Built
between 1869 and 1885, the seven buildings that make up the Empire Stores will
be rehabilitated as a major piece in the development of the proposed Brooklyn
Bridge Park. A significant part of Brooklyn’s waterfront, these structures are
not only on the National Register of Historic Places, but also within New York
City’s ‘Fulton Ferry’ Historic Landmark District. Charged with complete rehabilitation
of these brick masonry and heavy timber structures, Nelligan White is currently
working in concert with designers, a developer, the State and National Parks
Departments, and the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation to synthesize
the commercial goals of the project and the demands of sensitive historical
treatment. This presents not just the
technical problems immediate to a set of structures built shortly after the
Civil War, but also the challenges of converting that to a modern commercial
and cultural use. These projects are being designed to meet the strict energy
conservation requirements of New York State’s Executive Order 111.