Preserving Brooklyn’s Past, One Historical Building at a Time
We are in the midst of a $31 million project to refurbish and upgrade a historic building on Flushing Avenue in Brooklyn that houses water tunnel and shaft maintenance staff. The three-story building exhibits a Neo‐Classical/Neo‐Egyptian style of architecture with an exterior façade featuring walls made of masonry, stone, and brick. Although the building is not designated a New York City Landmark, its appearance and design elements are of landmark quality and, therefore, we and our partners at the Department of Design and Construction (DDC) are endeavoring to refurbish, upgrade and preserve the building. Construction is anticipated to conclude in 2018.
Erected circa 1904, the building is roughly 105,000 square feet in size and occupies a full city block in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, bordered by Flushing Avenue, Kent Avenue, Little Nassau Street and Taaffe Place. The structure was designed by Warren & Wetmore, an influential architectural firm active in the early 20th century that also designed Grand Central Terminal, among other city landmarks.
The restoration includes masonry façade repair; a new roof; structural rehabilitation, including new steel framework and concrete for the garage floors and ramps; and repairs to the parapets and lintels of all windows. Additional work includes a new woman’s locker room and bathroom; the installation of handicap accessible ramps and lifts; new steel staircases, including railings and security cages; and new hot water heaters. The building currently houses office space, a machine shop, locker rooms and storage space for DEP’s water tunnel and shaft maintenance staff.
Originally, the facility was commissioned by the Street Cleaning Department, an early version of today’s Department of Sanitation. It cost approximately $300,000 to construct and included a blacksmith’s workshop, wheel-wright works, and 250 horse stalls. In 1934, the Department of Water Supply, Gas & Electricity purchased the building, then known as “Brooklyn Department of Street Cleaning’s Stable and Chateau,” from the Department of Sanitation. The Department of Water Supply, Gas & Electricity was consolidating their repair facilities at the time, which were spread across the borough, and chose the building as their new headquarters. The agency obtained over $400,000 in funding from the Works Progress Administration (part of then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s historic New Deal program) to completely retrofit the building in 1936.
By investing $31 million into the rehabilitation of this historic building, we will ensure that the staff that maintain the City’s critical water tunnels and shafts will be able to complete their work in a safe and efficient manner.
