A chain link fence (photos below) has been installed around the construction perimeter of the park where the Hamilton Grange will be moved into St. Nicholas Park. Preparations of the area include taking down the large trees where the house will eventually be reconstructed. Ground breaking on the area for the foundation may take place on Alexander Hamilton's Birthday - January 11th.
The National Parks Service presented their plans to the Friends and Manhattan Borough Parks Commissioner William Castro during a meeting in November and then once again during a public meeting in Shepard Hall at City College.
For the move, the Grange will be cut in half and transported from its current spot on Convent Avenue (between 141st and 142nd streets) to the area of St. Nicholas Park within the boundaries of Hamilton's original estate land. The move will take place along Hamilton Terrace and across 141st street into St. Nicholas Park.
The house move is expected to take place in the spring of 2008. Street closures are expected along Convent, Hamilton Terrance and West 141st Street for 1-2 days. The house will be transported by backing it out of its current location down to Hamilton Terrace (where a few trees might need to be removed) and across the street into St. Nicholas Park.
Once the house is moved and secured, a renovation will take place where contractors will rebuild the original porches which had to be removed in order to fit the house in its current space (between St. Luke's Church and an Apartment Building).
Landscaping around the Grange's new home will include tree plantings, a stone wall and paths. The Grange will have security detail during the day and possible video monitoring during the evening hours.
Above is a rendering of the placement of the Grange in the park. (Click to make the image larger) On the right side is the Grove School of Engineering at CCNY.
The house is expected to open to the public in the Spring of 2009.
The Friends are hard at work trying to obtain some renderings to place on this site. Please check back for updates in the next few months. For up to date photos of the Grange's move please check our Hamilton Grange Flickr photo set.
8 comments:
Please leave a question or comment on the Grange by filling out the comment box. During the Grange's move and reconstruction we will be fielding questions on this forum.
Thank you!
Hello Friends
At this time there is a proposal to "jack up" the house 20 feet and move it in one piece out onto Convent St. I have been given the job to "model' this move on 3D cad for there approval. This computer model will include all of the superstructure built to support the jacks, the rails to roll the house on as it is moved out to the street and the final placement of the house on the moving dollies. I will heep you all up-to-date as we procede.
True enough, the Hamilton Grange was moved once before and when moved to St. Nicholas it will still be within the original land owned by Alexander Hamilton.
St. Nicholas Park is located within Hamilton Heights and on the border of WestSide Harlem and Central Harlem two disticnt and separate communities.
There is a great disconformity with the move as National Parks made agreements with the Community 1i 1995 regarding the relocation and the use of the vacated site and now are claiming not to have the funds to fulfill the 1995 Agreement and the orientation of the grange house within St. Nicholas is not as originally agreed and many community leaders are in disagreement with National Parks on that issue as well.
The 1995 agreement permitted the transfer of the St. Nicholas Park land from the City to the Federal Government for the relocation of the Grange.
Community Board 9 which covers all of WestSide Harlem has taken these issue with Congressman Charles B. Rangel who originally brokered the arrangement between National Parks and the Community and funded the project.
WestSide Harlem encompasess the three historical neighborhoods of Morningside Heghts, Manhattanville and Hamilton Heights.
Sugar Hill, Vinegar Hill and Carmanville are sub-neighborhoods of Hamilton Heights.
Cathedral Heights and University Heights are sub-neighbohoods of Morningside Heights.
Manhattanville is also usually referred to as West Harlem.
The main entrance to the relocated grange will be on 141st St., which means tourist buses will likely use the street for parking. This would block east-west traffic, and--even more problematic--could obstruct Hamilton Terrace. We are going to have to work with Dept. of Transportation and the precinct to solve this problem.
- Mark Levine, Democratic District Leader
That is a good point. I hope that traffic is being considered in this plan. Thanks for bringing up such an important issue.
This is exciting!
Finally, the poor founding step-father gets his due in the city he loved so much!
I am wondering if anyone is allowed or has been given permission to record the move for the historic record. A move of such an historic house should be recorded for all posterity to see.
Does anyone know if the rendering depicts the back of the house and the smaller back door entryway and porch. I have been studying the Grange for quite awhile now, and it looks to me that this new rendering is of the back of the house (facing 141st Street). If anyone knows for sure, I would love to hear a reply. Thanks!
Also, why didn't the NPS request the artist to produce a picture of the front of the house with the grand Federal style porch and entryway?
Hamilton Grange Move Update – February 11, 2008
Work is underway in preparation of moving Hamilton Grange National
Memorial. The demolition of interior finishes in the basement is almost
complete and will continue over the next couple of weeks. Excavations in
St. Nicholas Park have been slowed by weather but should resume in the
coming days.
We reported in the January update that the Grange could move as early as
late March. However, due to the complex nature of the project, we are
currently projecting that the house will not be ready for its historic
journey until late May. The move schedule will remain in flux over the
coming weeks as the technical details and logistics are refined, and we
very much appreciate your patience. As soon as we have specific information
about the move dates, route and anticipated street closures, we will issue
another update.
If you have any questions, please contact the site supervisor, Albert
Atchison, at 212-666-1640. If you would like to be removed from the update
list, please visit www.nps.gov/hagr, click on “Receive Hamilton Grange Move
Updates,” and submit an email with UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line.
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