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Historic Preservation | Honor Award Center for the Women of New York
SOURCES OF PUBLIC FINANCING The project was initiated in 2007 by the founder of The Center for the Women of New York (The Center). With a license agreement to restore the city-owned building and $1.5 million in State and City funds, the project was launched to provide the new headquarters at the historic site managed by the NYC Parks Department. These first sums raised came from City Council Assembly members. Support from public agencies and other electeds followed from The New York City Council (46%) and the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (17%). Later funding was provided by the Queens Borough President’s Office (37%). Although there were some private donors, 100% of the construction costs were funded from the public sources listed.
SUBMITTED BY Page Ayres Cowley Architecture, LLC | New York, NY
Photo Credit | © Ines Leong / L-INES Photo, 2020 and Courtesy of PACA, LLC
Historic Preservation | Honor Award Center for the Women of New York | Fort Totten, New York
Transitioning an Historic Residential Facility Into a Living Museum.
As the new home for the Center for the Women of New York, a non-profit organization, this facility includes a research and conference center and a living museum, dedicated to recording and aiding women’s struggles to achieve tory of the women’s movement in the areas of economy, legal resources, culture, education, religion, the arts, sports, labor, business and all policies and practices that affect the lives of women and their families.
This structure contains two separate buildings joined by a party wall at the center. Each building contained five individual apartments, two per floor with a shared bathroom and kitchen in between, and an attic that had its own bathroom and kitchen. Each building had its own original staircase; both were retained to provide two means of egress by creating a connection at the center party wall on the first floor. Ideally suited to the room sizes required for the activities of this non-profit organization, the original building plan concept was retained. Bathrooms and kitchens located upstairs were removed to eliminate redundant and obsolete amenities while new ADA facilities were added to the main floor including a small kitchenette and restrooms. Access to the existing porch was made possible by a compact ADA lift installed to one side of the symmetrical porch. Lastly, original pocket doors at the full equality in our society. There is exhibition space for the his
parlor floor (main level) serve to create larger gathering spaces when needed. The smaller rooms have been re-purposed as offices, classrooms and restrooms. What is the greater social value of the project? As the founder of the Center for the Women of New York envisioned and using her own words, “this building will be a great asset not only to the women in this metropolitan area but will be accessible to the surrounding community. We believe that
this historic landmark site will be the only building completely dedicated to full equality for women between the New York Metropolitan area and Seneca Falls in upper New York State.” How does the project contribute to the life of its surrounding community?
Building 207 is just one of over 100 buildings built within the Civil War era at Fort Totten (1852-1868), now known as Fort Totten Park, a 136-acre site. The US Army Reserve maintains a Support Battalion at this location along with a New York Police Department K-9 Unit and NYC Fire Department Training Center. The NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission designated Fort Totten an historic district in 1999 and is eligible for entry on the National Register of Historic Places. The adaptive re-use will also demonstrate how historic residential scaled military structures within a larger historic district context can be compatible with other former army and barrack building use. n
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