I wrote in an earlier blog, A Dreamland of Fun, Food and Folic, about saving the Coney Island Pumping Station. Here’s newsy news folks . . .
Preservationists and Coney Island residents want the Coney Island Pumping Station to be landmarked, renovated and repurposed for the community’s use. Photos by Lore Croghan of Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Back in the day, the Coney Island Pumping Station saved many lives and properties by providing high-pressure water to firefighters.
Educator Merryl Kafka wanted to drive that point home visually — so she wore a firefighter’s helmet to testify at a city Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) hearing on October 8th.
“Coney has lost much of its architectural framework, but we can save this 1938 modern masterpiece preserved as public art … with a new purpose,” said Kafka, the co-founder of the Rachel Carson High School of Coastal Studies in Coney Island. “Let this building be the one.”
Preservationists from the Art Deco Society of New York and numerous other groups turned out to testify that they want the Coney Island Pumping Station to be landmarked, renovated and repurposed for the community’s use.
The pumping station at 2301 Neptune Ave. was one of seven Brooklyn historic sites that have been on the LPC’s calendar for consideration as landmarks for many years without a decision from the preservation agency.
The hearing was a first step in an intensive LPC campaign to clear up that calendar backlog. There are 95 properties citywide on the backlog list.
The lozenge-shaped Arte Moderne-style pumping station was the only public work designed by prominent architect Irwin Chanin. It boosted the water pressure available for firefighters in Coney Island, which was frequently stricken by devastating conflagrations.
Merryl Kafka wears a firefighter’s helmet to the October 8th Landmarks Preservation commission hearing about the Coney Island Pumping Station. BEST HAT. EVER!
Decorative Art Deco-style limestone statues of winged horses were removed many years ago from the long-decommissioned pumping station and loaned to the Brooklyn Museum.
“The Elgin Marbles are waiting at the Brooklyn Museum for reassembly,” testified Sean Khorsandi, an alumnus of Cooper Union, like Chanin himself.
“The power lies with you,” Khorsandi told commissioners.
“Give a landmark to a neighborhood that basically is NYCHA public housing,” Dick Zigun, known as the unofficial mayor of Coney Island, said at the hearing.
Does this interest you? What is your take on saving America’s history?
Coney Island Pumping Station’s fans muster at Landmarks hearing
This is a repeat of this blog today 6/8/16, with the Good news as of October 8, 2015. The Pumping Station has been saved. Here’s the building now, and my oil painting of the site.
Top: Original existing pumping station on Neptune Ave in Coney Island and below: my oil painting on anodized aluminum 12×24″
Thanks for this interesting post, Gail. I sincerely hope that the Coney Island Pumping Station as well as the other sites awaiting landmark designation do not got the way of many of the most beautiful historic homes in Bayside and Flushing Queens. I fear this Landmarks Commission has more to do with politics and big business and less to do with history and preservation. One of my favorite things to do is stand in front of a historic structure and envision what it looked like “back in the day.” I reconstruct that from old photos, and sometimes vestiges like gardens still exist. Once such treasure is the Voelker Orth Museum in Flushing.
Carole, thank you for your comment. I found it and approved, and here you are. I would think the home you are talking about are Victorian. That would most likely be the oldest in those New York Communities, unlike Connecticut. This state preserves its centuries old homes. I never heard of that museum. Did you grow up in Queens? How do you know about these buildings and homes. What interested you about them? I had an aunt that lived in Forest Hills. The homes there were built around the 1940’s and were English Tudor type. Thank you.
It is a lovely Victorian home and garden in the middle of an urban wasteland and huge ugly apartment buildings. The owners had it landmarked and endowed it.
Interesting! I wonder what they would use it for? Thanks, Gail.
Kate, thank you. Isn’t it interesting and touching, this save our history? Well, the Coney Island Pumping Station was built for the purpose of putting out the many fires in the amusement park, and according to history, there were fires often. It was built in the very popular, at the time, Art Deco style. The architectural community, Art Deco Society, design community, and those that love history are pleased that the building has been saved. They will get artists to use the building. That’s how buildings like these get back their life.
I love the idea of repurposing the building for the communities use. It’s amazing that so many people are passionate about preservation of architectural masterpieces like this. Kudos to you and your friend for stepping up and speaking out. It’s not like they need another Walmart or strip mall in its place. Why are corporate and government types so quick to destroy the very things that have made the past worth remembering? I am all for up-cycling!
Paula, thank you. Re-purposing buildings. Good way to say it. Lots of money is needed, so they are seeking people to step up, help renovate and rent. Artists are usually the first ones to offer. Let’s hope they get what needed to revamp this beautiful piece of architectural history