LPC Calendars for Designation ‘Borough Hall Skyscraper’ Historic District
Borough Hall 1905
Court Street
Franklin Building
Municipal Building
The Conservancy is pleased to report that the Landmarks Preservation Commission has at last decided to calendar for designation an important Historic District that was first identified and submitted to the Commission four years ago by the Conservancy and our partners at the Brooklyn Heights Association and MAS.
“The blocks between Court and Clinton Streets contain wonderful examples of historic civic and commercial architecture including Brooklyn’s finest row of vintage skyscrapers that form an ornate and imposing backdrop to the adjacent Civic Center buildings,” said Peg Breen, Conservancy President.
Working with our neighborhood partners including preservationist Otis Pearsall and architect Tom van den Bout, a carefully researched report was put together describing each building within the district and making the case for historic district status.
Spanning almost a century these structures stand testament to the distinct character of Brooklyn’s historic business district. They tell the story of the development of the Boro’s commercial core prior to, and after, consolidation into Greater NYC in 1898.
It is interesting to note that forty years ago, when the boundaries for the Brooklyn Heights Historic District were drawn up, the commercial eastern edge was excluded as it was felt that the historic district should be primarily residential in character. This left the great bank buildings and office buildings on Montague Street, Court Street and Remsen Street unprotected. It was the intention at the time to revisit the commercial edge once the dust had settled—but that has never happened until now. Unfortunately, one of the consequences of the delay was the demolition in 2004 of the exquisite 1857 Brooklyn Gaslight Company Headquarters (later St Francis College’s McGarry Library). Today the adjacent neo-Romanesque Franklin Building designed in 1889 by the well-known Parfitt Brothers firm is vacant and under threat. Its survival is surely dependent on the passage of the Historic District.
Please see the adjacent slideshow for details of some of the buildings that fall in the proposed Boro Hall/Skyscraper Historic District.
