Historic Gowanus Spots Under Threat If Not Protected, Group Says

GOWANUS, NY — A group of locals banded together to call on the city to landmark more than two dozen buildings around Gowanus in the wake of a potential rezoning of the neighborhood.

The Gowanus Landmarking Coalition on Tuesday released a list of proposed scenic landmarks and historic districts they want the city to protect before the rezoning plan is drawn up. They fear that, without landmarking, they could be torn down.

"A firestorm of rezoning is coming," said Simeon Bankoff, executive director of the Historic District Council (HDC) that helped come up with the list. "If the city doesn't act before the rezoning to preserve some of these older structures, there won't be anything left."

The list includes buildings that date back to the early 1800s, like the Remnant Shanty at 101 Fourth St., and include several unique spots, like the Union Street Bridge Control Tower.

"This is not just an abstract list," said Brad Vogel, a preservationist who is part of the coalition. "It's a very real concrete list of issues that are happening right now and buildings that stand to be lost next week."

Aside from HDC, the coalition includes the Friends and Residents of Greater Gowanus, Park Slope Civic Council and the Carroll Gardens Coalition for Respectful Development which started meeting last year to consider spots residents suggested the Landmarks Preservation Committee evaluate. They came up with a list of 29 spots and three potential historic districts they want the city to consider.

"We don't anticipate that every single one of these would get landmarked," said Vogel. "But we do think more than a mere two or three buildings need to be landmarked in conjunction with the rezoning."

The group shared its list with the LPC, which is currently studying the neighborhood to find spots that should be protected.

"The Landmarks Preservation Commission is currently undertaking a study of the Gowanus area to identify historic preservation opportunities within the neighborhood in the context of the rezoning," a spokeswoman for the agency said in a statement.

The coalition hopes the city starts work on protecting the spots sooner than later as other neighborhood rezoning efforts left only a handful of buildings protected and other historic places fell to the wrecking ball.

Members of the group previously tried to push the city to protect the Gowanus Station building at 234 Butler St., which they want to demolish to build tanks to collect sewage runoff, but their pleas were denied by the LPC who wrote it's "plain utilitarian" exterior wasn't worth saving.

For their latest list, the group has been reaching out to the three council members who represent districts along the Gowanus Canal and hope to set up a meeting whoever replaces the head of the LPC.

The full list of potential landmarks is:

• Gowanus Flushing Tunnel Pumping House at 209 Douglass St.
• ASPCA Memorial Building and Horse Trough at 233 Butler St.
• Gowanus Station at 234 Butler St.
• R.G. Dun and Company Building at 239 Butler St.
• American Can Factory at 232 Third St.
• Brooklyn Rapid Transit Powerhouse (the "Bat Cave") at 322 Third Ave.
• S.W. Bowne Grain Storehouse at 595 Smith St.
• Union Street Bridge Control Tower
• Eureka Garage at 638 Degraw St.
• Lavender Lake at 383 Carroll St.
• National Packing Box Company at 542 Union St.
• Norge Sailmakers Building at 170 Second Ave.
• The News Brooklyn Garage at 209 Third Ave.
• T.H. Roulston, Inc. buildings at 70 to 124 Ninth St.
• Culver Viaduct on Ninth Street
• William H. Mobray Building at 400 Third Ave.
• Fourth Street Brewery and Icehouse Complex at 401 Bond St.
• The Green Building at 450 Union St.
• St. Agnes Roman Catholic Church at 419 Sackett St.
• Our Lady of Peace Roman Catholic Church Complex at 522 Carroll St.
• 505 Carroll St.
• Warehouse at 129 Eighth St.
• Tile Works Building at 130 Third St.
• Planet Mills at 376 President St.
• Industrial Complex at 530 President St.
• Flats Building at 57 Third St.
• 388 Hoyt St.
• Remnant Shanty at 101 Fourth St.

The group's plan also includes protecting the Belgian Block street-ends as scenic landmarks and creating three historic districts on 12th Street between Third and Fourth Avenues, Second Street and the head of the Gowanus Canal.

Image: Nicholas Rizzi/Patch