Chelsea Seminary asks for Landmarks' approval.The General Theological Seminary The General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church is located in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. of the Episcopal Church Episcopal Church, Anglican church of the United States. Its separate existence as an American ecclesiastical body with its own episcopate began in 1789. Doctrine and Organization submitted its proposal to construct a mixed-use building along the Ninth Avenue side of its campus to the Landmarks Preservation Commission. The project will generate urgently needed funds for the preservation of the Seminary's historic, landmarked buildings, the earliest of which dates back to 1836. Grouped around grounds known as the Close, these buildings form the oldest collegiate quadrangle quadrangle Rectangular open space completely or partially enclosed by buildings of an academic or civic character. The grounds of a quadrangle are often grassy or landscaped. in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. . Plans call for the new Ninth Avenue facility to be constructed on me footprint of the Seminary's Sherrill Hall, an architecturally undistinguished un·dis·tin·guished adj. 1. a. Marked by no peculiar quality; not distinguished; ordinary: an undistinguished appearance. b. , poorly constructed building from 1960. Netting now holds in place the crumbling coping stones and masonry of Sherrill Hall, and the Seminary seminary Educational institution, usually for training in theology. In the U.S. the term was formerly also used to refer to institutions of higher learning for women, often teachers' colleges. has been forced to abandon almost all of the top floor because of water damage. The proposed new building will be constructed at no cost to the Seminary by The Brodsky Organization. Four floors of the 17-story structure, as well as additional space below street level, will be used for the St. Mark's St. Mark's could refer to:
The Brodsky Organization will develop the upper 13 floors as private residences, consigning a portion of the revenues to the Seminary. Funds generated in this way will be set aside for preserving the Seminary's historic buildings. The Brodsky Organization has commissioned a building design by Polshek Partnership Architects, one of the nation's most distinguished firms. At street level up through the fourth floor, the design submitted to the Landmarks Preservation Commission harmonizes with the brick, stone and architectural details of the Seminary's historic buildings. The major departure from historic precedent is the use of glass for a larger, more welcoming entrance, offering a view through the lobby into the Close. Above the fourth floor, the new building will be principally faced with elegantly detailed glass and it will step back to become more slender. The result, at the upper floors, will be a quiet and restrained presence on Ninth Avenue. The Seminary has spent $9 million since 1999 on the preservation of its historic buildings. It is currently restoring and renovating three of them on the Tenth Avenue side of campus to create the new Desmond Tutu Noun 1. Desmond Tutu - South African prelate and leader of the antiapartheid struggle (born in 1931) Tutu Education Center, which will extend the Seminary's public outreach. But preservation experts estimate that another $15 to $20 million must be spent to secure the remaining buildings on campus. At present, only $10.4 million in available funds is left in the Seminary's endowment. Although the Seminary has 240,000 s/f of development rights, it has proposed to use only 185,000 square feet of them, in order to create a building of appropriate scale to the surroundings. The 17-story height matches that of an existing building directly across the street. "Our institution is the living, beating heart of the Chelsea Historic District," said Ward B. Ewing, dean and president of The General Theological Seminary. "We embody Chelsea's history in our bricks and mortar A store (shop, supermarket, department store, etc.) in the real world. Contrast with clicks and mortar. , our trees and grass. We carry forward its heritage with every class we hold, program we undertake, worship service we hold. So it is crucial for the Historic District that both the physical envelope and the institutional life of the Seminary be preserved, This sensitive, thoughtful architectural proposal is not just the best way to ensure that outcome--it is the only way." |
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