News from the Fort Greene Park Conservancy
In this issue...
  • Wine Tasting Fundraiser September 28, 2006
  • 2nd Annual Fort Greene Park Literary Festival: Inspiring the Next Richard Wright or Walt Whitman?
  • Monument Restoration Update
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    Local businesses and foundations support Fort Greene Park Conservancy. For more information about sponsorship opportunities, contact us at info@fortgreenepark.org.
    September 2006
    Dear Subscriber,

    If you've been in the park recently, you've noticed that summer is winding down as leaves begin to change color, but The Fort Greene Park Conservancy is busier than ever, working to celebrate and maintain the park. A few highlights: In August we partnered to help present The Second Annual Literary Festival; on October 28, our Seventh Annual Halloween Festival will welcome hundreds of children who will pick their own pumpkin, take a hayride, get their faces painted and march in a costume parade--all for free! The Parks Department continues with the $3.5 million restoration of the Prison Ship Martyrs monument. Come take a look and also be sure to stop and check out the Visitor's Center.

    On September 28, you can "do good and drink well" at our Winetasting fundraiser at the historic Cadman Plaza War Memorial. Every tax deductible dollar raised will go towards park maintenance projects and educational and cultural programming. Please join us!

    Fort Greene Park Conservancy
    Charles Jarden, Chair, Fort Greene Park Conservancy
    Wine Tasting Fundraiser September 28, 2006

    Come join us and have the opportunity to try over 100 wines, courtesy of The Greene Grape wine store. Sway to the sounds of a jazz trio while nibbling on cheese and fruit from Union Market. Tickets at $75 include general admission to the wine tasting from 8pm to 10pm. VIP tickets are available at $125 and include admission to a one-hour wine tasting class from 6-7 pm, early access to the wine tasting from 7pm to 8pm and general admission.

    Tickets are available at www.fortgreenepark.org, in person at The Greene Grape at 765 Fulton Street (between South Oxford and South Portland Street), or at the door. The event is at the Brooklyn War Memorial located at Cadman Plaza West between Pineapple Street and the Brooklyn Bridge Ramp in Brooklyn. See the conservancy website for directions. This event is made possible in part by the generosity of the Independence Community Foundation.
    2nd Annual Fort Greene Park Literary Festival: Inspiring the Next Richard Wright or Walt Whitman?

    On August 19, hundreds of people turned out at the Fort Greene Park Summer Literary Festival to hear young writers read alongside Jacqueline Johnson, Jhumpa Lahiri, Lorenzo Pace and Sapphire. Drawing upon the rich and diverse literary history of Fort Greene Park and its surrounding neighborhoods, the event provided a means for self-expression and creativity for area young people, building community through arts and literature.

    The Literary Festival consisted of a six-week series of free Saturday creative writing workshops for young people and an end-of-summer reading featuring literary icons reading alongside our young writers. The Festival honored the power of the written word to build inclusiveness and give voice to the thoughts and experiences of everyone. For more information, visit www.nywrit erscoalition.org.
    Monument Restoration Update

    Construction is well underway on the restoration of McKim, Mead & White’s Prison Ship Martyrs Monument and site, dedicated to the more than 11,500 patriots who died as prisoners on British warships in the Wallabout Bay during the Revolutionary War. This monumental project includes the cleaning and repair of the almost 150-foot granite column and bronze urn, and reconstructing much of the plaza to McKim, Mead & White’s design. In addition, two new bronze eagles, cast from the historic originals, will be installed in their original locations in the corners of the central plaza, along with two of the original eagles.

    The McKim, Mead & White paving pattern will be partially reconstructed in the central plaza, and the benches will be reinstated. To insure the continued viability of the 150-year-old Olmsted & Vaux London plane trees, the rest of the plaza area will remain a lawn. The design also calls for the installation of drainage systems and new security and monument lighting. The Parks Department’s Historic Preservation Division conducted extensive historic research to ensure the appropriateness of all elements of the restoration and continues to work closely with the Art Commission and Landmarks Preservation Commission on many details of the design.

    One of the most complicated and delicate components of the project includes the cleaning and restoration of the 25-foot tall, eight-ton bronze urn, crowning the monument. Trained conservators are completing this work on scaffolding 150 feet above the park. The goal of the restoration work on the urn is to maintain its aged, historic appearance, while also ensuring its stability so that it is preserved for the future. It is undergoing a light cleaning to remove any damaging corrosion, surface soiling and debris, and a spot re-patination process to make certain that its historic patina is preserved and enhanced. The goal is not to fully clean the urn to a pristine condition, as the original McKim, Mead and White specifications called for it to have an aged appearance.

    The project also includes an extensive masonry restoration program. The granite column, light shafts, crypt annex, plaza coping and a portion of the main stairs are being cleaned, repointed and restored to help protect the masonry envelope and prevent moisture infiltration. The brick interior of the column is also being restored. At the crypt, new plaster will be provided at the interior vestibule annex, bronze grilles will be refabricated and installed in the windows and new stainless steel tie rods will replace damaged ones on the bluestone caskets. Representatives from the Parks Department’s Historic Preservation and Art & Antiquities Divisions have been carefully monitoring all restoration work.

    Construction on the site began in the spring of 2007 and the expected date of completion is fall of 2007. This restoration will provide the community with a much needed site on which they can congregate for patriotic, community, and social events, and will certainly compliment the newly restored and heavily trafficked Visitors Center. An accessible path will be installed between the Visitors Center and the central plaza. Fort Greene Park is one of the most historic and sacred sites in the City and its significance will be further highlighted with the completion of this undertaking.

    This restoration is being funded by the Mayor’s Office, the Borough President’s Office and the City Council. The restoration of the urn was made possible by a grant from the State Dormitory Authority obtained by the Fort Greene Park Conservancy.

    For more information on the restoration of the Prison Ship Martyrs Monument, visit the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation To learn more about the Prison Ships Martyrs Monument go to the Conservancy website.
    Opportunities to Help the Park
    The 7th Annual Fort Greene Park Halloween Festival will be on October 28th 2006. The fun starts at noon and the popular costume parade begins at 2pm. To volunteer for or sponsor this Fort Greene tradition, email Conservancy Board Member John Scheffler at jonscheff@yahoo.com.

    You can also now donate via credit card or Paypal account on the Conservancy website.

    phone: 718-222-1461