"Hi! Please post the following on the blog as soon as you can. Sorry to inform you on such short notice regarding Monday's meeting at 8 PM at Elmhurst Memorial Hall. The Queens Preservation Council is encouraging a preservation-minded strategy for the Elmhurst Carnegie Library, and the architects will share their proposal which calls for its demolition. Thanks!
Elmhurst's "Carnegie" Library (86-01 Broadway), which has celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2006, is now imminently endangered. This is one of the few potential landmarks left in Elmhurst with the rampant and tasteless development, and sites of nominal significance. A proposal is being considered that would replace this architectural, cultural, & historical gem in its entirety with a new & larger facility. The architects have considered a few options initially: 1. Building an addition to the existing library, but they encountered difficulty in extending the floor plates. 2. Preservation of the facade by incorporating it into the new design, but they felt it would be too costly.
The Elmhurst Library was funded by Andrew Carnegie. Construction began in 1904, it opened on March 31, 1906, and was designed in the Georgian Revival style. Furthermore, this is the only surviving Carnegie branch in Queens designed by the architectural firm, Lord & Hewlett, and it is a noteworthy remaining example of their work. There were 7 Carnegie branches in Queens originally, but they are few & far between today.
The Newtown Civic Association is holding a public meeting on Monday, May 21st at 8 PM at Elmhurst Memorial Hall. It will feature a presentation by the architects, followed by Kim Kindya of the Queens Preservation Council. This will give community residents, the Queens Public Library, our elected officials, & borough-wide preservationists, a chance to weigh in on both sides of the story.
Please attend the meeting, & learn about methods in which the Elmhurst Carnegie Library can undergo the much-needed expansion, without compromising the building's historic integrity. It's been proven numerous times that preservation & development can co-exist. Help save a piece of history!
For More Info:
Elmhurst Memorial Hall
88-24 43rd Ave
(718) 429-9298
The intersection is Whitney Ave & 43rd Ave, which is a couple of blocks from the Elmhurst Ave subway stop on the R,V, G lines."
What is Diana Chapin, the newly appointed LPC Commissioner from Queens, and executive director of the Queens Library Foundation, doing about this?
6 comments:
Queens Preservation Council.....Queensborough Preservation League.....Queens Historical Society.....yadda.....yadda....yadda!
Meetings......meetings.....more meetings.....whine and cheese parties......yawn..... and perhaps a few demonstrations!
Iron deficiency anemia......TIRED BLOOD !
What's your plan of ACTION boys?
There are two commissioners from Queens. Why doesn't someone in the newspapers contact them?!?!?!
It would be interesting to hear the views if the 2 Queens commissioners. Will they be present at the meeting? What position will they take? We'll just have to wait & see.
Those 2 commissioners are real Queens-ites like I'm the Prince of Wales!
They'll do what they're told to do and vote the way Bloomberg wants them to!
That's why they were appointed to their positions in the first place!
C'mon boys.....let's grow up and get real!
"Those 2 commissioners are real Queens-ites like I'm the Prince of Wales!"
Oh no, that cannot be! The preservation community has placed such stock on the landmark commissioner selection (and not the politicans, media, or the agendas of the Manhattan community themselves) that is holding back Queens.
Now we have two commissioners, things will change, right?
ha ha ha ha ha ha
What's the latest on this?
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