Thursday, June 29, 2023 – ANOTHER HISTORIC CITY OWNED BUILDING THREATENED

By admin

FROM THE ARCHIVES

 

THURSDAY, JUNE 29, 2023

ISSUE#  1026

THE FIGHT TO PRESERVE

CONEY ISLAND HOSPITAL’S

OLDEST BUILDING

UNTAPPED NEW YORK

WE ARE NOW ON TIK TOK AND INSTAGRAM!

INSTAGRAM @ roosevelt_island_history

TIK TOK @ rooseveltislandhsociety
CHECK OUT OUR TOUR OF BLACKWELL HOUSE ON TIC TOK

THE ORIGINAL HAMMETT PAVILION, BEFORE AN ADDITIONAL FLOOR WAS ADDED.
 

Hospitals are epicenters of care. However, do we care about hospital buildings where we’ve received care? The Hammet Pavilion was the first building constructed for Coney Island Hospital. It opened in 1910 to serve the South Brooklyn community. Now, the building is at risk of being demolished. We sat down with Brooklyn architect Jane McGroarty to talk about why she and her team are trying to preserve this historic structure.

After Superstorm Sandy damaged Coney Island Hospital in 2012, FEMA and the city invested $923 million to build the new Ruth Bader Ginsburg Hospital. The new hospital building, which broke ground in 2018 and opened in May 2023, was designed to withstand a major storm. It features a flood-resilient elevated Emergency Department on the 2nd floor. It is the first new public hospital in New York City to be built in 40 years, marking a new era in healthcare services for Brooklyn.

With newer and better facilities, the hospital announced in 2021 that the old Hammett Building would come down. Renovation is too costly and not as attractive as a flagship modern glass building. Reports say that the demolition of the Hammet Pavilion will make way for a protective flood wall and space for an open-air courtyard.

“It was a big deal when it opened…they had this grand opening and it was all kind of decorated,” McGroarty said, “so it’s a shame to just, you know, dump it down the trash heap.”

Furthermore, McGroarty praises the Hammett Building as “a physical manifestation of the social and healthcare aspirations of early 20th century Brooklyn.” Brooklyn architect Frank Helmle and his partner- the Helmle & Huberty firm- designed building. McGroarty affectionately nicknames Helmle “Brooklyn’s unsung hero.” The prolific architect is responsible not just for the design of the Hammett building, but also of Greenpoint Savings Bank, the Kings County, Brownsville, and East New York hospitals, as well as buildings in Park Slope, Prospect Heights. One of his most famous buildings is the exquisite Italian-Renaissance style Boathouse in Prospect Park. The Hammett Pavilion is part of Helmle’s legacy embedded into Brooklyn’s cultural and physical fabric.

The Hammett Pavilion was constructed in yellow pressed brick with a 600-foot frontage on Ocean Parkway. The Neoclassical façade is tidy and restrained, speaking to the intended cleanliness within. The projecting central bay wall is adorned with Doric pilasters and entablature whose frieze engraves ‘CONEY ISLAND HOSPITAL.’ In the 1930s, the building was sensitively raised from three to five stories. This addition is almost unnoticeable and blends seamlessly into the original construction. 

McGroarty and her team are campaigning to have the Hammett Pavilion landmarked, and have submitted a proposal to the Landmarks Preservation Commission. In order to drum up more community support for the preservation, McGroarty created an online petition, which you can sign here. When exactly the building is set to be torn down is unclear. Untapped New York has reached out to NYC Health + Hospitals for comment but has yet to hear back.

“Once you tear down a building, it’s gone from people’s memories… we can save things.” McGroarty said. 

EDITORIAL
Preservation of the Hammett Pavilion is  important to Brooklyn and New York medical history, Unfortunately our city has a terrible record on preserving municipal buildings and demolishing them or just letting them rot seems to occur too often.  Please support the effort by signing the online petition highlighted above.

WEDNESDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY

U THANT ATOL OFF THE COAST OF THE ISLAND
GLORIA HERMAN, ARON EISENPREISS, SUMIT KAUR, AND ED LITCHER GOT IT!!!

THURSDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY

SEND YOUR RESPONSE TO:
ROOSEVELTISLANDHISTORY@GMAIL.COM

Text by Judith Berdy
Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS
Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website
Edited by Melanie Colter and Deborah Dorff

All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated

MAYA LEVANON-PHOTOS TIK TOK & INSTAGRAM\
JUDITH BERDY
UNTAPPED NEW YORK

www.tiktok.com/@rooseveltislandhsociety
Instagram roosevelt_island_history

THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.

Copyright © 2022 Roosevelt Island Historical Society, All rights reserved.Our mailing address is:
rooseveltislandhistory@gmail.com