My Central New York

2012-02-04T08:02:00.000-08:00

Preservation Association of Central New York (PACNY)

Annual Meeting

Sunday, February 19, 2012, 2-4pm.

Barnes Mansion

930 James Street

Syracuse, NY

Syracuse, NY. The Barnes Mansion. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber

Featured Speaker: Mayor Stephanie Miner

Join the PACNY board, members and friends for a review of preservation-related events over the past year. Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner is the featured speaker.

PACNY members and friends brave the cold for a behind-the-scenes tour of the former Central High School last (March 2011). PACNY will announce its 2012 schedule of tours and lectures at the annual meeting (Photo: Samuel D. Gruber)

You’ll also have an opportunity to enjoy the Barnes Mansion. Built in 1853 as the first home on the hill on James Street, this Italianate residence was largely remodeled in 1878 and 1882 by Joseph Lyman Silsbee. In 1893-94, George and Rebecca Barnes's daughter, Mary Elizabeth Barnes, hired Henry Wilkinson to add a third story and a Colonial Revival façade. Purchased by the Corinthian Foundation in 1947 and occupied by LeMoyne College for one year, the house narrowly escaped demolition in 1948. It is now the home of the George and Rebecca Barnes foundation.

Please support PACNY by becoming a member to create a larger voice of Preservation in Central New York. Membership forms will be available. Donations accepted.

Lecture: Sam Gruber on New York Synagogues at OHA, Sunday, Jan. 15th

2012-01-14T11:02:00.000-08:00

Sam Gruber to Lecture on New York Synagogues at OHA, Sunday, Jan. 15th (2 pm)

In conjunction with the exhibition "Landmarks of New York" I will present the lecture "Restoring Splendor: Synagogue Architecture in New York," about NY religious architecture styles, particularly as found in landmark synagogues. In the past two decades hundreds of historic synagogues have been documented and scores listed as local or National Register historic sites. More importantly, many have been magnificently restored.

The illustrated lecture is at 2:00 p.m., and is co-sponsored by OHA and the Preservation Association of Central New York (PACNY). It is free to the public.

The Onondaga Historical Association is located at 321 Montgomery Street, Syracuse.

Recycling T. Aaron Levy Middle School / Central Tech

2011-11-20T14:00:00.000-08:00

Recycling T. Aaron Levy Middle School / Central Tech
by Samuel D. Gruber (all photos copyright Samuel D. Gruber)

When most people think about saving old Syracuse schools, it is Blodgett and the former Central High School that most likely come to mind. PACNY and OHA sponsored a discussion on the fates of these buildings last year.

Much closer to (my) home is the former T. Aaron Levy Middle School on Harvard Place between Fellows and Westmorland Avenues. Built in 1924 as the William Nottingham Junior High School (soon after High School), the building is now serving as the temporary home of the Institute of Technology. As far as I know, plans are still on the books for the Institute to return downtown to new wing adajcent to the old Central High School (Central Tech). That will leave the Harvard Place building empty.

My solution - first thought of last year by my daughter when Nottignham High School senior - is to move the local Food Coop (Syracuse Real Food Cooperative, Inc.) to the school, and develop the school building in a public-private partnership. The ground floor would allow an expanded store, and the upper floors would make fine apartments - or perhaps one wing could be apartments and the other studios.

The Food Coop, now located a ten minute walk away on 618 Kensington Ave., had its plans to expand in the former Hematology / Oncology Center (previously Young Israel Synagogue) on Fellows at East Genesee sctoched by neighbors worried about the increase in trafifc - by delivery trucks and shoppers. I also thought the price that the Coop was going to pay for ther property was rather steep, too, considering that they would have remodel, and then their members would be stuck paying the bill for a long time.

Moving the Food Coop to the former Nottingham/Levy would be a much better solution. The ground floors are already large and airy, there is an adequate parking and loading docks, and ghe neighbors have experienced students for decades - so how could they possibly complain about MORE noise and litter. Since the city already owns the school, they could lease the space to the COOP, provided the COOP paid for renovations. The money then planned for a purchase price could go right into developing the new store. There is a kitchen too, to encourage a catering business.

If the COOP just needed to use ther cafeteria space, other ground floor spaces for might be leased to other tenants. Imagine a bakery on the premises and the smell of fresh bread in the neighborhood. Perhaps the gymnasium could be preserved for community use. or leased out for recreation purpose, perhaps through the Westcott Community Center. The playing field could remain green space for organized sports - or it could be landscaped as a recreational park.

The City should be able to recoup costs for insurance and maintenance, and some repair, through partnering with a private developer who could develop the second and third floors for residential or studio use. There are already several former schools on the Eastside that have been very effectively turned into housing, and one look at the exmaple fo the Delevan Center downtown for effective conversion to studios.

Over the past year I've begun to talk to a number of people in the neighborhood casually about this idea - and they seem to like it. The next step is to for neighbors brainstorm with school and city officials, and some experienced developers and architects.

I really think this can be done. What do you think?

A Little History

In the early 20th century the City of Syracuse was expanding rapidly, and the influx off immigrants put a strain on the school system. Building new schools was one of the big political issues of the day (sound familiar?). Under Mayor Walrath a massive building program began, bu the mayor nad School Board (under Superindendent Percy Hughes) argued about the number, size, and placement of new schools (sound familiar?). The Herald reported on May 18, 1923 that the city finally decided on the Fellows Avenue site for the William Nottingham Junior High School, after protests of plans to build the school within Thornden Park, off south Beech. Mayor Walrath battled Hughes over which plan to use for the building - Walrath pushed for a plan by Gordon Wright employed in the 19th Ward, which was less expensive and housed more students. Hughes and board held out successfully for a plan by Albert Brockway, first for the Thornden site, and then settling for Fellows Avenue. The school opened in September 1924 (see Syracuse Herald, Sunday, September 07, 1924). By the end of the decade is was renamed William Nottingham High School.

In 1953 the district opened a new high school on Meadowbrook at East Genesee, the first new school built since 1930, and transfered the Nottingham name. The old school was renamed the T. Aaron Levy Junior High School, later changed to T Aaron Levy Middle School, a name it retained until 2009, when Levy was disbanded, with 7th and 7th grader attending other schools, and the school became the temporary home of Central Tech. T. Aaron Levy had served on the School Board in the early part of the century. He was reformer, and worked hard to united different enthnic and relgious groups in the city into a civic community. Levy advised the Roosevelt adminstration and was intrumental in Pioneer homes being erected as one the first public housing proejcts in the United States. Levy was also Jewish, a member of Temple Society of Concord. That probably counted for a lot in the school naming, since the population of the neighborhood in the 1950s was significantly Jewish, and Concord's Rabbi Benjamin Freidman lived just up the street. Friedman also participated in the dedication of the new Nottingham on October 19, 1953.

More Terracotta: Rite Aid (Former Woolworth's) on South Salina Could be Beautiful

2011-11-19T09:09:00.000-08:00

Syracuse, NY. Former Woolworth's Store (photo: Samuel D. Gruber, 2011)

Syracuse, NY. Old postcard view of South Salina Street with
Woolworth's on the left.

More Terracotta: Rite Aid (Former Woolworth's) on South Salina Could be Beautiful

After posting about the Byrne Square Building, I've been asked about other terracotta buildings in Syracuse. There are several, but the best known, but also most forlorn, is the 70-year-old former F. W. Woolworth's store, built in 1941 at South Salina and East Fayette Streets, where it replaced an earlier Woolworth store. The store closed in 1979 and was sold to the Rite Aid Drugstore chain, which still occupies the structure.

Much of the terracotta skin of the building remains visible, and some of the molded terracotta decoration. More of the facade and original trademark clock may still survive beneath the wraparound Rite Aid sign. The building was included in the recently (October 2009) designated South Salina Street Downtown Historic District. Listing, however, has not yet brought any change to the facade, though it may encourage repair and replacement of elements the next time the property changes hands.

The architecture of Woolworth's was all about the skin. Inside, was a large space (created by the steel frame construction) that allowed changing displays. Still, a lot more care went into the decor of the 1940s five and dime - with its display counters and long soda fountain - then we'll ever see in any new Family Dollar or other contemporary drug or discount store. Perhaps the best way to experience that old-style interior now is to watch The Best Years of Our Lives for the scenes where Dana Andrews is working as a soda jerk. Those long counter with stools on poles are now cultural icons, still replicated for new style diners and hamburger joints. They were also battlegrounds in a changing society - the scenes of sit-ins during the civil rights movement. The students who sat-in at the Woolworth's in Greensboro, North Carolina turned drugstore design into social action, and led to the desegregation of the Woolworth's counter.

By comparing the old postcard with the recent view, you can see how much more appealing the old street level storefront windows were. They were scaled to the passing pedestrian, and decorated to lure the passersby to stop, stare and then enter the store.

The Art Deco facade of Woolworth's was considered stylish and jazzy when it was built. In the 1940s, just before America went to war, the country was beginning to build again, and for the most part what was "modern" just picked up where building had stopped with the Great Depression (think State Tower Building). Woolworth's had fared better than most companies in the Depression. Woolworth's sold things people needed - at an affordable price.

The new Syracuse Woolworth's store opened on January 29, 1942, less than two months after the united States entered World War II. Commercial construction was again mostly halted as the country directed resources to the war effort. When building resumed after 1945 a new form of modernism was ascendant - linked more closely to the functional industrial architecture of the interwar years as than the flashy glamor of Art Deco and Art Moderne.

Exhibition: Onondaga County Landmarks Opens Tonight

2011-11-17T03:45:00.001-08:00

Exhibition: Onondaga County Landmarks Opens Tonight

OHA is opening two new exhibits tonight (Friday, November 18) dealing with historic architecture. The first is entitled "The Landmarks of New York." This is a traveling exhibit of 90 framed photographs of official New York City Landmarks, curated by Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel. The opening event will be this Friday from 4 to 7 pm and also feature the curator signing copies of her new book of the same title, which is a complete compendium of NYC's designated landmarks and historic districts.

Accompanying the New York City photo exhibit, OHA has installed a supplementary exhibit featuring 20 framed photographs of "Onondaga County Landmarks." It is a more subjective exhibition, not driven by municipal landmark status, as is the NYC exhibition. However, the local photos and buildings are every bit as interesting.

The exhibits will be up until January 31, 2012. Make a point to stop by the OHA and see if one of your favorite buildings made the Landmarks of Onondaga County show.

Meadowbrook Modernism, a Closer Look

2011-11-17T03:05:00.000-08:00

Syracuse, NY. 1920s (?) Tudor-style apartment building at Meadowbrook Drive and Brookford Rd.

Syracuse, NY. 1960s (?) apartment buildings on Meadowbrook Drive betwen Brookford and Hurlburt Roads.

Meadowbrook Modernism, a Closer Look
by Samuel D. Gruber (photos: Samuel D. Gruber (Nov 2011)

Both my children attended Nottingham High School, so I've been driving up and down Meadowbrook Drive for years. Sometimes I've walked and biked the miles or so between the school and my house, but it wasn't until last week when I was out looking at bird houses that I really stopped to look at the row of modern style apartment buildings that line the north side of of Meadowbrook between Brookford and Hurlburt Roads. As one moves east there is an interesting progression form 1920s apartment design (Tudor-style) to the modular, rectilinear and flat-roofed style of the 1960s.

True, this Meadowbrook modernism is not Miesian in its purity or its transparency. Laid-up flagstone entrances give a semblance of rugged country contextualism, and in the largest building the tri-partite facade treatment harks back to Deco design of the 1930s. Still, for Syracuse, these buildings are decidely non-traditional. And given the sad fate of many modern buildings in the region, these examples have held up extremely well, and still contribute positively to the neighborhood.

If anyone knows the genesis of these buildings, please let me know.

Modern in Syracuse has gotten a bad name - and many extremely ugly, leaky, poorly lit and badly arranged examples certainly deserve the savaging they have received - and often the wrecking ball, too. The list is too long to recite. It is good, whoever, to remember that modern design, when simply done, can be practical and effective. It was criminal to demolish fine buildings on James Street to erect ugly boxes - many of which are now underutilized. On Meadowbrook, however where the development was new, these modern-style buildings sit lightly on the landscape and decidedly support the very nature of Meadowbrook - a transitional space from suburban to urban settlement.
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The row of buildings from the 1960s still holds up very well - good proportions, nice details, and they keep a clean street line enhancing the urban pedestrian experience while maintaining the area's airy and open suburban feel. From Meadowbrook these buildings provide the security of a containment wall, but one can still see the tops of trees overhead.

This type of design is so much better than what was produced after the 1970s, when new buildings were set further back from the street, surrounded by lots of parking a big useless lawns, isolated with the "industrial park" look. Pedestrians were not just discouraged - they were disparaged; even forbidden.

Anyone who has traveled in Europe knows that modernism and good urbanism - even something smacking of "new urbanism" - are not antithetical. In fact, the smoothness and regularity of mass and line, when not overdone or overblown, can enhance an urban experience - something true since the ancient insulae and Renaissance palazzi of Italian cities. Maintaining the street line, and especially the corner, is very important. Fortunately, we are coming around to this view again. The new downtown buildings in the Armory Square area demonstrate this (the Center of Excellence - though a striking, even sculptural form remarkable in may ways; does not). We need to extend good urbanism further into neighborhoods.

Byrne Square Building: One We Should Care About

2011-11-14T13:54:00.001-08:00

Byrne Square Building: One We Should Care About
by Samuel D. Gruber

Not everyone is happy that the new Creekwalk jogs away from the creek so soon after leaving Armory Square. I'm guessing there was just no way to overcome security concerns at National grid to allow the Creekwalk to traverse NatGrid property, right under the building addition.

One great outcome, however, is the upsurge in pedestrian traffic past two of my favorite buildings. One is obviously the National Grid (formerly Niagara Mohawk) building itself. And then there is the Byrne Square Building at 300 West Genesee Street at the corner of Willow Street, the little terracotta clad jewelbox of a building, which has hardly gotten the recognition it deserves. Now 91 years old, it certainly merits protected landmark status - in its own right, not just for being close to Dinosaur Bar-B-Que.

The Byrne Square building is anything but square - its has a triangular plan, making it one of the city's many "flatiron" buildings - those wedge-shaped structures that have gone up at intersections when the city grid meets older streets, that then slice the orthogonal plan diagonally. Nor is the building named for Byrne Dairy, as claimed on the Yestercuse website.

The building was erected by Mathew V. Byrne, Syracuse representative of the Miller Rubber company (of Akron, Ohio). According to the Syracuse Herald of June 13, 1920 Byrne spent $100,000 on the "terracotta business block."

A year later (June 12, 1921) Byrne took out an ad in the Herald exclaiming "Four years ago Miller Tires were practically unknown in this section. today 65% of the tires sold in Syracuse are Millers. Four years ago we had the smallest service station in the City of Syracuse. Today we have one of the finest service stations in the entire country." A photo of the building in the Herald of June 8, 1923 a sign for Miller Rubber Co, M. J. Byrne on the frieze (now covered in black) above the first floor to the right of the doorway. The accompaning ad explains that Syracuse Grocers, Inc. have leased the entire second floor of the Byrne Square Building and have a few offices to rent. Today Arthur Murray Dance Studios occupies the old tire showroom and service station, remarkable for its large plate glass windows.

Terracotta was a popular material for cladding all sorts of buildings in the late 19th century and first quarter of the 20th century. sometimes it was used only as decorative trim - since it was relatively cheap to mold a repeating decorative detail or pattern. In New York City it was famously used for the Woolworth Tower (1911), which is clad in about 400,000 glazed white terracotta tiles. Nearly as tall is the Smith Tower in Seattle (1914), financed by Syracuse industrialist Lyman Cornelius Smith and designed by Syracuse architects Gaggin & Gaggin. One problem of using a terracotta skin on a large surface, however, is that the expansion and contraction rates of the metal frame and the terracotta tiles is different. In many cases decades of stress has damaged the tiles causing failure - or expensive repair.

By the 1920s glazed white terracotta was a favorite material for automobile showrooms and gas stations. The tiles looked sleek and modern, and they were easy to clean. Since these buildings are mostly steel frame, the terracotta clad thin walls could allow large windows - like those preferred for auto showroom.

Besides the Byrne Square Building, Syracuse doesn't have many terracotta buildings left.

The Other Creekwalk: Meadowbrook and its Birdhouses

2011-11-13T16:56:00.001-08:00

The Other Creekwalk: Meadowbrook and its Birdhouses
by Samuel D. Gruber (all photos copyright Samuel D. Gruber)

Today we walked part of Syracuse's other Creekwalk - Meadowbrook Drive - and saw the many new birdhouses that have been designed, built and erected by unnamed neighbors (the guy in the white house with the red door). If anyone can give me more information, I'd like to acknowledge this local talent.

The Syracuse Garden Club has worked their magic to plant flower beds where there was previous hard packed grass at the ends of the medians, where street cross over the brook - really a collect that drains excess water form the neighborhood. It is in these beds that the birdhouses have been built. Some are fanciful houses, and the one near St. Alban's church is a church with steeple - something St. Alban's lacks. The aforesaid owner of the white house with red door has made a miniature version for the birds. The most recent addition is an airplane. The birds don't care what model - since they can already fly.

A City Success: Syracuse Creekwalk Opens

2011-11-09T04:28:00.001-08:00

A City Success: Syracuse Creekwalk Opens
by Samuel D. Gruber (all photos copyright Samuel D. Gruber)

Its been about 20 years in the making, but a continuous Creekwalk route from Armory Square to Onondaga Lake opened two weeks ago to the relief and delight of area residents - eager to take advantage of this new urban walking a bike route while the beautiful fall weather is still with us.

My wife and I walked it last Saturday - and here are some photos:

click image for larger format slide show

While this does not put Syracuse on par with cities like Philadelphia (Fairmount Park with all sorts of walks and trails), Washington (Rock Creek Park) or New York (Riverside Park and now the extraordinary new High Line), it does link us to cities like San Antonio and Milwaukee that have used downtown waterways to provide a new urban look and a new pedestrian experience. While we have many fine walking trails in the region, there just is nothing else like the Creekwalk in the city. I can see that it will be a great resource for residents, but will also attract many outsiders because of the great variety of the route. Tired of Onondaga Park? Come try the Creekwalk. There is good dose of nature, but there is also a fine mix of old and new buildings, often seen from unusual and unexpected angles. Kids and adults will enjoy the new Dragon sculpture by Armory Square, but look to at the attractive 1991 mural by sculptor William Severson - blasted into the Allen Building's brick about halfway along the trail.

It is great to see a project completed in Syracuse - where vision becomes reality. All who struggled to get this project done are to be commended. As a case study - I'd love to have someone in the know outline all the phases of the project, and where the funds have come from. Who has paid for this? City operations budgets, funded by taxpayer dollars? Special fees or PILOT funds? Was there county, state and federal money? Private sponsorship?

This is just Phase I of an ambitious (and still unfunded) project that will bring the walk all the way south to Kirk Park. In the spirit of the great WPA-sponsored public works projects that brought us much of our modern (local, state and national) park systems, this would be a great use of (more!) stimulus money. Rather than extend our infrastructure with more incursion into rural areas we need to invest in our existing settled communities and upgrade and improve our urban infrastructure. That is the best recipe for jobs creation where they are most needed, and the stimulation of green sustainable economic and civic growth for the 21st century.

PACNY To Present Historic Preservation Awards May 12 at 7 pm

2011-05-08T12:06:00.001-07:00

Fayetteville, NY. The Matilda Joslyn Gage House will be awarded the Pat Earle Award

Barb Bartlett will receive Josena Foley Education Award

PACNY To Present Historic Preservation Awards May 12 at 7 pm

The Preservation Association of Central New York will celebrate Historic Preservation Month by presenting its annual Historic Preservation awards on Thursday, May 12th, at 7:00 pm. The event will take place at the:

CNY Community Foundation’s Philanthropy Center Ballroom, second floor 431 East Fayette Street, Syracuse (at Fayette/Firefighters' Park).

Admission is free to the entire Central New York Community. Come celebrate the good things happening in our community. Light refreshments will be served.

PACNY will recognize a wide variety of individuals and organizations who have made singular contributions to the culture of preservation.

Jasena R. Foley Education Award is given to individuals or groups who educate, promote, engender or advocate a preservation ethic in Central New York.
Recipient: Barbara Bartlett

Syracuse, NY. King + King Architects offices will receive a Merit Award.

The Pat Earle Award is given for a singular outstanding historic preservation project which benefits the community.
Recipient: Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation

The Harley J. McKee Award is given for excellence in the promotion and application of appropriate preservation technology and fine craftsmanship.
Recipient: Hollis Robbins / Robbins Rarities

The Preservation Merit Award is given to recognition of exceptional achievement in historic preservation.

Syracuse, NY. Slocum Hall at Syracuse University will receive a Merit Award.

Recipients: Syracuse University, Slocum Hall
King + King Architects
Andrew Besemer
Community Foundation of Central New York, Philanthropy Center

Skaneateles, NY. The Watt House will recognized with a TLC award.

Tender Loving Care (TLC) Awards are given to individuals, organizations or civic agencies that have maintained exceptionally high standards of care for historic properties or landscapes. Recipients:
Garth Coviello / 127 Stolp
Virginia Denton/ 5498 N. Manlius Fayetteville
Homer Town Hall
Watt House, 72 Jordan St Skaneateles
Downtown Committee of Syracuse, Onondaga Citizens League

King + King Architects to receive PACNY award for Adaptive Reuse

2011-05-08T08:59:00.000-07:00

Syracuse, NY. King + King Architects. Photos: Exterior view by Samuel Gruber; interior views courtesy King + King

King + King Architects to receive PACNY award for Adaptive Reuse

King + King Architects will be recognized with a Preservation Merit Award from the Preservation Association of Central New York (PACNY) for its innovative and attractive renovation of the former Dupli Envelope & Graphics Corporation on Syracuse's Near-West Side. The award will be presented at the annual Preservation Awards Ceremony held on Thursday, at 7 pm at the Philanthropy Center in Downtown Syracuse. The event is free and the public is welcome.

Funded in 1868 by Archimedes Russell, King +King is the oldest architectural firm in New York state and fourth oldest in the country. The firm of 70 is led by four partners: Pete King, Dave Johnson, Jim King and Kirk Narburgh.

The firm was located in the City of Syracuse until the 1980s, when it moved offices to Manlius. In 2008 the firm decided to return to the city as part of the continuing revitalization of Downtown and the Near West Side. King and King renovated the former Dupli Envelope & Graphics Corp. building at 358 W. Jefferson Street, on the corner of West Street. The original structure (the barn space) was constructed in 1913 and used as an assembly plant by the Case Tractor Supply Co. Other additions were made in the 1920’s and the 1960’s.

Renovations began in May 2008 for the $6 million, 52,000 square foot office project and were completed at the end of the year. An original warehouse section has been kept fairly open as the firm’s lobby, conference room and some offices. Timbers were cleaned and left exposed, but skylights have been added to brighten the area. Large windows give employees a view and allow people driving by on West Street to look in and see the office at work. Overall, the new skylights bring sunlight into the building and save energy costs by reducing the need for lighting and heating.

The King + King office project is both a preservation project and a recycling one, since ninety-fine percent of the original but dilapidated commercial structure and building envelope has been reused; including the brick walls, trusses and most of the roof deck. The result is now a LEED platinum-certified building renovated for new purpose following a new design. It is a perfect example of the adage that the “greenest” building construction is reuse of one that already exists.

The 70-employee firm fully occupied the new space in January 2009. The building was renovated under the U.S. Green Building Council's top Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards.The new building consumes 50% less water and 80% less energy than a typical Syracuse office building and 50% less energy of a typical new office building. In addition, because of the firm's new location it is estimated that employees drive 30,000 less commuting miles annually.

The building is a great contribution to the commercial development in Syracuse’s Near Westside. As partner Pete King has said, “It shows, and can help show, other developers, and the community, what's possible in some of the older architectural stock buildings in the city"

The King + King Architects design team included Eric Witschi, Jason Benedict, Matt Leak, Mark Azzarello, Nicole Stack, David Green, Tammy Seward, and Matthew Brubaker. Construction was carried out by Hueber-Breuer Construction Company with Otey Marshall and the late Harold Bush as Construction Manager. The Mechanical Engineer was IBC Engineering's Dan Fox . The Structural Engineer was Jim Kaplan of John P. Stopen Engineering Partnership and Tim Lobczowski of Appel Osborne Landscape Architecture was Landscape Architect.

My Upcoming Lecture: "Temple Concord, Jewish Architecture and City Beautiful"

2011-04-04T15:48:00.000-07:00

My Upcoming Lecture: "Temple Concord, Jewish Architecture and City Beautiful"

You are invited to the upcoming (free) illustrated talk “Temple Concord, Jewish Architecture and City Beautiful,” at Temple Concord next Monday, April 11, at 6 pm.

The talk is part of the on-going celebration of the centennial the National Register listed sanctuary which will culminate with a public re-dedication in September. The talk, co-sponsored by Preservation Association of Central New York (PACNY), is part of Temple Concord’s ongoing series featuring Syracuse University faculty presenting their work to an audience further down the Hill.

I will discuss the architecture of Temple Concord in the context of American synagogue design, the evolution of Reform Judaism and as an example of early 20th century civic architecture.

The talk will address several of my ongoing research/activist interests – synagogue architecture, the history of urban planning, and the past and future of Syracuse. Just as today; Concord when designed and built (1909-1911) was literally a pivotal building on the Connective Corridor. Its design had roots in consulting-architect Arnold Brunner’s (with Alfred Taylor) past work and writing about the origins of the synagogue, but it also was tied to the new Neo-Classical plan adopted by Syracuse University in 1906 and the completion of the new County Courthouse downtown the same year.

lecIn 1910, Brunner, who was the favorite architect of the New York Jewish establishment, became president of the American Institute of Architects New York chapter. He was nationally recognized as the leading designer and historian of synagogues in America, but also as one of the country’s foremost urban planners, thinkers and the most public and articulate spokesperson for what he called “City Practical.,” but which we now think of as the City Beautiful Movement. The same year that Concord was dedicated, Brunner’s Cleveland Federal Building was also completed culminating Brunner’s decade service with Daniel Burnham and John Carrere as the triumvirate behind the famed Cleveland Plan.

Researching the History of Your Home Part I, Feb 26th

2011-02-21T17:18:00.001-08:00

Researching the History of Your Home

Part 1

Presented by the Preservation Association

of Central New York

in Partnership with

The Onondaga County Public Library

Saturday, February 26, 2011, 2-4pm.

Onondaga County Public Library, Local History / Genealogy, 5th Floor, Smith Room

The Galleries of Syracuse

447 South Salina Street, Syracuse, NY

If walls could talk, oh, the stories your house would tell…

If you own an older home, you’ve probably at some point wondered who slept in your bedroom long before you, when your plumbing was last updated, or, maybe, why that ghost keeps hiding your car keys. Want to get a glimpse into the secret past of your abode?

Join us for a presentation on tips and techniques for home history research hosted by PACNY followed by a tour of the OCPL Local History / Genealogy Department with discussion and examples of all the really neat stuff contained therein!

We’ll share with you the secrets of where to search for your home’s history, what rocks to look under, how to be a genuine house detective! The OCPL Librarians will share with you the unbelievable wealth of resources they have at your disposal. They will show you how to use historical files, Obits, maps, directories and that grossly underestimated jewel, THE CATALOGUE!

So, mark the date and don’t miss it!

Part 2 of the series will be presented by PACNY in partnership with the Onondaga Historical Association on Sunday, November 20, 2011, 2-4 pm. at OHA, 321 Montgomery Street, Syracuse NY.

The member-based Preservation Association of Central New York has been the area’s citizen voice for historic preservation for over 35 years. Founded as a reaction to the widespread neglect and demolition of historic buildings and neighborhoods in the 1960’s, PACNY has led the successful effort to transform our community’s perception and care of its historic resources so that now the City of Syracuse and Onondaga County have over a dozen historic districts which contribute to the region’s cultural and economic vitality.

For further information about PACNY, contact Michael Flusche (President of PACNY) at 315-569-6761 or flusche99@yahoo.com. See the PACNY website at http://pacny.net/.

Scottholm Neighborhood Documented By Cornell Students

2011-01-03T05:50:00.000-08:00

Scottholm Neighborhood Documented by Cornell Students
by Samuel D. Gruber

Early in December representatives from the city's Bureau of Planning & Sustainability and students from Cornell University's Historic Preservation Program presented some of their results of a survey of 175 residential properties in Syracuse's attractive Scottholm neighborhood, on the East Side, two miles from downtown. Dick Case has already reported on the presentation and summarizes some of the findings in the Post-Standard, but I present some additional information and my own take on the history and the process.

The Cornell group presented their work in an attractive booklet that summarizes the history of the neighborhood and its development as well as the various styles of domestic architecture built - mostly during the 1920s. The publication is available on the City's website, through the Bureau of Planning & Sustainability page: http://www.syracuse.ny.us/uploadedFiles/Departments/Planning_and_Sustainability/Content/Scottholm%20booklet%20-%20FINAL_small.pdf. a color-coded map showing all house and street names and numbers and the periods of developments is particular helpful (especially to people like me who need help labeling photos when the house number is clearly visible).

Much of the booklet is taken up with reprinting style definitions from standard handbooks, but this may be useful to area residents, especially when the styles are applied to specific neighborhood houses, a few of which are featured as "house spotlights." Because of the nature of the accessible sources, most of the descriptive texts for individual houses is about the history of ownership with little specific information about the architect or designer, or the sources of the ready made plans.
It is often now impossible to recovery this information, or its take luck in finding plans, correspondence or recorded and signed contracts.

Development of the area began with creation of Genesee Turnpike, now Genesee Street in the 1830s, but what would became “Scottholm Estates” was sketched out in 1914 and lots were sold beginning in 1915. The survey identifies only about thirty houses as dating from from the 1915-1925. Most date from the late 1920s and some even from the early 1930s, suggesting the effects of the Depression took a while to by fully felt by Syracuse's white collar (and white color) commercial and other professionals, who made up a substantial portion of the neighborhood residents. Scottholm was designed by a landscape architect and planner Arthur C. Comey following the popular ideals for new garden suburbs easily reached by streetcar from urban commercial centers. These new developments, of which Syracuse has several notable examples, are typified by winding streets, mandated setbacks and front yards, organized tree-planting alongside sidewalks, and various protective covenants regarding ownership qualifications. The stone gates at the entrance to the neighborhood at Scottholm from East Genesee Street remain in place.

John W. Reps provides this biographical information about Comey on his invaluable website about American urban planning history before 1914:

Arthur Coleman Comey (1886-1954) graduated cum laude from Harvard University at the age of twentyone in 1907 with a degree in landscape architecture. His teacher, Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. helped place Comey in his first two positions as a park planner in Dixon, Illinois and as Superintendent of Parks in Utica, New York. In 1911 Comey returned to Cambridge where he began his practice as "Consultant on City Planning." In 1912 the City of Houston, Texas, retained him to prepare a city planning report, and he wrote this article that October proposing a system of regulating building height and bulk and the minimum size of lots.
In 1911 he decided to enter the international competition for the design of the Australian Federal Capital. Although he did not win a prize, his design was the second choice of the minority judge. Comey's career as a city planner had only begun. He entered and won second prize in 1913 in a competition sponsored by the Chicago City Club for the design of a typical 160 acre tract in that city. In 1914 he won first prize of $5,000 in a competition with 146 participants for the design of a 350 acre harbor, industrial, business, and residential complex at Richmond, California.
In 1914 he also began work on a study of suburban planning for the City Plan and Improvement Commission of Detroit. He also designed the garden suburb of Billerica, Massachusetts, a state-sponsored project. By 1917 Comey had served at least nine towns and cities, including Beverly, Brookline, Cambridge, Fitchburg, and Lawrence, all in the state of Massachusetts, and Woonsocket, Rhode Island.
He also was a Town Planner for the U. S. Housing Corporation in 1918 and 1919. Doubtless he drew on this experience during his twelveyear teaching career that began in 1928 when he was appointed a lecturer in the School of Landscape Architecture. He became an Assistant Professor in Harvard's School of City Planning and an Associate Professor in the Department of Regional Planning. During the 1930's and early 1940s he was also consultant to the U.S. National Resources Planning Board. With Max S. Wehrly Comey prepared a major study of American planned communities.
Comey was at one time an associate editor of the National Municipal Review and edited for publication in the Harvard City Planning Series a collection of the papers of Alfred Bettman. His own study for that series, Transition Zoning, published in 1933, reflects his interest in the legal and regulatory aspect of planning that he saw as necessary as ability in design. Among his other publications are Regional Planning Theory and Integration of the New England Regional Plan.
Comey helped found and became secretary and later vice chairman of the Massachusetts Federation of Planning Boards. He was a founding member of the American City Planning Institute in 1917 and was a member of its Board of Governors. He was a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects, a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Institute of Consulting Engineers, and the American Planning and Civic Association. He was also president of the Boston Society of Landscape Architects.
His most elaborate contribution to Landscape Architecture was his "Regional Planning Theory: A Reply to the British Challenge," published in 1923. Illustrated with several line drawings and color plates, this advocated a policy of multidirectional city growth along radial transportation lines laid out on hexagonal patterns.

One interesting fact from the student's research is that a “considerable Jewish presence in the Scottholm tract, beginning in the first decades through the 20th century.” This reflects the first big move east of the City's more affluent Jewish community, especially those like the Marksons (documented here) in retail trade. According to the report: "A notable business in Syracuse, the Markson Brothers company specialized in the sale of furniture and other home goods. Started by four Polish immigrant brothers in 1905, Markson Brothers had stores in downtown Syracuse, Utica, Auburn, Oswego, and Rome. Several members of the next generation of Marksons continued to operate the business for years to come. Interestingly, several members of the Markson family decided to settle in Scottholm during its first years of development." The extended Markson family occupied at least four houses in the development.

The presence of Jews in Scottholm in its early years probably distingishes it from most other garden suburbs. However, it does reflect the outward migration of Jews from city centers that began even before the widespread development of ex-urban suburbs following World War II. Similar migration patterns of Jews (and other immigrant groups) along streetcar lines can be seen in Boston, Cleveland, Detroit and many other cities.

There are some large and distinctive houses in the neighborhood, especially on Scottholm Boulevard and the north end of Scottholm Terrance when some interesting houses are built high in and up on the hillside. But since most Scottholm houses were built at a time of design and material standardization. Structurally most houses are the same, and what is called "style" is most often only represents modest different - perhaps the angle of a roof line, the proportion of windows, the type of siding preferred, or the decoration. There is no historic and little social difference between a 1920s "colonial," "Tudor," or Spanish," house when built on the same street in the same neighborhood. Similar houses are can be found in developments across the United States. The most significant difference which might given some insight into the original owner's taste or status is whether the house is a standard purchased pattern from a book, builder's catalog or developments template or whether it is a unique architect-designed house. In Central New York as in most of country the former type is the norm.

We do have in Syracuse, however, houses designed by Ward Wellington Ward (such Sanderson House at 301 Scottholm Blvd), Albert Brockway and a few others that have been documented, and possibly many others still to be researched. Some of these can be found in Scottholm. One of the most significant houses in the Scottholm neighborhood is excluded from the survey because of its relatively recent date, but this the Louis and Celia Skoler Residence at 213 Scottholm Terrace designed in 1957 by Louis Skoler (d. 2008). It is one of the most significance modern houses in the region, and is already listed on the National Register of Historic Places and as a designated local protected site (another fine Skoler House can be seen as 953 Comstock Ave. near the University where Skoler taught in the School of Architecture for 30 years).

The real meat of the Scottholm survey will be the reports on the history and architecture of the individual properties - and this has not yet been released. Katelyn Wright, a land use planner for the city says that it should be forthcoming early in 2011.

This survey is one small but necessary step in the improvement of the city's information regarding history and architecture. Relatively speaking - this project was an easy one - since it deals with properties built more or less at the same time under similar circumstances, and still occupied and well maintained. Fortunately, much information on such residential areas can be found through reviews of deed histories, city directories and importantly the real estate pages of the Post-Standard which are quite informative for new development after about 1910. Alas, we lack such details reporting for most 19th century neighborhoods - especially those on the West and North sides. Since those are the areas more deteriorated and endangered, they are the areas that cry out for research and better listing on the city's historic property registers.

We have now documented the post-World War I houses and landscaped developments of Sedgewick, Berkeley Park Strathmore and Scottholm. We really need to turn our attention to the more distressed areas of the city.

Unlike in Scottholm, unfortunately this is work not so easily done as course work for students, and the City has not in the past allocated funds for this kind of work, and is especially short of resources now. The likelihood of being able to hire graduated (and experienced) preservationists to do this work is slight. It is hoped, however, that with the new committed staff at the city’s Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, that outside resources may be procured.

Meanwhile, local professional and organizations will as always be called on to fill the informational breach. In the past this has been mostly in reaction to specific threats, often at the eleventh hour and too late. It is hoped that the new preservation planners will be able to better identify endangered areas, and marshall talent and resources to these sites.

According to Katelyn Wright "With regard to a preservation plan, City preservation staff (Kate Auwaerter and myself) are currently in the preliminary stages of developing a strategic plan for the local preservation program. We expect this plan to include many of the strategies called for in the ESF plan and are consulting the faculty that were involved in that effort." The ESF plan was a major step forward in articulating a rationale city policy toward historic preservation, and clearly demonstrating links between preservation, land use, quality of life and economically sustainable development. Unfortunately, until now it has largely been ignored. You can read of copy of it here.

Katelyn and Kate will publicly share some of these plans and their thoughts on local preservation priorities at the PACNY annual meeting on January 23rd. Meantime, a one-page handout outlining the City's preservation policy and priorities is available here: http://www.syracuse.ny.us/uploadedFiles/Departments/Planning_and_Sustainability/Content/Preservation%20Handout.pdf

Redfield Monument Sculpture Restored and Returned to Foreman Park

2010-12-28T10:16:00.001-08:00

Syracuse, NY. Redfield Monument and Forman Park from an old postcard.

Redfield Monument Sculpture Restored and Returned to Foreman Park
by Samuel D. Gruber (photos by Samuel D. Gruber 2010)

Some of you may already have read Dick Case's recent column in the Post-Standard and online about the return of the Redfield Monument statues to Foreman Park, and event that took place when winter was already upon us and was not otherwise significantly celebrated. The bronze sculpture representing the two figures of Lewis Redstone and Joshua Forman and the single seated figure of an Indian, possibly Hiawatha, were removed in 2007 for restoration by sculptor and restored Sharon BuMann, about whom I have written before. Redfield was an important early newspaper editor in Syracuse and Joshua Forman was a founder of Syracuse. Hiawatha was said to be a founder of the Iroquois Confederacy.

The Indian figure is represented in a dignified seated pose. He is nude, except for a cloth on his lap. One can see his pose as contemplative as he gazes west, or one can read it is passive, as he sits beneath the civilizing influence of Forman and Redfield who robust clothed figures are set on a higher level and dominate the monument. They would have looked toward downtown Syracuse, though today they see little more than I-81. The architecture of the monument in simple, but accented by a notable Classical (civilized) cornice and pediment directly above the Indian's head. In this way European culture dominates and supersedes Native American traditions. If this is Hiawatha, his presence would be, or could be, a nod to the Iroquois federation as a foundation to American democracy, represented in part by freedom of the press, of which Redfield was Syracuse's outstanding 19th century exemplar.

Syracuse, NY. Redfield monument by N. C. Hinsdale and Fidardo Landi.

To see more examples of Indians in Syracuse sculpture see my earlier blogpost.

Last year BuMann completed the restoration of the Kirkpatrick Monument in Washington Square Park, that also featured figures of local Indians.

The monument of Westerly blue granite was designed by architect N. C. Hinsdale was donated in 1906 by Mrs. W.H.H. Smith, the daughter of Redfield. The sculptures by an Italian artist Fidardo Landi (1866-1918) were unveiled in 1908. Mrs. Smith died the following year. A photograph of the work’s first model (which I have not seen) apparently shows an entirely different Indian figure sitting next to a standing Civil War soldier at the base. The Bronze was cast by Fonderia G. Vignali, and .Leland & Hall Company was the project contractor.

Forman Park was first established in 1839 and was known as Forman Square. Redfield, a pioneer printer, was one of those who owned property adjacent to the park. Redfield and others donated land the comprised the park which at Redfield's suggestion was named Forman Park.

According to a biography of Redfield published in New York state men : biographic studies and character portraits, Volume 2, bu Frederick Simon Hills (Argus Company, 1910), Redfield was

"one of the pioneer newspaper men of Onondaga County, was born at Farmington. Conn., November 26. 1792, son of Pelig Redfield, a soldier in the army of General Washington. He learned the printer's trade with James D. Bemis, publisher of the Ontario, N. Y., "Repository." and after six years with Mr. Bemis he engaged in business for himself at Onondaga Valley, wl1ere. with the assistance of his former employer, he established the " Onondaga Register." Mr. Redfield was an active advocate of the then proposed Erie Canal, and when a change was made in its route favorable to Syracuse he removed to that place. His paper was consolidated with the Syracuse "Gazette," which had been established by John Durnfield in 1823. For the accommodation of the printing plant he erected a commodious building on the site of the first Onondaga Savmgs Bank building, and here for some years he also conducted a book store. Mr. Redfield retired from active business in 1842. He married Ann Maria, daughter of Thomas Tread well, member of the Continental Congress and of the first State Senate. Mr. Redfield died July 14, 1882."

Landi was born in Carrara, Italy and according to his New York Times obituary, by the age of twenty was already a professor of sculpture at the academy of Fine Art in Carrara (he also married the daughter of the school's Dean, who also served as mayor of Carrara). Landi came to America in 1900 and in addition to the Redfield Monument he created to sculpture fountain groups for the Guggenheim villa and many individual works before dying of pneumonia at age 51.

I am looking for information on N.C. Hinsdale. Please let me know if you know anything.

Syracuse Architects: Earl Hallenbeck (1876-1934)

2010-12-27T07:02:00.000-08:00

Syracuse University. Photo after 1906 0f new buildings by Hallenbeck and Revels.
From left to right, Sims Hall, Bowne Hall, Carnegie library, Archbold Gymnasium.

Syracuse University. Sims Hall (1907).

Syracuse University. Slocum Hall (1918).

Syracuse Architects: Earl Hallenbeck (1876-1934)
by Samuel D. Gruber

Earl Hallenbeck is one of many forgotten architects of Syracuse and Central New York, but his many solid and stolid buildings still help define the institutional landscape of the region. Since I recently wrote of Hallenbeck's work in partnership with Frederick Revels in the designing the 1906 campus plan for Syracuse university and designing Carnegie Library (1907), I thought I'd point out some of Hallenbeck's other work in the region, especially as his biography and corpus of work is not yet listed on Syracuse Then and Now the best compendium for info on local architects.

Hallenbeck was born on March 14, 1876 in Marathon, New York and died at age 58 in Syracuse on June 2, 1934. He attended Syracuse University in the late 1890s, and except for his work as an architect in worked New York City after graduation, he spent most of his life, beginning in 1902, teaching at Syracuse University in the College of Liberal Arts and working as a regional architect. In addition to his work on the Carnegie Library, he designed other University buildings solely or in partnership with Revel. These are Haven Hall (1904, demolished), Lyman Hall (1907), Sims Hall, originally a dormitory (1907), Bowne Hall (1907), the University Power Plant 1904, Archbold Gymnasium and Stadium (1908), Slocum Hall (1918) and well as Reid Hall downtown. all of these buildings were embellished with a free interpretation of classical and Renaissance motifs. Lyman Hall is the most ornate. Of Lyman Hall, influential architectural critic Montgomery Schuyler lamented "'the author has never been forewarned with Emerson, that the vice of the times and the country is an excessive pretension." Today, however, the subsequent blandness, banality and brutality of many campus buildings make the "outrageous self-complacency and aggressiveness" of Lyman - and its encrusted exterior decoration - an enjoyable and even uplifting visual respite.

Syracuse University. Lyman Hall (1907). Photos: Samuel D. Gruber

The sole exception is the power plant (photo), built in 1904 - before the plan - and located where Link Hall is now. This was built in a Neo-medieval style apparently suggested by the Castle of Rheinstein. In any case, the architects hid the chimney within a "medieval" tower.

Hallenbeck also designed a number of private houses and school buildings which remain to be fully documented and the Onondaga Valley Presbyterian Church (1924).

The Revels-Hallenbeck plan really shaped the development of Syracuse University's campus for more than a half century, and today we are thankful that enough of it remains to provide the campus with some of its best moments of organized space, architectural framing, skyline accents and coherent landscape. Unfortunately decades of changing taste and conflicting plans have sapped the design of its original integrity and coherence. In some aspects, however, especially in the placement of Hendricks Chapel, the plan of Pope and Baum improved upon the Revel's and Hallenbeck's work.

According to the authors of the Syracuse University Campus Plan 2003 (Syracuse University Office of Design and Construction):

"focused on the Old Oval, proposing that the field be defined on its south side by a new range of buildings set parallel to the Old Row. Revels and Hallenbeck sited a stadium in a shallow ravine to the west of the new range of buildings, freeing the Old Oval to become a ceremonial green space. The plan's most remarkable feature was a domed addition to the rear of the Hall of Languages. This accretion, intended to contain an assembly hall, would have remade the University's first building as the north wing of a massive structure extending southward along the edge of the Old Oval. The proposed addition, which would have necessitated demolishing the Gymnasium, would have reshaped the Oval into two formal open spaces set perpendicular to one another and together forming an "L." Their "Great Quadrangle," organized along a north-south axis, was to join a smaller open space to the south of the Hall of Languages addition. Revels and Hallenbeck's scheme also marked the first appearance of the idea to relocate Holden Observatory – in this instance, to Mount Olympus – so that the open space bounded on the north by von Ranke Library, Crouse College, and Steele Hall could be better defined.

Chancellor James Roscoe Day embraced the 1906 plan, and Revels and Hallenbeck were commissioned to design the Carnegie Library (1907), Bowne Hall (1907), Sims Hall (1907), Archbold Stadium (1908), and Archbold Gymnasium (1909), quickly completing the south side of the new "Great Quadrangle." Meanwhile, the distinctive tower of Lyman Hall (1907), together with Machinery Hall (1907), rose above the Lawn, emphatically punctuating the extension of the Old Row. Soon after, however, the University was financially overextended. Construction stopped, with no additional development occurring until Slocum Hall was built for the College of Agriculture in 1918. The leviathan addition to the Hall of Languages was never built, and the Oval became a single quadrangle, rather than the two perpendicular open spaces that were originally proposed.

Perhaps the 1906 plan's most lasting effect was the reinforcement of the campus' two seminal open spaces. It transformed and formalized the Oval, creating a Main Quadrangle that would serve as a new organizing feature for the campus. The plan also called for the eastward extension of the Old Row and the Lawn, siting a new generation of buildings along the crest of the hill."

Fabius, NY. Former Fabius Central School (now Fabius-Pompey Elementary School). Earl Hallenbeck, architect (1931)
Photo: Samuel D. Gruber

Hallenbeck designed High Schools in Fabius, Liverpool and Cazenovia, and probably elsewhere. The Fabius Central School survives as the local elementary school. It was completed in 1931 in the Collegiate Gothic style, and is included as a late architectural contribution in the Fabius Village Historic District.

The following obituary, posted at on a local genealogy website appeared in the local Syracuse paper (Post-Standard?) on June 2, 1934:

Nine of Campus Buildings Were Planned by Architect

Death which came last night to Prof. Earl Hallenbeck of Syracuse University at his home, 433 Maple Street, closed the distinguished career of a widely known educator, the designer of many Central New York school buildings, including nine of the largest structures on the University campus. He was 58 years old and had been a member of the faculty of the College of Liberal Arts for 32 years. Professor Hallenbeck died of heart disease, with which he had been seriously ill since last fall. The condition became acute about two weeks ago.

Fellow members of the faculty today mourned his death and paid tribute to his ability and to his tireless efforts which were, they said, largely responsible for the growth of the department of architecture at the University. "We consider his death a very serious loss to the college" said Dean Harold L Butler of the College of Fine Arts. "He was not only a fine practicing architect, but he was also an exceptional teacher. He had the admiration and respect of his colleagues and of all his students".

Professor Hallenbeck was born in Marathon, March 14, 1876. He was graduated from Syracuse University in the late 1890s and after working as an architect in New York City for several years, returned to join the University faculty in 1902. While a member of the faculty he worked with Prof. Frederick W Revels on the plans for Lyman Hail, Haven Hall, Browne Hall, General Library, the gymnasium, the Stadium, Sims Hall and the University power plant. Alone he designed Slocum Hall. Later he combined private practice with his teaching and drew plans for many Syracuse residents. He also designed high school buildings in Liverpool, Cazenovia and Fabius and many other Central New York school buildings. Professor Hallenbeck was a member of Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity and of the East Genesee Presbyterian Church. He was of high standing in Masonic circles, having taken the 32nd degree.

Surviving are his wife, Mrs. Margaret E. Telfer Hallenbeck; two sons, Andrew T Hallenbeck of Lysander and John S. Halenbeck of Syracuse; a daughter Mrs. John E Taylor of Syracuse; two brothers Charles F Hallenbeck of Illion and Frank H Hallenbeck of Syracuse; a sister Mrs. Wilbur Burrill of Syracuse; and a grandson. The funeral will be held privately Monday afternoon from the home at 2:30 o'clock. The Rev. John R. Woodcock, pastor of the East Genesee Street Presbyterian, will conduct the service. Burial will be in Morningside Cemetery. Friends may call between 2 and 4 o'clock tomorrow afternoon and between 7 and 9 o'clock tomorrow night."

Syracuse: University's Carnegie Library Reading Room to be Renovated

2010-12-26T19:00:00.001-08:00

Syracuse University, Carnegie Library. Two recent views, photos: Samuel D. Gruber

Syracuse University, Carnegie Library. Architect's view of planned reading room renovation. Courtesy: Syracuse University Library

Syracuse: University's Carnegie Library Reading Room to be Restored as First Phase in Building Renovation
by Samuel D. Gruber

In my previous post I included a dramatic photo of sculptor Luise Kaish's bronze statue of the Saltine Warrior, back bent and bow taut between two towers of Syracuse University's Carnegie Library. I have good news about the building, designed by Frederick W. Revels and Earl Hallenbeck as part of the 1906 University Plan, and opened in 1907 as one of the most impressive academic Carnegie libraries in the country. The duo designed many of most impressive campus buildings of the first decades of the 20th century (Lyman Hall with it great tower remains my favorite). Their work was imposing and ornate, but never very graceful. Many of these classically inspired Beaux-Arts buildings are bulky and ponderous on their exteriors, but they were well-designed for multipurpose academic use, and most still function today as class buildings. Their virtue is that they are well built and relatively easily adaptabted to all but the most intensely hi-tech fields. Only where their original spaces have been carved up and/or extra floors added - as in Bowne Hall - do they seem really awkward. The recent restoration of Slocum Hall, for example, has returned the building to much of its original spacious and appealing layout and appearance.

The history of the building in word and images can be found at Carnegie Library 1907-2007, a site developed for the building's centennial celebrated in 2007. Click "browse" to view this collection of over 200 photographs of the Carnegie Library, that includes the 1905 ground breaking through the 2007 centennial. The historical images were digitized from the Syracuse University Archives’ collection of campus building photographs. Links to historical news articles and information may be found at the Carnegie Library History.

After a hundred years of hard use, so hard in fact that the original entrance from the very Quad it helped define is now closed, the Carnegie Library will be renovated. Progress depends on money, but already the first of five planned phases has begun. The grand reading room will be restored and returned to its original purposes.

In time other spaces in the building that have been chopped in pieces, as well as blocked circulation paths, will returned a much as possible to their original purpose and appearance. The building is apparently only one of three academic (as opposed to public) Carnegie libraries in the country that still - at least in part - serves it original function. built as the main campus library to replace the much smaller von Ranke Library (now Tolley Hall), the structure is now served by the Science-Technology Library, the Math library and the Math Department. Phase I of the project involves moving some of the Math Department functions from the great second floor reading room to newly newly reorganized space on the first floor. in the reading room floor, ceilings, furniture and lighting will all be refurbished, restored or replaced in accordance to the space's original appearance - updated with plenty of electrical outlets to accommodate laptop computers. In Phase III the building's main entrance will be reopened with new glass doors and railing on the exterior stairs, while new restrooms and other amenities are added inside. You can read more about the renovation on the Syracuse Library website.

Tonto Revisited: Images of Native Americans in Syracuse

2010-11-17T18:17:00.000-08:00

Syracuse, NY., Syracuse University. The Saltine Warrior by Luise Kaish (1951).

Syracuse, NY., Washington Park. The Kirkpatrick Monument, Gail Sherman Corbett (1908)

Tonto Revisited: Images of Native Americans in Syracuse
(all photos by Samuel D. Gruber)

This month there are several local exhibitions related to art by and representations of Native Americans. New art of Haudenosaunee artists is on view at the Everson Museum in the exhibition Haudenosaunee: Elements. Popular and especially commercial and advertising images American Indians fill the walls of ArtRage Gallery in an exhibition of the collection of artist Tom Huff, entitled Tonto Revisited. Tom, a Seneca/Cayuga artist living on the Onondaga Nation, has been collecting “Indian Kitsch” for over 25 years.

Images of Indians are hardly new in Syracuse, a city situated in the center of the Onondaga Nation at the heart of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy. These exhibitions should make people even more attentive. Here are just of few notable examples. I think it significant that the two greater works of art, that are also the most heroic representation of Indians, are by two notable women sculptors with ties to Syracuse -- Gail Sherman Corbett (1872-1951) and Luise Kaish (b. 1925). Corbett was born and raised in Syracuse. She studied sculpture with Augustus Saint-Gaudens at the Art Students League in New York later studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris (1898-99), before creating several impressive bronze monuments in her hometown, and then establishing herself in New York.

I've already written about her magnificent Kirkpatrick Monument recently restored in Washington Park. Her representation of the Onondaga goes beyond the (then) popular notion of the 'noble savage," to include them as full community partners - a partnership then denied to both Indians and all American women.

Corbett's contemporary and fellow Augustus Saint-Gaudens and Art Students League student James Earle Fraser (1876-1953) - who created some of the most lasting images of the Western Indian - is also well represented in Syracuse. At the SU Art Galleries in the Shaffer Art gallery you can see several of Fraser's works included a bronze model of his famous End of the Trail, sculpted for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exhibition. This work has been much discussed over the decades. It depicts a weary - perhaps defeated Indian on his horse. The work, .while idealized, is full of pathos. It is a reflection on a passing age, and a passing way of life, but it is not to be taken as a statement of white victory. The SU collection also has a large plaster model of Fraser's design for the Indian head (or buffalo) nickle, minted from 1913 to 1938, with its profile of an Indian on the obverse. The SU library and art collections together have the world’s largest collection of Fraser materials, including dozens of pieces of sculpture)

In 1951 Syracuse University grad student Luise Kaish presented another view of the Indian in her powerful sculpture of the University's then-mascot, the Saltine Warrior. Kaish, a student of Ivan Mestrovic, won the commission from the Class of 1951, and she sculpted a taut and muscular Indian archer shooting skyward - a figure as much in the tradition of Greek myth than the salt beds surrounding sacred Lake Onondaga. As appropriate for a school mascot - White or Indian - the warrior is bent with bow, but unbowed. Kaish almost certainly knew of Mestrovic's own two powerful mounted Indians - the Bowman and The Spearman - sculpted in Croatia but installed in Chicago in 1928.

Kaish went on to a distinguished career (I've written about her grand bronze Aron-ha Kodesh designed 50 years ago for Temple Brith Kodesh in Rochester (where she just spoke two weeks ago). Luise was the first woman to win the coveted Rome Prize Fellowship at the American Academy in Rome, among many other awards. She later led Columbia university's fine Arts Program. .

Syracuse, NY. Former Onondaga Savings Bank, dtl. South Salina Street entrance (1897).

I include two other Syracuse representations of Indians - clearly in submissive roles. A stern chief with headdress adorns the former Onondaga County Savings Bank (now M & T Bank) downtown. This is certainly an "honest Injun" encouraging trust in the bank - though the banking industry has hardly served Indian interests in the American western expansion.

Syracuse, NY. Columbus Circle. Columbus Monument.
V. Renzo Baldi, Sculptor, Dwight James Baum, architect (1934)

Similar Indian heads - uncomfortably disembodied - seem to support the figure of Columbus on the Columbus monument at Columbus Circle. These heads hangs like war trophies on the obelisk monument - the way navies have hung the prows of defeated ships on their victory stele.

Join Me (and Chuck Bucci) on October 24th for a Special Tour of Syracuse University Restored Buildings

2010-10-13T05:15:00.000-07:00

Syracuse University. Tolley Humanities Center. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber 2010

Syracuse University. Crouse College. Stained glass windows detail.. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber.

Syracuse University. Slocum Hall. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber 2010

Join Me (and Chuck Bucci) on October 24th for a Special Tour of Syracuse University Restored Buildings

I'll be joined by professionals from the Syracuse University Office of Campus Planning, Design, and Construction to visit and discuss major restoration building on campus of the past five years. We'll talk about architecture, history, planning and restoration process, as well as the complex issues of need, use and cost that are essential to the success of the reinvention and reuse of any aolder building.

Here is the announcement:

Preservation Association of Central New York (PACNY) will offer a tour of three restored, rehabilitated, and reinvented buildings on the Syracuse University Campus. Join architectural historian Sam Gruber and campus planner Chuck Bucci on a visit to Crouse College, Tolley Humanities Center, and Slocum Hall as they discuss the history of these buildings and their architecture, and especially the long hard process of restoring and renovating these three structures in the past five years.

The tour will begin at 1:00 pm at the Crouse College south entrance (across from the Maxwell School) and will last 2 hours.

Crouse College was built in 1889 and is one of the original university buildings. Designed by noted Syracuse architect Archimedes Russell, its dramatic turreted form has long been a landmark on the Hill, dominating the area and visible from afar. The building now houses the main hub for SU's College of Visual and Performing Arts, the School of Music, several art studios, music practice rooms, a beautiful 1,000-seat auditorium, and Crouse's Holtkamp Organ. In 2005 PACNY awarded Syracuse University a Preservation Merit Award for its work on the restoration of the exterior masonry and the stained glass windows of Crouse College.

Tolley Humanities Center was also designed by Russell in 1889 as the Von Ranke Library, in a more severe medieval style, but still with turrets. In 1907, when Carnegie Library was built its purpose changed. Later it was named Tolley Hall and served as the university administration building. Since its 2007 renovation it has been the Humanities Center and houses a variety of interdisciplinary programs.

Slocum Hall was designed by Syracuse University School of Architecture professors Frederick W. Revels and Earl Hallenback and funded by philanthropist Mrs. Russell Sage as a memorial to her father. Construction began in April 1916, but due to World War I and labor shortages it was not finished until 1918. It served as the home of the agriculture school and other programs, including the School of Architecture. Last year, after a two-year renovation, the building became the home of the School of Architecture, which now occupies the entire building. The renovation was carried out by Garrison Architects, and is highlighted by the opening up of the building’s great atrium, which had been built over in past years to gain floor space.

Gruber and Bucci will discuss the broad process and implications of bringing old university buildings up to twenty-first century standards while still maintaining their historic form, and they will look at many of the details of how this was done in these three buildings. The tour will end with discussion of the University’s newest renovation project, now in its planning phase.

Donation for the tour will be $10.00 for PACNY Members and $12.00 for non-members.

Sam Gruber is past-president of PACNY, and is now Director of the Plastics Center at the Syracuse University Library. Chuck Bucci is Assistant Director for New Construction at the Syracuse University Office of Campus Planning, Design, and Construction. Adding their expertise to the tour will be Jack Osinski, Project Manager, and Chris Danek, Academic Space Planner, both from the Syracuse University Office of Campus Planning, Design, and Construction.

UPSTATE: A Center for Design, Research, and Real Estate will host the "Formerly Urban: Projecting Rust Belt Futures" conference at Syracuse University

2010-10-09T06:44:00.000-07:00

Formerly Urban: Protecting Rust Belt Futures

An important conferenc will take place at the Syracuse Univeristy School of Architecture this week on "projecting rust belt futures." It looks like a very stimulating program, though I note the apparent exclusion of historic preservationists, and known developers who have used historic preservation as a catalyst for urban renewal (as has been done effectively in downtown Syracuse and in many other cities). I don't know the work of all the participants, so I might be mistaken. Certainly the local firm of Munly Brown Studio is located in an older bulding on Hanover Square (owned and also occupied by SU Dean Mark Robbins, also a participant). UPSTATe director Julia Czedrniak has been a lead advocate and designer of Syracuse's Connective Corridor.

UPSTATE: A Center for Design, Research, and Real Estate will host the "Formerly Urban: Projecting Rust Belt Futures" conference at Syracuse University School of Architecture October 13-14, 2010.

The two-day conference will focus on the future of shrinking cities in America's Rust Belt, underscoring the centrality of design and innovation in their revitalization. International experts from architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design, as well as planning, policy, finance and economics will consider the ways in which design innovation can create urbanity in weak market cities whose urban character has devolved radically due to economic, demographic, and physical change – cities that are now considered “formerly urban.”

“Although many metropolitan centers are growing rapidly,” says UPSTATE: director, Julia Czerniak, “rust belt cities suffer from the loss of city fabric, diminishing social welfare networks and basic services, eroding public school systems, the loss of industry, increasing amounts of tax delinquent and vacant land, crumbling infrastructure, and declining population. We’re looking forward to exploring these issues with such an impressive group of panelists.”

“This conference is part of an ongoing series that focuses on the city and contemporary best practices in architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design,” says Mark Robbins, dean of the School of Architecture. “Through UPSTATE:, this forum explores approaches that will shape the future of our urban centers, locally and worldwide.”

Adriaan Geuze, renowned Dutch landscape architect and co-founder of West 8 Urban Design & Landscape Architecture, a leading design practice in Europe, will deliver the keynote lecture on Thursday, October 13 at 5:30 p.m.. West 8 and Geuze have established an international reputation with a unique approach to planning and design of the public environment. He is the winner of several international design competitions, including Governor’s Island in NYC, Playa de Palma in Mallorca, and Toronto’s New Central Waterfront.

Five sessions will examine: case studies of cities that have fostered vibrant civic life within diffuse urban fabrics; regional strategies such as planned shrinkage, consolidation, and land-banking; the potentials of landscape to build upon and maintain vast amounts of emerging land; ways in which buildings, infrastructure and other design interventions can catalyze urban effects; and financing structures for innovative development in weak market cities.

Participants: Theodore Brown, Professor, Syracuse Architecture, Partner, Munly Brown Studio

McLain Clutter, Assistant Professor, A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Michigan

Julia Czerniak, Associate Professor and Director, UPSTATE: at Syracuse Architecture; Founding Principal, CLEAR

Toni L. Griffin, Founder, Urban Planning & Design for the American City; Adjunct Associate Professor, Harvard University Graduate School of Design

Rosanne Haggerty, President and Founder, Common Ground Eelco Hooftman, Partner and Co-Founder, GROSS. MAX. landscape architects

Mark Linder, Associate Professor, Syracuse Architecture; Principal, CLEAR James F. Lima, Partner, HR&A Advisors, Inc. Brian Lonsway, Associate Professor, Syracuse Architecture

Sébastien Marot, PhD, Professor of History and Theory, École d'Architecture de la Ville et des Territoires

Jonathan Marvel, Principal and Co-Founder, Rogers Marvel Architects

Don Mitchell, Distinguished Professor, Department of Geography, Syracuse University

Edward Mitchell, Principal, Edward Mitchell Architects; Assistant Professor, Yale University School of Architecture

Hunter Morrison, Director, Office of Campus Planning and Community Partnerships, Youngstown State University

Anne Munly, Professor, Syracuse Architecture; Partner, Munly Brown Studio

Marc Norman, Vice President, Deutsche Bank Community Development Finance Group Darren Petrucci, Professor and Director, Herberger Institute School of Architecture + Landscape Architecture, Arizona State University; Principal and Founder, A-I-R [Architecture-Infrastructure-Research] Inc.

Damon Rich, Urban Designer, City of Newark; Founder, Center for Urban Pedagogy

Mark Robbins, Professor and Dean, Syracuse University School of Architecture

Roger Sherman, Principal and Founder, Roger Sherman Architecture + Urban Design; Adjunct Associate Professor and Co-Director at cityLAB, UCLA Architecture and Urban Design

Charles Waldheim, Professor and Chair, Department of Landscape Architecture, Harvard Graduate School of Design

Mark Willis, Resident Research Fellow, Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, New York University

Jane Wolff, Associate Professor and Director, Master of Landscape Architecture Program, Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design, the University of Toronto

Andrew Zago, Founder and Principal, Zago Architecture; Design Faculty, Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc)

UPSTATE: A Center for Design, Research, and Real Estate was established at the Syracuse University School of Architecture in 2005 to engage innovative design and development practices and address critical issues of urban revitalization. A book based on the “Formerly Urban” conference will be published in spring 2012 through a collaboration of Syracuse Architecture and Princeton Architectural Press , funded in part by the Rockefeller Foundation. The “Formerly Urban” conference is supported by the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts and the Deutsche Bank Foundation, with additional support provided by the Central New York Community Foundation. The conference is free and open to the public. On October 13, sessions begin at 1:00 p.m.; on October 14 at 9:00 a.m.. For more information, visit soa.syr.edu/formerlyurban

Park Avenue Boulevard Architectural Walking Tour - This Sunday (Oct 3)

2010-09-30T04:01:00.000-07:00

Syracuse, NY. "Five Sisters" on Park Avenue in 2009. Photo: Peter Chen, Post Standard

Park Avenue Boulevard Architectural Walking Tour - This Sunday (Oct 3)

Join PACNY vice-president, landscape architect, and Park Avenue home owner Jeff Romano on a walking tour of one of Syracuse's loveliest - but little known - streets - street that is a neighborhood. Park Avenue's Victorian "five sisters" houses recently received a PACNY preservation award, and St. Paul's Armenian Apostolic Church was also recently placed on the National Register of Historic Places (formerly Park Ave Methodist Church, built in 1888).

I hope to attend - but as a looker and listener only!

Historic Neighborhood Tour

Come explore one of Syracuse’s historic neighborhoods, see the city’s history in a new light.

Preservation Association of Central New York (PACNY)

will host a walking tour of the Park Avenue Boulevard in Syracuse, Sunday, October 3, from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm.

This tour will travel along the 300 - 600 blocks of Park Avenue and a side street or two. Come walk a timeline of the development of a neighborhood starting around 1830. On this tour, you will be introduced the beautiful "five sisters," the recently refurbished residences facing Leavenworth Park, and industrial remnants along with current developments. All of this will fit into a broader historical view of the neighborhood from its beginnings to what we have inherited as it is today, and a view into its future.

Please meet in the center of Leavenworth Park - rain or shine.

The tour starts promptly at 2:00 pm from Leavenworth Park (Leavenworth Ave at Park Ave .) 1 block south of West Genesee and 2 blocks north of Erie Blvd. The tour will finish at St. Paul's Armenian Apostolic Church, which was recently placed on the National Register of Historic Places (formerly Park Ave Methodist Church, built in 1888).

The tour will be hosted by landscape architect Jeff Romano, Vice President of PACNY and a member of the Syracuse Landmark Preservation Board.

Snacks and refreshments will be provided.

Restrooms will be available.

Donation:

PACNY members - $10

Non members - $12

Please support PACNY by becoming a member to create a larger voice of Preservation in Central New York. Membership forms will be available.

2010-09-22T17:08:00.000-07:00

The Future of Blodgett and Central Schools:

A Panel Discussion at the OHA Museum

Sunday, September 26, 2010

2 PM at the OHA Museum

Sponsored by the Onondaga Historical Association and

the Preservation Association of Central New York

Syracuse, NY. Former Central High School (1903)

In conjunction with its current exhibit, Recapturing that Old School Spirit: Syracuse High Schools of Days Gone By, the Onondaga Historical Association (OHA) Museum is hosting a panel discussion on the future of two of those buildings: Blodgett and Central.

Of Syracuse’s older high school buildings that remain, most have found new or continuing uses. The future of two, however, has been somewhat murky. Central High School, opened in 1903 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, has been empty for 35 years, despite its key downtown location. Recent plans to transform it into a major technical school for the region have faltered, leaving its future uncertain.

Blodgett, opened in 1918 as a vocational high school, now serves as a K-8 facility, but one in serious need of rehabilitation. The planning for that rehabilitation has become a much-discussed topic of late, as the Syracuse School District and the city administration wrestle with renovation budgets for a number of city schools. Some have even questioned whether Blodgett should be included.

Syracuse, NY. Blodgett School (1918)

OHA’s exhibit touches on the topic of these buildings, their historic status and meaning to the community. To engage the community further, OHA has joined with the Preservation Association of Central New York to organize a panel discussion about the topic. Participating on the panel are the following:

Ned Duell, Syracuse City School Board

Anne Messenger,Near West Side Initiative

Sehl Burns, Central High School Alumnus

Doug Sutherland, Local Developer

Nadar Maroon, Syracuse City Council

Beth Crawford, Preservation Association of Central New York

Serving as moderator for the discussion will be Sean Kirst, columnist for The Post-Standard newspaper.

Illustrations of Syracuse schools long gone and forgotten,from Boyd's Syracuse City Directory, 1883-84

May School at Seneca Street between Otisco and Tully.

Prescott School, Willow Street above Lock Street

Syracuse High School, W. Genesee St at Onondaga Creek (1869)

Those who plan to attend this program are encouraged to come early to view the related exhibit at the OHA Museum. The Museum is located at 321 Montgomery Street in downtown Syracuse. Admission is free.

For more information, contact the OHA Museum at 428-1864

T. Aaron Levy School (formerly Nottingham high School) in the Westcott Neighborhood.
Its future as a school is uncertain.

Centennial of Syracuse's Temple Concord Cornerstone

2010-09-05T14:32:00.001-07:00

USA: Centennial of Syracuse's Temple Concord Cornerstone
by Samuel D. Gruber

(ISJM) This month marks the 100th anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone of present building of Temple Society of Concord, the oldest Jewish institution in Central New York and one of the oldest existing American congregations. The congregation will kick off this building centennial year (or years) with a brief ceremony and a wine and cheese reception before Shabbat services on Friday, September 10th. Events associated with the Jewish architecture and the building will be taking place all year, culminating with a re-dedication of the historic sanctuary next fall. The International Survey of Jewish Monuments has its office at Temple Concord, and I'll be giving a talk "Temple Concord, Jewish Architecture and City Beautiful" on April 11, 2011.

To take you back 100 years here is the story from the Syracuse Post-Standard from September 19, 1910 about the cornerstone laying ceremony. The full text of congregation president Gates Thalheimer is given. Thalheimer's remarks are indicative of American Reform sentiments at the time. I've written an article about these, and the role played by classical style architecture in promoting these sentiments and ideals, that should be out sometime in 2011.

The Post-Standard, Syracuse, N.Y., September 19, 2010
(transcribed by Samuel Gruber)

Corner Stone of Temple set with Trowel of Gold

Impressive Services Are Held by Society of Concord

Rev. Dr. Guttman, Assisted by Two Rabbis Conducts Services.

Prominent Hebrews of City Congratulate Church Upon Progress

The corner stone of the $85,000 house of worship bring erected at University avenue and Madison street by the Temple Society of Concord was set yesterday afternoon with a gold trowel presented by the Building Committee to the president of the society, Gates Thalheimer. Despite the unfavorable weather there was a large congregation at the impressive ceremonies which marked an important epoch in the growth of the society.
The corner stone contains a copper box in which was placed the customary documents, and on one side is this inscription: “Society of Concord, 1910.” The building, it is expected, will be dedicated in June next year.

Rev. Adolph Guttman, rabbi of the society, was assisted in conducting the services by Rabbis Jacob Kohn and J. H. Stolz. Besides Dr. Guttman and Mr. Thalheimer addresses were made by Dr. Nathan Jacobson, Dr. Henry L. Einer and Henry Danziger, chairman of the Building Committee. Dr. Guttman made an appeal for Godliness, declaring that no enterprise can succeed without the spirit of God. Dr. Jacobson said he regarded the ceremony as an important event in Jewish history in Syracuse and vicinity, and referred to it as the first evidence of expansion. “There are only two conditions in this world,” said Dr. Jacobson, “namely, growth and decay. We are showing growth. What we want inside of these cold walls is a spirit that will give life and sympathy and the development of religious thoughts and principle. Such an institution will bid welcome to all who seek admission.”

Dr. Eisner believed the influence of the Temple Society of Concord in its new building would be far-reaching. He spoke of the value of culture and good influence.

The trowel was presented to Mr. Thalheimer by Henry Danziger. It is engraved as follows: “With this trowel was set the corner stone of the Temple Society of Concord in 1910. Presented to Gates Thalheimer, president, by the members of the Building Committee.
Mr. Thalmeimer made a short address which was cordially received. In part he said:

The laying of this corner stone is an event, toward which many of us have looked for a long time. When the thought of building a new Temple first arose among us there were many problems to settle. First among these was the matter of location. I am sure that now we will all agree that this problem was settled right. Many of our people have worshiped in the old Temple at State and Harrison streets. That Temple has had a noble history. There are many tender associations there, which we shall not forget. But changes of population have been great since our old Temple was built. We have chosen, therefore, this place on this hill, surrounded by a fine neighborhood of beautiful homes, close to the campus of a great university. It does seem a most appropriate place for us to locate and build. We shall cherish the memories of the old house of God, but our faces are turned towards the future and we are planning for the years to come. We are thinking of our children, and of our children’s children. We are carrying out a programme which ought to increase the usefulness and influence of our society.

What we are doing now ought to forecast a new epoch of prosperity and provide a permanent home for our people for generations to come.

Our business now is to complete this Temple, equip it, pay for it and do our best to make it a worthy monument to the living vitality of the faith of Israel. So much in a business way.

I am not your pastor. I would be out of place preaching to you, or exhorting you. I certainly have no desire to pose as a religious leader. But there are thoughts that crowd the mind of a plain business man at such a time as this. There are associations with our temple building which stir ancient and noble memories. There are interests here greater than those of brick and stone and builder’s accounts.

We who are members of this temple Society of Concord are also members of the household of Israel. We ought to be proud of this fact. We ought to be glad that we are Israelistes. It is the best thing in all that we inherit form the past that we were born among that ancient people whose history is older than the throne of Caesar’s or the ideas of Plato.

To-day we are far from the home where our fathers lived. The land they loved is in ruins. The temple they built is no more. Some among our people dream of a time when they will return to Palestine and rebuilt her waste places. Perhaps that time may come. Possibly some future age may see Zion restored to her ancient beauty. But that is not for us who are settled here in this new world. We are a remnant of the people of God, but we have learned to love this great Republic. We are among its citizens. Its duties and its right are ours.

This brings me to my final word and to the thought which is behind all I have so far said. This land of ours is a great workshop. Its looms and wheels turn fast. The opportunities for education, wealth and power are marvelous. The temptations are also great. We are drawn into the whirlpool of this vast tumult. This is no time nor place for ancient superstitions or outgrown fables.

But it is a time to recall the one thing which has made Israel immortal. We are to be modern up to date men and women. We are to be Americans. But it will be a miserable mistake if we forget that we are also of that people who made that ancient covenant with Jehovah. With malice toward none and with love toward all we are building this Temple because we are sharers in Israel’s hope. That hope which from Abraham until now has never failed our race.

The very thing we can do for ourselves, four our children, and for our country, is to renew our vows to the God of our fathers that in our day and generation we will serve Him. This Temple is to be our pledge that Israel’s faith is one, and that though we are divided by continents and seas and languages, yet our hope is one.

Several hymns were sung by the quartet choir of the Temple Society of Concord under the direction of George K. Van Deusen.

Historic Ithaca to Hold Window Workshops in September

2010-09-03T03:53:00.000-07:00

The replacement of good long lasting wooden windows with new short-lasting vinyl replacements is one the most unnecessary changes wrought in older houses in older neighborhoods. Fast sales talk and sometime public energy savings subsidies often convince homeowners that rplacing old windows with new is cheaper, cleaner, easier and hassle free. I ain't so! Vinyl isn't final, and even when it lasts, poor installation, shoddy mechanisms and other faults often make "replacement" windows in need of replacement within a decade. Here's a chance - courtesy of Historic Ithaca - for contractors and others to learn more about working with older windows. Maybe we'll be able to bring this program to Syracuse...but until then here is an opportunity.

Historic Ithaca to Hold Window Workshops in September

Can you really believe everything the window salesman says about replacing your historic wood windows?

Many old windows have lasted 100 or more years. With the right repairs and maintenance, they'll last another 200 and be as energy-efficient as replacement windows.

Historic Ithaca is offering two hands-on wood window restoration workshops in September: a four-day intensive course for contractors, painters, and other building professionals and a one-day hands-on workshop for homeowners, landlords, and property managers.

The one-day workshop will equip building owners to keep their old windows in good working order. Participants will learn the basic skills to perform affordable and lasting window repairs. This workshop will be held on Saturday, September 25, 10am–4pm at Historic Ithaca's headquarters, 212 Center Street, Ithaca NY.

The four-day workshop will prepare professionals for successful work on clients' windows. This comprehensive on-site course includes evaluating conditions, removing windows, repairing damaged wood, reglazing, installation and restoration of hardware, paint removal, and lead safety. This workshop will be held Tuesday, September 21 through Friday, September 24, 9am–4pm each day.

Advance registration is required and space is limited in both workshops. The registration fee for the one-day workshop is $95 ($85 for Friends of Historic Ithaca) and the four-day workshop is $425 ($395 for Friends of Historic Ithaca). The fee is non-refundable and includes lunches and refreshments. Register online at http://www.historicithaca.org/.

Workshop instructor Steve Jordan is a graduate of Cornell University's Historic Preservation Planning program and a contributing editor for Old-House Journal magazine. He was formerly the rehab advisor for the Landmark Society of Western New York and an architectural conservator for Bero Architecture. He is the author of numerous articles about old-house repair and historic preservation, and he has many years of hands-on experience working on his own and his clients' old homes.

Historic Ithaca's window workshops are funded through a grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and through the support of these sponsors: Argos Inn, Chemung Canal Trust Company, Crawford & Stearns Architects and Preservation Planners, and Taitem Engineering.

For more information, visit www.historicithaca.org

Holy Trinity Church Named Syracuse Protected Site

2010-07-24T11:43:00.000-07:00

Holy Trinity Church Named Syracuse Protected Site

Last week the Syracuse Common Council designated Holy Trinity Church at 501 Park Street as a City of Syracuse Protected Site. The action will help protect the historic and beautiful Gothic-style church from drastic change, though it does not offer full protection - only a good program of appropriate use and adequate funding can do that. Now that the building is protected the real planning for its future can begin - and it will not be easy!

(Holy Trinity church stained Glass. Photos by Samuel D. Gruber
click on any image picture for larger image)

The Preservation Association of Central New York supported the designation of Holy Trinity Church as a Local Protected Site based on its historic, architectural and artistic significance to the city and Central New York. Here is the statement that PACNY presented to the Planning Commission that was also consdiered by the Common Council. I was happy that I was able to provide the Landmarks Preservation Board with some addtional information about the architect and the maker of the glorious stained glass. I've previously post galleries of photos of the church exterior and interior. Today I'm also inclduing images of the stained glass windows.

The Preservation Association of Central New York supports the designation of Holy Trinity Church as a Local Protected Site based on its historic, architectural and artistic significance to the city and Central New York.

Holy Trinity Church, built from 1905 to 1912, is one of Syracuse’s most impressive Gothic Revival buildings. Designed by Syracuse University trained architect Charles W. Eldridge (1882-1947) and decorated by dozens of large stained glass windows from the studio of Otto F. Andrle (d. 1933) of Buffalo, the two-towered Gothic church is one of Syracuse’s most striking neighborhood landmarks and one of its finest religious spaces.

The closing of the church was announced in December 2009, together with the pending closing of Saint John the Evangelist Church, another great Gothic building that once served as the city’s Catholic Cathedral. Protected Site designation will recognize the inherent qualities in the building and, and in the spirit of the ordinance, it is our hope that designation will help protect these qualities whatever the use to which the building is put in the future. We especially urge the designation of the complete exterior envelope of the church including its exceptional stained glass windows, as well the interior space of the sanctuary with all of its built-in architectural elements (columns, capitals, moldings, etc.).

At the turn of the 20th century, the Northside was home to many German Catholic and Lutheran churches. Many of these were in the Gothic style, a favorite among German-American immigrants beginning in the 1840s. Most are now demolished or transformed to different use. For at least the last half-century the congregation of Holy Trinity has been heavily Italian. More recently, a number of the new parishioners have been Vietnamese Catholics. Whatever the parishioners’ national origins, the great German-Gothic hall style church has been a landmark of architecture, community and faith in the neighborhood. Its tall two-towered façade, augmented by its location on a local highpoint, soars above other buildings in area. It is the most impressive building of any sort in that part of the city.

The interior of the structure is striking. The impressive open space is in the German Gothic tradition in which the considerable height is maintained across all three aisles for the entire width of the church. That also means there are no side galleries, just a choir loft over the entrance narthex (vestibule). The great open space accentuates the light, color and line of the excellent set of narrative stained glass windows by Otto Andrle Studio of Buffalo. They rank among the very best in Central New York. They include many traditional images, but also several unusual window scenes, such as that of the Garden of Eden. The windows are inscribed with passages in German and were mostly donated by members and member societies. (The Syracuse Landmark Preservation Board has a list of all windows subjects and the names of donors).

Otto Francis Andrle was born and educated in Buffalo and was a student of Buffalo artist Lars G. Sellstedt. “Early in his youth, he completed an apprenticeship with Florian Feyl, frescoing, and studied stained glass painting in the studios of Booth and Riester, later the Buffalo Stained Glass works, the pioneer craftsmen of the art in Buffalo. From about 1893 to 1902 he operated his own painting and decorating business, Andrle & Co. at 222-224 Genesee Street in Buffalo. The Teck and Star theaters were among the many Buffalo homes, schools and churches that exhibited his work.” [www.andrle.com/chris/windows2.htm]. Andrle was also an actor, making his professional debut in 1892. He founded the Otto F. Andrle Stained Glass and Art Institute with Jacob J. Diebolt in 1913 after his retirement from the stage.

The church architect was Charles Eldridge (1882-1947), who was born in Canandaigua and received his architectural training at Syracuse University and in the offices of Gordon and Madden and Harry C. Parks. Eldridge opened his own office in 1912 and Holy Trinity must be one of his very first significant commissions. Eldridge went on to become a prominent architect in Rochester and head architect for the Rochester Diocese. He later was an Associate in the firm of Gordon and Kaelber. Among his important works in Rochester are the Columbus Civic Center and its auditorium, the Eastman Theater at the Eastman School of Music, the Rundel Memorial Library, and Corpus Christi Church, Holy Rosary Church, Saint Peter and Paul Church, St. Mary’s Hospital and St. Mary’s Church in Canandaigua. Holy Trinity Church is the only building in Syracuse known to have been designed by Eldridge.

The architect demonstrated his design competence in this early work, aided by first-rate plasterers who carried out all the interior decorative work, including the capitals. The building is probably brick throughout - with the interior covered with plaster roughed and scored and painted to look like ashlar stone blocks. The vaults appear to be plaster, which could be verified by an examination from above in the attic space.

This building is still in very good condition. Two extended visits to the church earlier this year and examination all of the publicly accessible areas, including the tower stairway to the organ loft, revealed a small number of areas visibly in need of repair. There are small areas of deteriorated plaster from water damage in the west tower stairwell. These seemed to be dry, indicating that the source of the damage (which was probably bad drainage off the roof) has been repaired. Also a small area of peeling paint and plaster is visible in the northeast section of the sanctuary. Thus, it is fair to say that this building is not comparable to some other religious structures which suffered from deferred maintenance. The Catholic Diocese and the parish have devotedly maintained this building well for almost a century.

Sharon BuMann to Receive PACNY's Harley McKee Techincal Award

2010-04-29T14:28:00.000-07:00

Sharon BuMann to Receive PACNY's Harley McKee Technical Award

Local artist and sculpture conservator Sharon BuMann is scheduled to receive PACNY's Harley McKee Technical Award at the upcoming awards ceremony on Thursday, May 6th (7 pm at Barnes Mansion, 930 James Street), in recognition of her skill at bronze sculpture restoration and the contribution she has made to our community. Coincidentally Dick Case writes about Sharon in today's Post Standard with the good news that the Redfield Monument will soon be returned - fully restored - to Foreman Park. You can read Dick's story here:

http://blog.syracuse.com/opinion/2010/04/forman_park_gets_renovation_th.html

Last summer the North Side celebrated the restoration of the Kirkpatrick Monument/LeMoyne Fountain in Washington Square. You can read about that and see pictures at:

http://mycentralnewyork.blogspot.com/2009/07/my-cny-public-art-dedication-of.html

Here is some more information about Sharon and her work:

Sharon BuMann

Sharon BuMann began her career as a professional sculptor in 1977. She holds an Associates Degree in Graphic Arts, a BFA in Sculpture, post graduate credits from Lyme Academy and University of Hartford, Connecticut. BuMann's current works include traditional fine art sculpture, bronze monuments, architectural collaborations, and butter sculptures. Her creations range in scale from miniature to monumental. She is perhaps best known as the sculptor of the Jerry Rescue Monument in Clinton Square, Syracuse.

In the past decade, Sharon has expanded BuMann Sculpture Studios to include TRS (Technical Restoration Service) dedicated to the restoration of existing bronzes, especially a number of works of public sculpture in Central New York. Engaged by then Syracuse Parks Commissioner Otis Jennings in 2001 to care for many of the city's long neglected monuments, and supported by Jennings successor Commissioner Patrick Driscoll, Sharon embarked on a continuing program now a decade old to maintain and restore the many exemplary bronze statues that adorn the city. Among those restored are the Goethe and Schiller Monument, the Gustavus Sniper Monument, the Hamilton White Monument and most recently the Kirkpatrick Monument in Washington Square. All of these superb works of art of a century ago have been returned to the public in their original beauty and glory.

Technical Restoration is a melding of art and industry. For many public monuments, years of neglect and abuse by pigeons and people alike, have left these sculptures in a prolonged state of decay.Sharon prides herself in researching each monument, the goal is always to bring back the original aesthetic qualities of a sculpture, and to halt the agents of corrosion and decay while laying the stage for simple a long-term maintenance plan to foster greater appreciation by the citizenry, uphold the community's investment both culturally and financially, reduce costs of later upkeep, and preserve priceless, and often one-of-a-kind, works of public art.

According to Sharon, “every bronze has a unique situation and condition. I find educating the general public and civic officials to the need for regular care and attention to area history is very important and necessary.” For her accomplishment in art, craft, technical skill and public advocacy we present Sharon BuMann with the 2010 Harley McKee Technical Award.

A Must to Save: The Former AME Zion Church

2010-03-07T15:42:00.000-08:00

Former AME Zion Church seen from Center of Excellence.
Photo: Samuel Gruber 2010.

Former AME Zion Church. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2010.

A Must to Save: The Former AME Zion Church

Yesterday I was glad to attend the opening of the new Center of Excellence. I'll write more on that in a separate post. But walking down, and then then looking south through the CoE's wall of glass, I couldn't help a feeling of dismay as I passed two of the most significant and most neglected buildings in Syracuse, the Gustav Stickley House on Columbus Avenue and the former AME Zion Church at 711 East Fayette, just a stone's throw from the CoE. Both are small buildings which once had small problems, but neglect has caused more damage and the future of each remains uncertain.

The former AME is, I think, the oldest purpose-built Africa-American church in Syracuse. The modest church building with elegant stained glass windows was (apparently) designed by leading Syracuse architect Charles Colton (who also designed City Hall). This was the successor home to the famous congregation that had been led by famed-abolition leader Jermaine Loguen during the mid-19th century.

I'd appreciate hearing from anyone with information or ideas about saving this important building. Given its prime location and small size it could be used for a variety of educational, exhibition and community purposes.

July Wellman wrote in Uncovering the Freedom Trail in Syracuse and Onondaga County (PACNY, 2002): “The AME Zion Church in Syracuse was the largest African American congregation (and for many years the only one) in Syracuse. It was the single most important community organization for African Americans before the Civil War, and it was one of the most important sources of abolitionist and underground railroad activity in the region. It also represents the central importance of churches for promoting the Freedom Trail.”

The original church was at 14 Chestnut (West side of South Crouse between Washington and Water Streets). The congregation moved to East Fayette in 1911. AMW Zion still owns the building, which has been occupied by other religious congregations. AME Zion is now located at 2306 South Salina Street.

From Syracusthenandnow (http://syracusethenandnow.org/Architects/Colton/Charles_Erastus_Cotton.htm):

“When Charles E. Colton died in 1914, he was hailed as "the most prominent architect in the city at the time." In Syracuse, Colton's best known work is City Hall, built in 1889. Colton was educated in the public schools of Syracuse and was engaged in various enterprises before he entered the architectural office of Archimedes Russell in 1873. Three years later he established his own architectural offices. Between 1880 and 1881 he was in partnership with James H. Kirby. New York State Governor David B. Hill (Gov. 1885-1891) offered Colton the position as State Architect, which he declined because of pressing work. Colton was Treasurer of the Western New York Association of Architects and was elected a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 1888.”

It Pays to Look Up: Typical House Gables in Syracuse

2010-03-07T14:15:00.000-08:00

It Pays to Look Up: Typical House Gables in Syracuse

One of the best arguments for the creation and protection of neighborhood conservation and preservation districts in cities such as Syracuse is to maintain something of the variety in texture, shape and form that creates a visually rich and stimulating environment for walking and living. In modest neighborhoods like the late 19th and early 20th century "streetcar suburbs" around where I live on the Eastside (similar neighborhoods can be found in other parts of the city) visual variety was obtained - and has been maintained - in a few ways. For those that could afford it there were individualized houses, and in Syracuse these include the many Arts & Crafts styles houses building in the teens and 20s of the last century.

Most people, however, built or bought pattern-made houses with ready made parts available from the many building supply companies that produced house catalogs from which patrons and builders could chose. The result was that on a given street and in a given neighborhood there was a limited number of basic forms for houses built at a particular time, but almost infinite detail in the selection and arrangement of details including windows size, type and placement; siding materials and size; location of bays, doors and other openings; and the detailing of rooflines, eaves, dormers and gables.

In a city like Syracuse, where snow and rain are always an issue, pitched roofs and good gables are essential (and those modern and contemporary architects how have opted for flat roofs have caused much anguish in the last half-century to building owners). High pitched roofs also provide ample attics, and these attics often get decorative windows.

The result is a visually rich experience for any neighborhood walker who bothers to look. Changes in houses over almost a century have created additional variations - some good, but unfortunately in recent years - mostly bad. Details have been stripped off, vinyl siding has often covered the original varied patterns of clapboards and shingles, and standardized windows have replaced more detailed originals. Still, there is much to see.

Yesterday was a sunny winter day and I decided to walk from my house on Clarke Street off Westcott Street down to the new Center of Excellence, which was hosting tours and an open house. I had my camera and along the way I photographed many of the house gables I passed on the east side of Westcott Street and Columbus Avenue, and the north side of East Fayette and East Genesee Streets.

None of these streets are in historic districts and none benefit from protective design overlays. These neighborhoods would be described as mostly poor or lower middle class, and not all the houses are well maintained. But many are, and others have been rehabbed in recent years by housing not-for-profits. Some of these projects have maintained original buildings features, others have stripped them away with gusto.

My message is that when the ice and snow on the pavements are shoveled and you to look up instead of where you are walking - do so. The gables around Syracuse are one of the many features that contribute to our livable neighborhoods. My neighborhood is celebrated for its economic, racial and ethnic diversity. It is also an attractive place for its visual diversity - and that is something we must maintain. Its usually not an issue of cost - but of awareness and sensitivity. Typically people homeowners who live in the neighborhood do their best to keep them looking nice and to protect the building details. But its the absentee landlords - of whom there are many - that strip away the beauty and variety of our neighborhoods - and our city. The big urban good can come from paying attention to little urban details.

Syracuse: Last Mass for Great Gothic Holy Trinity Church

2010-02-21T10:03:00.000-08:00

Syracuse: Last Mass for Great Gothic Holy Trinity Church - What Now?

Its not been an easy month for Gothic architecture in Syracuse. In addition to the request by the City Department of Code Enforcement to demolish the Gothic Cottage on South Salina Street, the city witnessed the closing of Holy Trinity (Roman Catholic) Church at 501 Park Street on the North Side. Holy Trinity, built from 1905 to 1912, is one of Syracuse’s most impressive Gothic Revival buildings. The closing of the church was announced in December, together with the pending closing of Saint John the Evangelist Church, another great Gothic building that once served as the city’s Catholic Cathedral. Last Sunday the final mass was celebrated at Holy Trinity. You can read about it here.

Holy Trinity Church interior views. All photos by Samuel D. Gruber 2010

At the turn of the 20th century the Northside as home to many German Catholic and Lutheran churches and many of these were Gothic, a favorite style among German-American immigrants beginning in the 1840. Most are now demolished or transformed to different use. For at least the last half century the identity of Holy Trinity has been Italian, those more recently new parishioners include Vietnamese Catholics. Whatever their national origins the great German-Gothic hall style church has been a landmark of architecture, community and faith in the neighborhood. Its tall two towered façade, augmented by its siting on local highpoint, soars above other building in area. It is the most impressive building of any sort in that part of the city.

Its future is unknown. The track record for reuse of Catholic churches is not good. Until recent years the Catholic Church has been loathe to close churches, and for many generations replacement populations of new Catholic immigrant groups have made reuse unnecessary. So far, Catholic churches have not been offered for use to other Christian denominations or religions.

This building, though, is still in very good condition. When I visited a few days before the final mass, the only areas in need of repair that I could see were small patches of deteriorated plaster from water damage in the west tower stairwell, and those seemed to be dry, indicating that the source of the damage (which was probably bad drainage off the roof) has been repaired (n.b my visit was limited to the sanctuary and choir loft). Thus, this closure is not comparable to that South Presbyterian Church where significant repairs were needed, but had been put off for a long time by the small struggling congregation.

Holy Trinity Church exterior views from Park Street. All photos: Samuel D. Gruber 2009

Nonetheless, Holy Trinity (or whatever name it will assume) will require considerable maintenance no matter what its future. But no one should be allowed to make the argument that bad condition requires demolition. But as we know from so many similar situations in Syracuse – leaving a building like this empty for even one or two winters can cause great harm – from ice or thieves!

It is not clear that care of the building was really putting a strain on the Diocese now, but looking ahead it was decided that resources would be put to other use. There does not seem to have been any large appeal for help or public fund raising effort. The church has not received – nor to my knowledge ever been nominated – for any public or private grants. According to parishioners, the church was built with contributions without a mortgage, and the title holder was actually a local religious society, not the Diocese, but that does not seem to make a difference in the present situation. Still, a group of parishioners is appealing to the Vatican for reconsideration of the closure and the merging of Holy Trinity with Saint John the Baptist Church located further west on Court Street (that building is an impressive Romanesque Revival structure, built by famed Syracuse architect Horatio Nelson White in 1867, and oldest (?) church in the city in continuous use).

The interior of the structure is quite striking. The big open space is impressive. In the German tradition there are no low side aisles. The considerable height is maintained across all three aisles for the entire width of the church. That means there are no side galleries, just a choir loft open the entrance narthex (vestibule). The great open space accentuates the light, color and line of the excellent set of narrative stained glass windows. These are of German origins – I’m not sure of the studio – but they certainly rank among the very best (that I know) in Central New York. I was particularly taken by a Garden of Eden scene, and there are many other scenes that strike me as unusual. The windows are inscribed with passages and mottos in German. I don’t know if these windows were documented by the Census of American Stained Glass. I suggested to parishioners that no matter the outcome of their appeal, it essential to document (and protect) these windows. I will try to get some of my art historian and religious studies friends at Syracuse University to participate.

I have not seen early documents and as of this writing I do not know who the architect was – though he was clearly very competent, and he was aided by some first rate plasterers who carried out all the interior decorative work, especially the capitals. The building is probably brick throughout - with the interior covered with plaster roughed and painted and scored to look like ashlar stone blocks. I assume the vaults are a plaster, but it would be good to get up in the attic to take a look at the vaulted ceiling from above.

The original altar - set in a tall and intricate work of Gothic style cabinetry with panel paintings and set against the south wall (end of the main apse) is also tremendously impressive. Given my other (Jewish) studies I was interested in the painting of the so-called Sacrifice of Isaac on the altar, included as a prefiguration of the Crucifixion.

More Photos of Gothic Cottage

2010-02-19T11:55:00.000-08:00

More Photos of Gothic Cottage

Here are many photos taken in December 2009 that show the seriously deteriorated consition of the building taken when SUN accompanied Code Enforcement inside on December 15, 2009 (first 24 photos taken by SUN, the rest taken by Code.) http://www.flickr.com/photos/sunvacants/sets/72157623343165781/.

Some of the mess is just that - mess, and a lot of wha is shown to be deteriorated and ruined are later insertions - 2 x 4 separation walls, 1950s style paneling and the like. Many original details including floor sections, moldings and the spiral stair are intact.

Still, there is much damage in walls and ceilings and most significantly in the foundation. It appears that the foundation would have to be substantially rebuilt - though it is not clear from the pictures whether the deterioration is under all the foundation or just the newer additions.

Certainly, this project would have to include all new mechanical systems...

It seems to me the first thing to do before demolishing the building in toto, would be for the city to bring in a dumpster and authorize the volunteer clearance of debris as has been done ath the Pike Block. This would surely facilitate good documentation of building - something that need to be done in any case and that the SLPB will certainly require. It would allow the some experts to get in there to look the entire building and determine how difficult any project would be - and how costly in materials and labor.

All this assumes permission would be granted by the church which owns the building.

Last Chance for South Salina Street Gothic Cottage?

2010-02-19T06:38:00.000-08:00

Syracuse, NY. The "Gothic Cottage" at 1601 South Salina Street a few years ago.
Photo: Samuel D. Gruber

Last Chance for South Salina Street Gothic Cottage?

For at least as long as I've lived in Syracuse (since 1993) every time there is a list - promoted or just stated off-the-cuff - of endangered buildings, the mid-19th century Gothic Cottage at 1601 South Salina Street is included. The small but once intricately detailed house is among the most noticeable structures on South Salina Street in the area once known as Danforth, the important linking settlement between Onondaga (the Valley and the Hill) and Syracuse.

The house is the oldest standing building in the South Salina Street National Register Historic District, which was designated in 1986.

“It is an architecturally significant example of a picturesque, Gothic Revival style cottage, reflecting the early Victorian era taste for the fanciful, picturesque architecture propounded by A. J. Downing and others in the mid‑nineteenth century. Distinctive characteristics of the period displayed by the Gothic Cottage include the steeply pitched,. cross‑gable roof with pinnacles and pendants, Gothic‑arched windows arid, decorative, label molds above, window openings. The modern siding may conceal board‑and‑batten siding, also a characteristic attribute of the style. Entrance details and interior features, however, reflect the persistence of Greek‑Revival, style building traditions from an earlier period. The deeply recessed door flanked by sidelights and transom light, all surrounded by heavily molded trim, is typical of the Greek Revival style. Inside, the spiral staircase detailing and door and window moldings are also in the Greek Revival style. The house was at one time owned by John A. Clarke, a locally prominent Syracuse lawyer."

-- (South Salina Street National Register Historic District nomination)

The house was inhabited until 1978 when it was sold to the New Jerusalem Church of God in Christ (situated on an adjacent property to the south in the former Danforth Congregational Church, built 1884). The Church does not currently maintain the house, and the presumption has been - and this needs to be confirmed - that the Church would like to see the building demolished (since it has followed a policy of demolition by neglect) - presumably to reuse the lot for some other purpose (though they would need a zoning variance for a parking lot) or to sell for income. Clearly, the church has had its own needs to maintain its own historic 1884 building, which was sold by its original congregation for one dollar in 1968. It may be that the Church originally purchased the Gothic Cottage to prevent some other undesirable development on the street. The 1970s was a period of widespread demolitions on major Syracuse thoroughfare and old houses often gave way to commercial buildings.

Recent pictures of the cottage from the Crawford & Stearns report. Note the remains of the porch are gone.

Sadly, these days the Gothic Cottage is noticeable more for its dilapidated condition than for its past architecture and its always present potential. While there have been some unsuccessful efforts in the past to restore the building, these have all failed, and since 2008 Syracuse United Neighbors (SUN) the active Syracuse community group, has called for the building's demolition. Responding to the charge, the City's Department of Code Enforcement has now begun the process that is likely to lead to the building's demolition. Yesterday, the Department presented its request for a certificate of appropriateness (CofA) to the Syracuse Landmark Preservation Board (SLPB). Although the structure is not designated a Syracuse protected site, its fate is subject to review by the Board because it is a contributing property to the National Register District. The SLPB tabled the CofA request ofr one month, vowing to make a decision then. Still, even without SLPB approval, the Department of Code Enforcement can demolish the building at any time citing it as pending health or safety emergency. . In addition to Code violations, back taxes are now owed on the property (I don’t know how much), but the City has not seized it, no doubt not wanting yet another property on their hands.

At the SLPB meeting, of SUN organizer Richard Puchalski called for the demolition on the grounds of the building's extreme deterioration, and because there is no sign of a scenario to preserve the building. Tom Francis, Director of Syracuse Model Neighborhood Corporation (SMN), who a decade ago had tried to obtain state funding assistance to save the building - then in much better condition - also favored demolition. Tom and SMN were the 1998 winners of the Preservation Association of Central New York's Pat Earle award for significant work in the neighborhood carried out in the 1990s.

While the house looks bad, it is much less of a danger than other buildings in the city that still stand. Its location, however, and the long wait for some change, has made it symbol of the failure of the city to solve the problem of how to save old buildings. The sad irony, of course, is that the city through Code Enforcement can demolish the building at any time, but it cannot – nor can any other group – intervene to care for the property since it is privately owned. Obviously a clean up of the site and modest albeit cosmetic repairs to the structure would be less than the cost of demolition. The other irony is that in the end, of the building is going to be demolished, it is the city that will pay. But since the property has not been seized, it is quite possible the newly cleared property may revert to the church.

Unfortunately, the only scenario that I can see possibly working to save this structure is the same as the one that failed a decade ago, and now there is even less money available than before. But the process would have to be like this:

the City seizes the property for back taxes and the offers the site for a token sum to a not-for-profit (housing, cultural, religious, whatever) that commits to restoring and rehabilitating the structure with a certain amount of money on hand and cleaning and stabilization work to be down immediately. Then, as a not-for-profit, the group is eligible for public and private grants and private contributions. The group would especially seek contributions in kind from area architects, contractors, suppliers, etc. The project is small enough that it could be done fairly quickly (this could even be our own version of PBS’s “This Old House”).

If anyone has any other idea...now is the time to speak up and to act.

The condition of the Gothic Cottage is bad, but certainly many historic houses have been recovered from worse. The problems are a almost - money and postnatal use. Despite the loss of the front porch and a debris filled interior, there is still much of the original building fabric, some of which could be restored while some would also have to be replicated. In places other than Syracuse the process is not a difficult one, and one can visit Auburn to see how the old barn at the Tubman House is being saved in such a manner.

Preservation Architects Crawford and Stearns, consultants to the City of Syracuse, prepared a report for the SLPB about the history of the building and its current condition. This bit of history is excerpted form the report.

History & Historic Significance:

The Gothic Cottage …was built circa 1855 and is an important example of the Gothic Revival style. The land the house is on was purchased in 1824 by General Thaddeus M. Wood as part of a larger land holding that he named “Danforth” after his father-in-law General Asa Danforth. The land reverted to the state of New York after Wood was unable to pay for it and in 1843, William B. Kirk purchased the unsettled land and developed the “Kirk Tract”, subdividing the land until his death in 1886.
Kirk sold a lot to John A. Clarke and his wife Margaret in 1858, with boundaries defined thusly: “Beginning at a point in the center of the Tully Plank Rd, two chains south of the southbounds of Ridgeway Street, running thence easterly along the southbounds of lands heretofore deeded to John Graff four chains thence, south and at right angles with the last described line, two chains, thence westerly on a line parallel with the first described line four chains to the center of the Tully Plank Road, thence northerly along the center of said Plank Road two chains to the place of beginning.” Mr. Clarke was a prominent attorney in Syracuse. A simple box indication of a structure appears on the 1860 map of the lot and, by 1874, the outline of the house appears to closely match the structure as it is today.
An 1892 map indicates the lot as being the “Estate of J. Tolman” and shows the same lot dimensions as previous maps. James Tolman owned a number of properties in Syracuse and Baldwinsville, including 1211 S. Salina Street (1631 prior to renumbering). James Tolman was the brother of Dr. Harvey P. Tolman who also owned property in the area. The lot was divided when given to Abigail Neff in 1905 to its current dimensions.
The Danforth Congregational Church was built on the adjoining lot to the south in 1884. The 1908 atlas of the City of Syracuse and the 1910 Sanborn maps show the house further back on the lot, while later Sanborn maps indicate a move forward, in line with other houses on the black. The house may have been moved after an addition was built to the church from 1899 to 1902. Whether the Tolman family was responsible for the move is unclear. There is evidence of a number of building campaigns, although they appear to have all taken place prior to 1910, as the full mass of the house appears on the 1910 Sanborns, and, again, the mass of the house appears roughly the same in the 1874 map. Rot in the interior walls reveals that the back two stories of the house were most likely an addition to the main cottage with center stair and a room on each side as the original wooden roof shingles can be seen under the addition roof.
The Lynch Family lived in the house from 1917 to 1948. George D. Lynch was a well-known physician in the area and was married to Irene Hughes. According to Charles Lynch (via a phone conversation in 2005), an attorney in Auburn, NY and the grandson of George and Irene, George Lynch removed the “gingerbread” bargeboard as he felt it would be too difficult to paint and maintain. A photograph of the home taken circa 1917 [in the C & S report] shows the original trim intact on the house.

CNY Endangered Buildings: Plan for Reuse of Former Temple Adath / Salt City Theater Advance...

2009-08-17T06:16:00.000-07:00

CNY Endangered Buildings: Plan for Reuse of Former Temple Adath / Salt City Theater Advance...

I've written on my Jewish Monuments blog about the development plans for the former Temple Adath Yeshurun in Syracuse. Click here to read about the building and plans for its adaptive reuse as a hotel:

Syracuse: Former Temple Adath Yeshurun to be Developed as a Hotel

My CNY Public Art: Dedication of Restored Kirkpatrick Monument (Lemoyne Fountain) at Washington Square

2009-07-02T11:34:00.000-07:00

Dedication of Restored Kirkpatrick Monument (Lemoyne Fountain) at Washington Square
by Samuel D. Gruber

(all photos by Samuel D. Gruber)

Yesterday evening I had the pleasure of attending a ceremony to re-dedicate the Kirkpatrick Monument in Washington Square, on Syracuse's Northside. The monument is also known as the LeMoyne Fountain, but the original water element, which was divided to serve people and horses, has not been replaced in the restoration.

Scenes from the Re-dedication of the Kirkpatrick Monument, July 2, 2009. All photos: Samuel D. Gruber

The monument, designed by husband and wife team of Harvey Wiley Corbett (1871-1954) and Gail Sherman Corbett (1872-1951), was first installed 101 years ago. It was cast by the Gorham Foundry of Providence, Rhode Island. The restoration has been carried out by Sharon BuMann, herself a local sculptor of note, the creator of the Jerry Rescue Monument at Clinton Square.

The monument speaks as a work of art, but it also remains - and has been re-empowered - as a "talking statue," in the tradition of Rome's Pasquino. But the characters on the Kirkpatrick Monument say different things - depending on who is interpreting their story.

Gail Sherman Corbett, the sculptor of the monument, was a native of Syracuse, who grew up (according to columnist Dick Case) at 1312 Park St. Her parents were Frederick Coe and Emma Jane (Ostrander) Sherman. She studied sculpture with Augustus Saint-Gaudens at the Art Students League in New York later studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris (1898-99), where her painting was influenced by the Impressionists. She married Harvey Wiley Corbett in 1905 and the two lived in New York, where they were well known and highly successful in the arts world.

Gail was also a painter and ceramicist, and exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Academy of Design, the National Association Women Artists-Exhibit, the National Sculpture Society, the Panama Pacific Exhibition of 1915 (where she exhibited a model of the Kirkpatrick monuments as well as a sundial), and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

The Corbetts had previously designed the Hamilton White Memorial in Fayette Park (now Firefighters Park), dedicated in 1905. That monument, also restored by Sharon BuMann, is one of Syracuse's finest pieces of public art. At the time of their work in Syracuse they were still young artists in their 30s, just getting established and building reputations.

Th Corbetts were active in the artistic education of women, and in 1908 - the same year as the creation of the Kirkpatrick Monument, Harvey Corbett designed the for Ellen Dunlap Hopkins New York School of Applied Arts for Women a remarkable building (at 30th and Lexington in New York) for her school for women artists, where he taught. The striking building which recalls classical structures but is embued with a strong modernist aesthetic, was one of Corbett's first independent commissions, and it brought him criticism from traditionalists, but praise from some quarters. Significantly, he designed a new studio for his wife in their Chelsea house about the same time. In both school and studio he inserted casts of the Parthenon frieze. Perhaps he thought that Athena, the wise virgin goddess to whom the frieze is dedicated was a good inspiration for women in the arts. Harvey Corbett went on to be one of the world's leading designers of skyscrapers and helped define the setback skyscraper style of the 1920s. He worked with Raymond Hood on Rockefeller Center, and Wallace Harrison was his student and got his start in Corbett's firm.

Much less is known of Gail Sherman Corbett's career. Like many women of her generation, her professional opportunites were limited. She is known to have contributed sculpture to some of her husband's other projects, such as the City Hall in Springfield, Massachusetts (for which she sculpted the main door). But the entire arc of her career needs to be researched.

The restored Kirkpatrick monument will now be among her best known works - until more are identified. The monument consists of a tall bronze drum set upon a granite base. The entire surface of the drum is sculpted in high relief. There a lengthy inscription, and then as series of interacting figures representing the purported events of August 16, 1654, when the local Onondaga people introduced Jesuit Missionary Pere Simon LeMoyne to the local salt spring. The relief depicts LeMoyne, his companion Jean Baptiste, the Iroquois leader Garakontie, and an unnamed Onondaga man and woman.

The salt industry later became a major cause of the establishment and expansion of the the village of Salina, and later the city of Syracuse. This scene was chosen for the monument as a fitting memorial to Dr. William Kirkpatrick, who had been superintendent fo the Syracuse Salt Works, by his son, also William Kirkpatrick. At the time of its erection, representatives of the Onondaga Nation were not invited to participate in the ceremony. The monument and its scene was largely understood as a lesson of the successful replacement of Indian culture with American Christianity. Still, Kirkpatrick left funds in his will for two other monuments in tribute to the Onondaga, neither extant. So apparently Kirkpatrick did see the connection between the Onondaga of the past of the city's (then) prosperity.

In a brochure produced by the Onondaga Nation "to truly honor the Onondaga Nation by grounding the history depicted on the Washington Square Park Monument in the broader history of the time" it is written that "If it is accepted that Father LeMoyne discovered the salt springs, one might say that he is, in an historical sense, responsible as the initiator of the whole chain of events for the future exploitation and usurpation of the Onondaga land." The brochure's authors also write that "The mansions of the salt barons around the park, The City of Syracuse and the Erie Canal were all built form the profits from Onondaga Lake's salt. In the 1890s, the availability of salt attracted Solvay Process. Its industrial plants along Onondaga lake are responsible for the toxic pollution of the Lake that still exists today."

At yesterday's celebration, however, the talk was more about cultural cooperation and environmentalism, and Oren Lyons, the Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan of the Onondaga Nation, was a featured speaker.

Syracuse, NY. Monument to Hamilton White in Fayette Park (now Firefighters Park).
Gail Sherman Corbett, sculptor and Harvey Wiley Corbett, architect, 1905.
Photo: Samuel D. Gruber 2008.

The Edmund Mills Rose Garden (Thornden Park) in June Bloom

2009-06-17T20:15:00.000-07:00

MY CNY Parks: The Edmund Mills Rose Garden (Thornden Park) in June Bloom

A favorite spot on Syracuse's East Side, and from the University is the Edmund Mills Rose Garden created in 1923 at the corner of Ostrom Avenue and University Place, just on the edge of Thornden Park by the Syracuse Rose Society, which still maintains it. This formal garden, with its central pavilion surrounded by radiating trellised paths adorned with approximately 400 types of Roses (10,000 plants in all) is a favorite spot for wedding and graduation photos, and just for casual visitors. The roses are in bloom in June, and I visited the other day.

MY CNY Parks: Thornden Park

2009-06-06T12:34:00.000-07:00

Thornden Park, Syracuse. The Rose Garden

On my bike on the Thornden Park brick paths - many of which need to cleared of encroaching turf

Summer is here and since I’m not planning too much travel this year, I thought I’d make of point of revisiting all the city parks, and others in our region. What better way to start then with those wonderful green spaces within walking distance of my house. I am fortunate to live a neighborhood - the Westcott Neighborhood - where much that I need is in easy walking and biking distance. This includes two large urban parks - Thornden and Barry. I live between the two, and can be in the heart of each within fifteen minutes on foot, and just a few minutes by bike. Both of these parks are heavily used, but given the wear and tear of that use both parks look good and are well maintained. The other day I biked around Thornden and took these pictures…If you haven’t used Thornden Park yourself, its worth a visit.

The Rose Garden is in full bloom, and the public swimming poll is one of the best in the city.

Entrance to the Park at Ostrom Avenue and Madison Street

Thornden is a scenic park - developed out of a 19th-century English landscape style private estate developed by Alexander H. Davis after he purchased the property from James Haskins in 1875. Haskins had bought what had been farmland from the Ostroms (after whom Ostrom Avenue is named), twenty years earlier. Thornden listed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places as an historic designed landscape.

Davis named his new estate Thornden and rebuilt Haskins house as an enlarged Tudor retreat, and he developed the grounds partly as an arboretum, partly as a hunting park, and he even included a small golf course. Only parts of Davis’s built vision are preserved at Thornden, but the picturesque quality of the landscape, the variety of plantings and mixed use character of the tract remain.

The City of Syracuse bought the seventy-five acre parcel in 1921 and began its transformation into a public park. Unlike New York City which has to create its great urban parks out of wasteland, Syracuse was able to create a public recreation area in the style and spirit of a Frederick Law Olmstead Park almost ready made.

The carriage house, which, is thought to be part of the original greenhouse complex of the Davis estate, was restored by the Thornden Park Association which was founded in 1983 (at a time when the park was suffering deterioration and neglect) and since that time has spearheaded the successful effort to restore beauty, utility and regular use to the park.

The restored Carriage House, a left-over from the David estate.

A notable formal exception to seeming informality of the rest of the park is the Edmund Mills Rose Garden created in 1923 at the corner of Ostrom Avenue and University Place. by the Syracuse Rose Society, which still maintains it. This formal garden, with its central pavilion surrounded by radiating trellised paths adorned with approximately 400 types of Roses (10,000 plants in all) is a favorite spot for wedding and graduation photos, and just for casual visitors.

During the 1920s and 1930s the City added more and more public amenities including a swimming pool in 1927 and the WPA-created amphitheater (on the site of the Haskins trout pond) in 1930. The amphitheater consists of six rock faced terraces which once supported rows of wooden benches. The amphitheater was restored in 1989 and is now frequently used for concerts and other events, but spectators bring their own chairs and blankets. Just above the amphitheater is a stone field house, which in winter is the site of the Thornden Park Association’s popular chili fest.

The Poolhouse with community mural about Thorden Park history

The amphitheater, a WPA park improvement project of the 1920s, restored in 1989

Later, a large playing field was created, basketball courts were installed, and just a few years ago a new play ground was inaugurated. Still, the overall appearance and feel of Thornden Park is of open rolling country, with new visual stimuli openings up at almost every turn and rise.

Part of the new playground for small children

For more history click here

Ten Commandments in Central New York

2009-05-28T15:06:00.000-07:00

Temple Society of Concord, Syracuse, NY. top: Decalogue over front porch.

Bottom: Decalogues set in the sanctuary flanking the bimah (platform) and Holy Ark. Photos: Samuel D. Gruber

Temple Adath Yeshuran, Syracuse, NY. Top: Decalogue in stained glass window moved from previous syangogue (commonly known as Salt City Playhouse). Bottom: Sculpted Decalogue over modern Ark.
Photos: Samuel D. Gruber

Ten Commandments in Central New York
by Samuel D. Gruber

This week Jews all over the world celebrate the festival of Shavuot, translated into English as "The Festival of Weeks" (so-named because its date is calculated as 7 weeks after Passover). The holiday commemorates God's giving the Torah to Moses (and thus to the Jewish people)on Mt. Sinai, as described in the Biblical Book of Exodus. The revaluation is summarized as the giving of the Ten Commandments. Visually,the common Judeo-Christian image of the Ten Commandments inscribed on the Tablets of the Law (Decalogue)is a symbolic abbreviation of the narrative of this event.

Representation of the Tablets of the law was developed as symbol of Judaism probably by Christian artist in the Middle Ages. The two tablets (a diptych with rounded tops) were frequently represented held by the defeated figure of synagoga / synagogue represented on church facades and elsewhere in contradistinction to the triumphant figure of ecclesia /church with a cross. The same image was sued as a badge that Jews were requited to wear in medieval England. But the tablets appeared in Jewish sources, too, usually in manuscript illuminations of Moses receiving the Law included in Hebrew bibles and other books. Sometimes the tablets are show as rectangular in shape (Regensburg Pentateuch), sometimes they are rounded (Sarajevo Haggadah). These images are presumed to have been made by Christian artists.

By the late 17th-century, however, the image of the Tablets became more established within the Jewish world. Starting in Amsterdam after 1675, we see the Decalogue included in synagogues decoration. First the Decalogue, usually with the first Hebrew words of each of the Ten Commandments, was included on or near the Holy Ark (where the Torah scroll itself was kept). By the 18th-century, however the Decalogue moves to the exterior of the synagogue, too, where it is included on facades as a symbol of the Jewish identity of the site, much as across is affixed in front of a church. This tradition became even stronger in 19th century Europe, following Jewish Emancipation in many countries., and it was adopted (with slight variation) by Jews of all persuasions. In America, this became a sort of branding - identifying a synagogue often when there was little else on the building that did so.

The Decalogue was seen as a positive statement of the fundamental basis of Judaism. It also was a symbol to which Christians, especially Protestant, could relate.

Images of the Tablets also became common in other contexts, decorating the Ark, sanctuary windows, and all sorts of ceremonial objects. The Decalogue eventually became a more common Jewish symbol that the Menorah, which had represented Judaism for nearly 2,000 years. In the 20th century use of the Decalogue has waned as the Jewish Star (Magen David) has become the universally accepted Jewish sign, and one more associated with Jewish nationahood. Jews, too, have more frequently represented the idea of Torah and Torah Law with images of scrolls - the way the Torah is actually preserved, read and studied today - rather than stone tablets. This may be in part due to the rise in popularity of the Ten Commandment tablets (usually with Roman numerals, or the Commandants written out in English) in American Protestant (especially Evangelical) Christian venues.

In Syracuse and Central New York there are several examples of the Decalogue used in Jewish contexts. These can be seen inside and out on Temple Society of Concord, the 1911 building at Madison and University just recently placed on the National Register of Historic Places. More artistic renderings of the Decalogue can be seen inside of Temple Adath Yeshurun on Kimber Raod (Syracuse), where stained glass windows from the earlier building, and a modern more expressionist sculptural rendering of the Decalogue is on the Ark of the Sanctuary. In Cortland, the Ten Commandments appear on the outer doors of the synagogue Ark in the spare modern sanctuary of Temple Brith Shalom (1969) designed by former SU Architecture Dean Werner Seligman.

Cortland, NY. Temple Brith Sholom. Ten Commandments represented on the doors of the Holy Ark.
Photo: Samuel D. Gruber

To the west, in Rochester, Syracuse University alumna (and sculptor of the Saltine Warrior) Luise Kaish created in bronze a dramatic representation of Moses receiving and revealing the law, and placed this on the massive bronze Ark of congregation Temple B'rith Kodesh (1962). Kaish was a student of Croatian sculptor Ivan Mestrovic who made several images of Moses during his career. There is also a relief sculpture of Moses holding the Ten Commandments attached to west facing wall of Syracuse University's aw School. But the big striding Moses by Mestrovic set between Shaffer and Bowne Halls has no tablets.

Rochester, NY. Brith Kodesh. Moses receiving the Law, detail of Ark by Luise Kaish. Photo: Paul Rocheleau

Have more local instances of the Ten Commandments? Let me know. Are they in our courtrooms? I'll have to go and check.

Excavations Continue at Harriet Tubman Home

2009-05-26T18:53:00.000-07:00

Excavations Continue at Harriet Tubman Home
by Samuel D. Gruber

Last Friday I took time to stop in Auburn, NY to check out the newest archaeological excavations at the Harriet Tubman Home, a large tract of land on the south side of town that had been owned by Tubman (from 1859), and where she spent almost a half century of her life, from the end of the Civil War until her death in 1913. The Tubman Home has been a National Historic Landmark since 2000 (part of the site has been designated as early as 1975). You can read the entire nomination here.

My friend Prof. Doug Armstrong of the Anthropology Department at Syracuse University has been running field sessions with his students at the Tubman site for several years. Doug is a past president of the Preservation Association of Central New York (PACNY). This was the first time I'd managed to get there when the dig was running.

This year the excavation is focused in two spots. The first dig is in the vicinity of the brick house where, according to Beth Crawford, a project manager for the house restoration (and Beth just happens to be Vice-President of PACNY), Tubman lived from 1882 or '83 until 1892, and then again from 1896 until 1911. An earlier wooden house of Tubman's on the site burned down, making way for the new brick building (restoration of which is just beginning).

At the brick house the students were uncovering an old walkway which led from the street to the formal entrance, though the common entrance was through a side door on the north. It was beneath a porch located here that the archaeologists discovered a rich deposit of artifacts including dinner dishes and other items destoryed in the fire, that had all been dumped in this deposit when the new house was erected on the older foundations. The addition of a porch (now removed) sealed access to the deposit until the archaeologists started digging. Who ate on those plates? Frederick Douglas? Secretary of State Seward? Or Harriet's many friends and admirers - including children - who used to flock to her house for her company and her stories.

A second site is on the east side of the wood frame house further north - that's the one that has the plaque and that served as the Tubman Home for the Aged, but where Harriet lived only for a few years from about 1892 to 1896, when she moved back to the brick house. The house was extensively remade in 1953, and has served since as the most visible part of the Tubman legacy. The students have uncovered a crude brick foundation which probably supported a wooden addition, possibly a lean-to kitchen area that adjoined the main house. This may have burned down (as many kitchens did), since there is a large adjacent ash deposit, or it may have leveled sometime in the past.

Due to declining health Harriet Tubman moved in 1911 to the John Brown Home for the Aged which she had long maintained on the property. That building was almost entirely demolished, but Armstrong and his students were able to locate it and excavate its footprint a few years ago.

Tubman is buried in Auburn's Fort Hill Cemetery. Both her home and the grave remain popular tourist sites for history buffs and for an annual Pilgrimage sponsored by the AME Zion Church of which she was a stalwart member, and to which she gave the property in 1903. The Church still owns the Home and the Pilgrimage takes place in early June.

Work is also ongoing for the restoration of the Tubman family barn just behind the brick house. This wood structure is partially preserved - though it served for many years as a bus station. It is presently jacked off the ground, and a new foundation have been set. Much of the wood siding has to be replaced, but it seems that about 30 to 40 percent of the original wood can be saved.