Boston Valley Terra Cotta Projects Awarded at the 28th Lucy Moses Awards
The New York Landmarks Conservancy is hosting the 28th Annual Lucy Moses Awards, Tuesday, May 8th, 2018 at St. Bartholomew’s Church in New York City. Each year the Conservancy honors architects, building owners, and architectural manufacturers for outstanding work in preservation. Several Boston Valley Terra Cotta projects have been the recipient of past honors.
This year, two Boston Valley projects: St. Bartholomew’s Church and the Child’s Building and Ford Amphitheater, now known as Seaside Park and Community Arts Center, will receive Lucy Moses Preservation Awards. The terra cotta for these two restorations have been manufactured at Boston Valley Terra Cotta, where restoration architects have worked closely with our team to bring these historic landmarks back to their original grandeur.
A side by side comparison from the video shows the original terra cotta dome alongside the completed installation of the vibrant reconstruction.
St. Bartholomew’s Church is a 1918 Byzantine-inspired church designed by architect, Bertram Goodhue, and referred to as, “The Jewel of Park Ave.” The building resides in New York City’s Mid-Town East neighborhood at 325 Park Avenue. Boston Valley worked to restore the roof tiles of church’s great dome. Each piece had to be individually manufactured and then laid out in the factory over a simulated dome to ensure the curves of the roof were always taken into account.
View a time-lapse video of the restoration and see photos below of the mock-up.
A view from above shows the full-scale wood form which replicates the curvature of the dome, necessary for dry-fitting the terra cotta pieces.
A mockup of the St. Bart’s Dome shows the full-size template. Each terra cotta piece has a specific number assignment that allows the intricate pattern to be reassembled.
Seaside Park and Community Arts Center is located at 3054 West 21st in Brooklyn. Built in 1923, during the height of Coney Island’s popularity, the original restaurant served visitors of the park until it closed in 1952. The building was left vacant for many years until the restoration began in 2015. The stylistic, pictorial nature of Seaside’s terra cotta facade was inspired by Spanish Colonial Architecture. Architects Dennison and Hirons designed the Child’s Building to appear as if it rose from the sea, and this narrative is supported through the many nautical motifs shown throughout the structure. During the process of restoring the Child’s Building and Ford Amphitheater, 752 terra cotta units were replaced, 102 were salvaged and reset, and 171 repaired on-site.
You can read our many blog posts about this project here.
The exterior facade of the Seaside Park Community Arts Center.
Boston Valley Tera Cotta is proud to work on these distinct projects that received the awards from The New York Landmarks Conservancy during this year’s 28th Annual Lucy Moses Awards ceremony.
