Brooklyn Eagle 6/10/09
The Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) last Tuesday approved changes for the individually-landmarked former City of Brooklyn Fire Department Headquarters at 365 Jay St. in Downtown Brooklyn.
The LPC unanimously approved, in a 9-0 vote, the replacement of the building’s historic doors, but stipulated that “a materials test be completed at the historic interior pocket doors, that the proposed wood species match the result of the materials test, and that salvaged or recreated prismatic glass be installed at the transoms and sidelights,” according to Lisi de Bourbon, LPC press secretary.
Currently owned by the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), the six-story, 106-foot-tall building will be undergoing interior renovations and exterior facade work.
“We are working with the Pratt Area Community Council [PACC] to renovate the building,” said Seth Donlin, an HPD spokesperson, who added that the PACC will retain an architect and has already secured funding — Resolution A City Council funds — for the project.
“We’d like to eventually hand over control to the PACC and turn this into a tenant-managed co-op through our Tenant Interim Lease (TIL) program,” he said.
The landmark was converted to residential use in 1990 to house some of the residents displaced by the development of MetroTech, according to Donlin.
Previously under the control of the Economic Development Corp. (EDC), it was leased to several nonprofit groups over the years.
“HPD took over the control of it in December 2005 when the last lessee opted out of the housing business,” he said.
According to the AIA Guide to New York City, it was designed by Frank Freeman and built in 1892. It is described as follows: This is a building to write home about ... a powerful Romanesque Revival, brick, granite and tile structure.
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