WASA to help transform Gatehouse in to new arts center.

WASA is restoring and renovating The Gatehouse at Aaron Davis Hall from an obsolete aqueduct distribution point into a thriving performing arts center.

WASA is managing the delicate historic preservation work needed to restore the structure to its original condition, in a joint venture with Ohlhausen Dubois Architects. WASA also is designing the mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems for the 135th Street Gatehouse. Out of use since the 1990s, The Gatehouse is a designated NYC landmark originally built in the 1880s as the principal delivery point for distributing Croton Aqueduct water to most of Manhattan.

"The Gatehouse was once a practical engineering structure that served as a vital component of NYC's infrastructure," said WASA project manager Bruce Popkin. "It was abandoned and allowed to deteriorate for more than a decade. The restoration will retain many of the significant features of the Romanesque Revival style building. Contemporary construction is being sensitively added as part of the renovation work, with minimal disruption to the historic fabric."

The $8.5 million renovation project is being completed under the auspices of NYC's Department of Cultural Affairs and Department of Design and Construction, as well as the not-for-profit Aaron Davis Hall.

WASA is carefully cleaning and restoring the structure's exterior. The building's granite and sandstone, untouched until now, will be cleaned with a low-pressure micro-abrasive system using water and fine pulverized glass. The cleanup will not harm the original structure, while dramatically improving the building's appearance. WASA also is repairing all of the building's stonework. Restored load-bearing granite, sandstone and brick walls enclose a single, open volume of grand proportions, which will become a state-of-the-art "black box" theater. Two levels of offices will be located beneath the main floor, including theatrical support spaces and public use and circulation spaces.

WASA will design an identical copy of the now missing original slate roof to be constructed on top of the existing steel framework. New windows, based on historical drawings, are being provided because none of the originals survived the 1990s decommissioning.

In addition, WASA is using remnants of stained glass transoms that were over every door and window to re-create them as they originally appeared. Interior and exterior cast- and wrought-iron elements serve decorative as well as practical purposes in the form of doors, railings, floor and stairs. WASA is restoring or salvaging many of these features for use in new installations.

The engineering portion of the project will feature WASA efforts to endow the facility with up-to-date heating and air conditioning that meet theatrical standards. The electrical system likewise will support the formidable loads of the theater and the two new occupied floors below the performance space.