Terra Cotta Restoration Begins on Historic Coney Island Childs Restaurant
After years of sitting vacant, the former Childs Restaurant Building on Coney Island is in the process of being redeveloped as the Seaside Park and Community Art Center. Opened in 1923, during the height of Coney Island’s popularity as a vacation spot for people to escape the city, the building served as a restaurant until the early 1950s. It was given NYC landmark status in 2002.
Originally designed by the firm of Dennison & Hirons, the Childs Restaurant building is a Spanish Colonial Revival style with a stucco facade and fantastically decorated terra cotta ornament. Originally fabricated by the Atlantic Terra Cotta company, the terra cotta ornaments feature a nautical motif, depicting sailing ships, the sea god Neptune as well as many intricately carved sea creatures. Both the physical detail and whimsical colors of the blocks are impressive to view.
Boston Valley Terra Cotta has begun the process of remaking the colorful and intricate sculptural pieces that are the trademark of the building.
View of sculptural window detail on the restaurant frontage.
Iconic Medallion from the original building featuring image of Neptune.
Boston Valley’s field survey team recently visited the building to take photos and measurements that are being used to create detailed 3-D models for production.
3-D model created by Boston Valley Terra Cotta using field survey photos and measurements.
Another 3-D Model created using field survey photos & measurements by Boston Valley team.
Another view of a 3-D Model created from Boston Valley field survey photos and measurements.
Our R&D team in the glaze lab are hard at work matching 32 different custom glazes. Glaze artist Christine Jetten is at Boston Valley collaborating with our team to develop these finishes. Stay tuned – there is more to come as these pieces start to go into production.
