By Alysia Santo
The Tobacco Warehouse is known for its roofless architecture and its location on the west side of Water Street in downtown Brooklyn, with views of both the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge from inside. This Wednesday, the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation (BBPC) board of directors voted to allow St. Ann’s Warehouse, a performance space that is currently located across the street, to relocate into the Civil War-era structure.
The decision came after an announcement this past Monday, when BBPC President, Regina Myer, told the public that after officially requesting proposals to convert the warehouse, the choice was between LAVA Brooklyn, an arts organization out of Prospect Heights and St. Ann’s Warehouse. The finalists were announced after the BBPC reached out to over 1,400 cultural organizations and then evaluated the proposals.
Before the board meeting started, Peter Flemming, the co-chair of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Community Council said he has been trying to express his concerns about the Tobacco Warehouse. “We worked hard to save this ruin as a ruin,” he said, most recently stopping it from being torn down in 1998. “But we want it open to the sky as a historic ruin, so we oppose it being closed in as a black box.”
The building was originally a tobacco customs inspection center after its construction in the 1870’s. As a unique structure, Flemming says they have successfully blocked demolition’s three times. The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation repaired the Warehouse in 2002, stabilizing its outside walls, which form an interior of approximately 25,000 feet.
Myer’s presentation included visuals of what the Tobacco Warehouse could look like in the future, with 10,000 square foot indoor theatre, a 2,100 sq. ft. space that could hold a maximum audience of 125 people, and a uncovered space in the triangular section of the warehouse that would be open to public use during park hours. The rest of the space would be home to a lobby, restrooms, and performance support space.
Before taking comments and questions from community members in the audience, Myers moved the board to vote on the recommendation that St. Ann’s Warehouse be the new tenant at the historic Tobacco Warehouse site.
The board voted for approval yet it was not unanimous. Three members of the board expressed concern about a lack of transparency and what they saw as a rushed decision. John Raskin, in his first no vote since he started on the board of directors for the park 10 years prior, said, “The community was given information about the possible winners 48 hours before this meeting to determine conditional designation of the site,” he continued, “At heart we feel very strongly that the process for determining the future of the tobacco warehouse, a vital site to the community, has lacked transparency, and has lacked communicative qualities.”
Yet the vote for approval was as quick as “all for” , “all against”. Robert Steel, New York City’s deputy mayor of economic development and Chairman of the Board of the Directors of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation (BBPC) said: “With today’s vote, the Tobacco Warehouse is poised to become a thriving cultural amenity for the local community and a vibrant part of Brooklyn bridge Park.”
At the end of the meeting, the floor was opened up to the community for comments. “This Brooklyn bride park redevelopment scheme is without a doubt the New York City project of the decade,” said John Stubbs, Vice President for Field Projects at the World Monuments Fund.
“Parks and culture are two fundamental principles of our civic life,” said Flemming at the end, adding that, “the trouble is were trying to take a piece away from the park and give it to the cultural community.”
Artistic Director, Susan Feldman, saying her thanks to the room at the end, added, “We don’t want to take anything we just want to give.”
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