jan Hird Pokorny Associates presented a Building Conditions Report of the James Brooks and Charlotte Park Studios and Residence to the East Hampton Town Board on March 21, 2023.

We understand that the Town Council was supportive of the Building Conditions Report, expressing a desire to stabilize and restore the property. Our organizations, along with local, statewide, and national advocates, are requesting clarity on next steps and a timeline to preserve this collection of historically significant structures where Charlotte Park and James Brooks, two very important Abstract Expressionist artists, lived and worked.

The report notes that “the rich cultural importance of the Brooks Park association with the site renders it deserving [of] a restorative approach, emphasizing a period of interpretation of the 1970s-1990s be taken, in order to retain as much as possible of the artifactual remains of the buildings in which these two immensely gifted artists performed their acts of creation.” We could not agree more and urge the Town to take meaningful steps to ensure the long-term preservation and re-use of this property.

We continue to have serious concern for the buildings’ condition if they remain poorly maintained, and urge, in the strongest possible terms, the Town of East Hampton to take swift and significant steps to stabilize and protect the Brooks-Park Studios and Residence, while determining a restoration plan. The Town has the authority as well as the funding necessary to stabilize the buildings, through the Peconic Bay Region Community Preservation Fund.

We thank you for your ongoing attention to the future of the Brooks Park Home and Studios and we look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Seri Worden
Senior Field Director, National Trust for Historic Preservation

Katie Eggers Comeau
VP for Policy and Preservation, Preservation League of NYS