In 1857, when firefighters at Brooklyn’s Engine Firm 204 relied on horse-drawn automobiles, the sound of a response to an emergency at 299 DeGraw Avenue would have been the clatter of hooves, the rumble of wheels, and the wail of an alarm. Practically 170 years later, the previous firehouse in Cobble Hill is making ready for a unique sort of commotion.
After sitting vacant since 2003, the red-brick constructing shall be reworked right into a music college and everlasting headquarters for the Noel Pointer Basis, a Brooklyn-based nonprofit that has introduced string music training to greater than 39,000 New York Metropolis public college college students.
Metropolis officers broke floor on the $17.8 million adaptive reuse undertaking on October 6. Designed by MBB Architects and managed by the New York Metropolis Division of Design and Building on behalf of the Division of Cultural Affairs, the renovation will adapt the roughly 5,800-square-foot constructing right into a three-level facility for classes, rehearsals, recordings, and neighborhood programming.
MBB plans to revive the historic brick and terra-cotta facade, preserving the pointed-arch lintels and the “B.F.D.” lettering beneath the bracketed cornice. The renderings present the previous storage doorways changed with glazed openings, meant to convey daylight into the constructing and make its new operate seen from the sidewalk.
Inside, a high-ceiling reception space shall be furnished with lounge seating and art work, with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves lining the strategy to the principle ensemble room. An open staircase will rise from the foyer, drawing guests deeper into the constructing. The house is designed to accommodate the regular movement of kids and caregivers throughout afterschool hours and musicians.
MBB’s ensemble room will characteristic a ribbed wooden ceiling and acoustic wall baffles. The finishes are supposed to impart heat whereas additionally serving to to create an surroundings suited to group rehearsals and performances.
Soundproofed lesson rooms will isolate particular person courses from each other, and closely insulated partitions will restrict sound transmission to neighboring properties. A recording studio, music library and gallery, places of work, and instrument storage spherical out this system.
To make every part match, MBB’s plan excavates and finishes the cellar to accommodate further rehearsal and recording house, whereas a brand new elevator and stairs enhance circulation and accessibility throughout all three ranges. A yard terrace will lengthen programming outdoor, providing one other setting for actions past formal music instruction.
The undertaking additionally addresses a long-standing want for the Noel Pointer Basis, which has spent a long time working out of properties, faculties, and rented services throughout Brooklyn.
Based in 1995 by Chinita Pointer in reminiscence of her husband, Grammy-nominated jazz violinist Noel Pointer, who died in 1994 at age 30, the group offers music training to youngsters ages 3 to 18 from traditionally underserved communities. The brand new headquarters will permit the muse to develop its afterschool applications, which vary from newbie instruction to pre-professional coaching.
“This constructing is greater than bricks and mortar,” mentioned Pointer, the muse’s director. “It’s a promise to the following era that music, alternative and hope will at all times have a spot in our neighborhood.”
The firehouse closed amid metropolis finances cuts in 2003, and a proposal to transform it into a house for the Brooklyn Philharmonic stalled in 2009. Plans for the constructing’s future remained unresolved for years earlier than the town dedicated capital funding to a brand new dwelling for the Noel Pointer Basis in 2019.
Building is predicted to wrap up in fall 2028.
