Friday, April 22, 2011

Admirals' Row in limbo

From the NY Times:

In recent months, preservationists and some advocates in the neighborhood have embraced the Navy Yard corporation’s plan, agreeing to save the shed and just one town house — Quarters B, the oldest, but the one in the best condition — and tear down the remaining buildings. The cleared land would then make way for a supermarket that the 13,000 residents of the three nearby housing projects have long desired, a retail plaza and a new light-industry building.

The entire plan’s price tag is $70 million, with $10 million dedicated to renovating the two historic buildings, whose costs the developer would pay as part of the lease.

But the hope that the steady decay might finally be stanched has been set back by the National Guard’s resistance toward allowing any work that would stabilize the dilapidated Admiral’s Row structures as long as the Guard remains the custodian.

The property cannot be transferred to the Navy Yard corporation until a historical and environmental review is completed. How long that process will take is unclear, and until then Admiral’s Row will remain in limbo.

2 comments:

Joe said...

Like the Gatsby house in Sands Point they are gonna let it rot then say it cant behaved.
This is happening all over.
For example
The Gatsby house had holes drilled in the roof and gutter down spouts removed to insure it would be destroyed and condemned in only 4 years. I was in it and saw the holes, they busted right through the dormer ceilings to the roof in strategic places.
The owner removed every fixture, fireplace mantle and parquet floor first.

Anonymous said...

No surprise here: Foxes are given custody of the chicken coops.

Neglect eventually making restoration impossible was the preordained result.