WGPA

Hecla Iron Works, circa 1905

This weekend, WPA members Ward Dennis and Mary Habstritt will be leading a walking tour of Williamsburg & Greenpoint's Industrial Heritage for the Roebling Chapter of the Society for Industrial Archaeology. And, as these things happen, the Francis Morrone is also leading a tour of Williamsburg & Greenpoint for the Municipal Art Society immediately afterwards. So this Sunday you can double your Williamsburg & Greenpoint historic pleasure!

Williamsburg & Greenpoint's Industrial Heritage Walking Tour
Sunday, August 19, 1:00 – 4:00 pm.
This neighborhood's industrial and social history, as well as recent efforts to preserve its historic buildings, will be explored on this tour led by Mary Habstritt, Preservation Committee Chair, and Ward Dennis, historian and member of the Waterfront Preservation Alliance of Greenpoint & Williamsburg. Sites along the way will include the Williamsburg Bridge, Domino Sugar, the Austin, Nichols & Co. Warehouse, remnants of American Manufacturing Co., once the world’s largest rope factory (aka Greenpoint Terminal Market), and Eberhard Faber’s pencil plant.
Meet at the HSBC/Williamsburg Savings Bank, at 175 Broadway (corner of Driggs). Take the J,M,Z subway to Marcy Av. and walk west (toward the East River) on Broadway to the bank.

Greenpoint and Williamsburg -- Endangered Waterfront Tour
Date: Sunday, August 19
Time: 4:30 PM
Location: Meet at Manhattan and Greenpoint avenues, by the Greenpoint Ave. station of the G train, Brooklyn
Reservations: Not required
Tour fee: $15, $12 MAS members
For more information: http://www.mas.org, 212-935-2075
These once-bustling working waterfronts lost most of their shipping and manufacturing after World War II, and now even the ghostly remnants of days gone by are being swept aside by a ferocious tide of gentrification, rezoning, and rebuilding as developers reshape these historic waterfronts into enclaves of posh housing. This tour, sponsored by the Municipal Art Society, will look at the current and future redevelopment, and search for the bits left over from the past--some deserving of landmark status.
Leader: Francis Morrone, architectural historian.

You may remember that the proposed Eberhard Faber Historic District leaves out a few parcels. Part of a development project by Isaac Katan, two of the three parcels on West Street between Kent and Java have been demolished (shown in the foreground, above, pre-demolition), while the third (in the left background, above)has been altered, but not dramatically. It may be sloppy reporting, but this article on funding for the project would lead one to believe that LPC is designating the Katan site along with the rest of Eberhard Faber. Certainly they should - even with the proposed alterations, the Katan properties are part of Eberhard Faber's history.

The rebuilt Havemeyers & Elder's sugar refinery in the 1880s, reconstructed after the devastating 1882 fire.

Francis Morrone discusses the history of sugar refining in New York and the fight to preserve the Domino Sugar Refinery in Thursday's Observer. An interesting point that we had not considered before: with the closing of the Domino refinery in 2004, 2005 was the first time in 275 years that sugar was not produced in New York City (dating back to the founding of William Bayard's refinery in 1730).

Bedford Avenue Theatre, 109 South 6th (1891)

You may have noticed that things have been pretty quiet around here of late. We have been enjoying the summer and the cool river breezes here on the west end of Long Island, and getting ready to pick things up for the Autumn. In the next few days we will try to catch you up the local preservation and development news you might have missed.

In the meantime, though, we will leave you with these images of the recently renovated former Bedford Avenue Theatre. Located on South 6th, just west of Bedford Avenue, this building was graced with a peeling coat of yellow paint - picturesque in its own right, but nothing compared to the beautiful facade that has been uncovered.

Bedford Avenue Theatre, detail

As we understand it, the building has been leased by Maxim, which operates a health club on Driggs between North 9th and North 10th (in a converted loft building). The Maxxim folks have done a great job in reclaiming this faded beauty. The window openings at the second story are unfortunate, but the rest of the work is a great addition to the neighborhood.

The Bedford Avenue Theatre was constructed in 1891 by builder W. W. Cole (the architect is not known). Its inaugural performance featured the actress Fanny Rice in A Jolly Surprise. The theatre's tenure as a theatre was cut short - literally - by the construction of the Williamsburg Bridge. The right of way for the bridge, which was opened in 1903, cut off the back half of the theatre, stage and all. The building is listed in the AIA Guide as the Fruitcrest Corporation building, after its most recent industrial tenant.