Architect rendering of 147 St. Felix Street. Image credit: Think Architecture
Commissioners praised design of proposed three-story residential building for relating to historic district in an innovative contemporary manner. On January 19, 2016, the Landmarks Preservation Commission considered a proposal for a new building on a vacant lot at 147 St. Felix Street, at the corner of Hanson Place. The site lies at the edge of the Brooklyn Academy of Music Historic District. A mid-19th century rowhouse originally on the lot was lost in 1917, and the reproduction that replaced it was demolished due to dangerous conditions following a water main break in 1999.
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- Proposed BAM theater on Ashland Place. Image: H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture.
BAM to restore former Salvation Army building’s facade and construct six-story rear addition. On June 16, 2009, Landmarks approved the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s proposal to build a new theater by renovating and expanding a two-story building at 321 Ashland Place within the Brooklyn Academy of Music Historic District. The site, occupied by the classically-inspired red brick building built by the Salvation Army in 1927, lies between BAM’s Howard Gilman Opera House and the individually- landmarked Williamsburgh Savings Bank. The plan would restore and alter the facade, demolish the building’s rear extension, and construct a six-story building containing a 255-seat theater in its place.
At the hearing, BAM President Karen Brooks Hopkins testified that the academy was the oldest performing arts center in the City, and that the proposed project, along with other renovations in the past decade, would ensure that its mission continued into the 21st century. Hopkins stated that the new building would provide “an intimate performance space” unlike any other BAM facility, and added that BAM would partially devote the space to community and education programs. (read more…)
