Domino Sugar Factory May Be Landmarked

Since the Domino Sugar Factory closed its doors in 2004, neighbors and preservationists have wondered about the fate of the imposing and dormant structure along the East River in Williamsburg, where new glass condominiums are becoming a more common sight on the waterfront than relics of the manufacturing age.With the main building on the 11.5-acre site under consideration for landmark status in the coming weeks, reminders of the waterfront’s past could remain around for years to come.The Havemeyer family, whose company once produced the majority of the country ‘s sugar, founded the factory in the 1850s. It was mostly destroyed by a fire in 1882, and rebuilt the next year.“People who live in the neighborhood, a lot of them chose the neighborhood because of its industrial character,” a preservationist at the Society for Industrial Archeology in Brooklyn, Mary Habstritt, said.She said the factory “is a major example of the fact that Brooklyn was a major manufacturing center at one point, and if we eliminate all the industrial history we’re going to forget that part of our past.”Late last month, the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission said it would consider the factory’s “Processing House,” which consists of three central buildings where sugar was made and refined, for landmark designation. Approval by the independent commission would mean the factory could never be torn down, and the commission would have to approve significant alterations.The Waterfront Preservation Alliance of Greenpoint and Williamsburg enthusiastically welcomed the commission’s decision, but they are pressing for more of the site to be preserved. In addition to the Processing House, their application to the commission included an adjacent power house and the Adant Building, where sugar cubes were manufactured, both of which date to 1883.The commission decided that these other buildings “didn’t rise to the level of a landmark,” according to a spokeswoman for the Landmarks Preservation Commission, Elisabeth de Bourbon. She said that changes made to the buildings since they were erected in 1883 had already altered their “historic fabric.”In 2004, the Domino site was bought by a partnership of Community Preservation Corporation Resources and a private developer, Isaac Katan. They have yet to release detailed plans for the site, but they say they intend to build around 2,200 housing units. The developers say they support the landmark designation pending before the commission, but would oppose any additional landmarking, which would limit their options for redevelopment.A spokesman for the development partnership, Lloyd Kaplan, said that the central processing plant could be turned into housing, community facilities, or some combination of the two, “The architecture, the presence of the building on the waterfront will be preserved,” he said.As for the additional buildings, Mr. Kaplan said, “There are choices that you ultimately have to make. There’s not an infinite amount of space or funds or ability to kind of freeze everything that exists.”Emphasizing the developer’s desire to make up to 30% of the housing units affordable, he said, “There’s no way that you’d be able to achieve anything close to that were you to freeze some of these other old industrial buildings in place.”A historic preservation fellow at the Municipal Art Society, Lisa Kersavage, said, “There are a lot of examples around the city of manufacturing and industrial buildings being adapted for affordable housing…These buildings can be adapted, and they can be wonderful places to live for low, middle, or high-income people.”“It’s a big site,” she added, “You can certainly fit some pretty big buildings there in addition to the historic ones.”She said that even if they are not landmarked, she would like to see the Adant Building, along with the Bin Structure, which boasts the factory’s famous “Domino Sugars” sign, worked into new development plans. “I think these are striking architecturally. They shape the character of Williamsburg and they relay the history of the working people of Brooklyn,” she said.As preservation groups prepare for the landmarking public hearing, the Waterfront Preservation Alliance has gathered a total of 2,541 signatures in favor of the designation, including more than 850 at a “Don’t Demo Domino” concert held in Grand Ferry Park last weekend.

Domino Sugar Factory May Be Landmarked

Domino Sugar Factory May Be Landmarked

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