NEWS: Red Hook Graving Dock Update
From the Cobble Hill/Carroll Gardens Courier
http://www.courierlife.net/site/tab9.cfm?newsid=16980425&BRD=2384&PAG=461&dept_id=552855&rfi=6
Advocates Refuse to Give Up On Red Hook Graving Dock
By Gary Buiso
Even though Ikea has repeatedly said nej to those seeking to preserve a historic Red Hook structure, advocates this week continued to insist their mission is a tenable and worthy one.
The problem for the Red Hook graving dock—where ships have been serviced and repaired since the 1860s—is that it stands in the way of Ikea’s $100-million, 346,000-square-foot store at Beard Street along the waterfront.
If Ikea does not relent, part of the graving dock, a dry dock built into the shore, will soon be converted into a parking lot.
On Thursday, the Save the Graving Dock Committee hosted a community discussion on the matter, hoping to gather momentum, dispel myths, and attempt to unite the neighborhood on this issue.
The meeting, which was held after press time, was held at the Waterfront Museum Barge at the foot of Conover Street.
Carolina Salguero, the founder of the nonprofit group PortSide New York, which seeks to bridge the gap between the landlocked and the seafaring communities, said her hope is to keep the graving dock operational.
“I love old things, but this is not about historic preservation,” she said.
The graving dock was used for ship repair until Feb. 2005. Steven Technical Services held the lease until Ikea purchased the property.
Salguero, a member of the Save the Graving Dock Committee, moderated the meeting.
Salguero’s group is attempting to buy a vintage 170’ tanker, The Mary Whalen, for public use. She’s already been flummoxed trying to find a facility where it can be repaired.
“Once it’s gone, you don’t get this kind of thing back,” she said.
“I love old things, but this is not about historic preservation,” Salguero added.
Preservationist groups like the Municipal Arts Society have proposed alternate plans for the site, that would keep the graving dock extant. One plan called for the construction of a second deck to the parking garage, thereby allowing the 700-foot dry dock to remain.
But that plan would force another public review process, further delaying construction of the store.
Ikea has long maintained the same position: that it will only be preserving a portion of the graving dock, and filling the rest with clean fill material.
In a statement, Ikea spokesperson Joseph Roth said, “The project that received final approval was developed over the course of more than two years with significant input from residents, community groups and city officials. In fact, our innovative plans to include a ‘working waterfront’ barge facility, to expand the public waterfront esplanade and to retain the property’s historic gantry cranes and a portion of the dry dock located on the property were all the result of public suggestions and input.”
“The plans approved by the community board, borough president, City Planning Commission and New York City Council also were always very clear that the graving dock would not be maintained in its present form,” Roth said.
After the project was approved, Ikea’s land use counsel, architect, and store operations team provided a “detailed, point-by-point explanation of the legal, financial and operational reasons why these schemes could not work.”
“Among the most noteworthy was the fact that one of these proposals would even require Ikea to purchase an additional parcel of land and begin the entire land use review process again. Clearly, this idea was not realistic or viable, and our team was clear in our reasoning for rejecting it,” Roth said.
The store is expected to open in late 2007 or 2008.
David Sharps, president of the Waterfront Museum Barge, said Ikea could choose to be hero—if it preserves the graving dock.
“It is a functioning repair facility that would be best preserved by doing what it does best, which is repairing ships,” Sharps said.
But it can also be home to more creative or innovative uses as well, he continued.
The film industry often uses graving docks as film sets, and it could also be home to “wave tubes” that generate electricity, Sharps said.
The graving dock’s value should not be underestimated, he noted.
“People love the cobblestone streets, the industrial character—they love the working waterfront,” he continued. “Saving the graving dock represents all of those.”