Are All Historic Buildings Worth Preserving?
If you’ve ever been inside Brooklyn’s Grand Prospect Hall, you’ll never forget it.
History Hanging in the BalanceWhen I began writing about the demolition of the Grand Prospect Hall just a couple weeks ago, it seemed like the loss of this beloved Brooklyn building was inevitable. Should this building be preserved? And what are the guidelines for deciding the answer to this question?
Because of the incredible energy of local activists, a temporary restraining order was issued on September 1st, mandating a halt in the demolition of the façade and remaining structure until a court hearing September 16th. This pause bought activists time to submit a formal request to the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission to grant the building landmark status.
Teens + HistoryWhat’s remarkable here, is how late in the game activists got involved, but that their work may make an impact on a process whose momentum seemed unstoppable. What’s more, the activists that spearheaded the entire project are teenagers! Teenagers who are investing in our cultural and collective histories. Typically, advocates for preservation aren’t teens, but these young people understand the importance of remembering the past—they’re looking to have history in their future.
This seems like a turning point, where preservationists have a shot at saving an important building, but the story is more complicated than that.History of a BuildingIf you live in Brooklyn, you know Grand Prospect Hall as a cultural venue and event space. Some history: Opened in 1903 (after a fire destroyed the original 1892 building,) the opulent building was the first electrified commercial building in Brooklyn. Entrepreneur John Kolle’s vision for the building was that it be a “temple of music and amusement.” Not sparing any expense, the “French Renaissance” building was fin de siècle grandeur at its finest. It quickly became a social and civic center for recent German immigrants to Brooklyn.
What’s amazing it is that this building has continued to be a vibrant community space for over 100 years. What’s even more amazing is how quickly a developer could get permitting to demolish this gem.
The National Register of Historic Places designation report for Grand Prospect Hall states
“America's great cities in the years surrounding the turn of the 20th century became home to a multi-cultural mix of immigrants from across the European continent. …The country's newcomers faced cultural isolation. Immersed in unfamiliar surroundings, language and customs, many very naturally sought the companionship of their countrymen as they set about assimilating into their new cultural environment. Large churches, fraternal organizations, and commercial facilities like Prospect Hall became important centers of social interaction, political dissemination and cultural expression, usually directed toward audiences of homogeneous national and cultural background.”
The building was a community meeting place: where social and political clubs met, vaudeville was performed, banquets held, couples married, families and friends celebrated. It continued to be a community space when it was sold to a Polish-American organization, who used it for the next 40 years for the same purpose: as a community gathering place for immigrants to commune.
More Recent HistoryIn 1981 the energetic husband and wife duo Michael and Alice Halkias purchased the building and spent the next 18 years fixing it up and lovingly ushering the important events of new and old Brooklynites. (Their late 1980s era television commercials for the hall are famous among those who grew up in Brooklyn.)
The Halkias’ irreverence for historic accuracy led them to paint the building’s opulent interior details in outrageous hues: walls of seafoam green with pink and gold, plaster floral and fruit swags details in multicolor “bright pastels.”
From one woman whose wedding was held there, “You walk inside, and immediately you cannot decide — is this the most wonderful, almost St. Petersburg-like glamour you have ever seen? Or is it the most awful, kitschy, tacky place you have ever seen?”
I can remember a variety of events I’ve attended in this space, namely the annual Zlatne Uste Goldenfest, a celebration of Balkan music, where every interior space in the hall—the Grand Ballroom, the wood-paneled Oak Room beer hall, the Atrium, the Skylight Room, the Chopin Ballroom, the Grand Staircase—all played an important role in this mind-blowing music fest.
The story of this building becomes one of twin tragedies. The building was shuttered in March of 2020 when the pandemic closed non-essential businesses. Michael Halkias passed away just a few months later in May from complications from COVID-19. Alice Halkias, to no fault, sold the building in July 2021, and the Department of Buildings quickly granted the developer permits for full building demolition.
Although the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1999, it was never made an official city landmark, leaving it unprotected from development.
Sadly, most historic fixtures and interiors of this French Renaissance Revival (Beau Arts) building have already been demolished. Gothamist’s August 27th photos of the building are a visual record that the interiors are entirely gutted. Only the bones are left.
Breaking NewsAs of September 14, 2021, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission denied review of Grand Prospect Hall for landmark status. The reasons cited by the LPC were that alterations made to the exterior of the building, and recent demolition of its interior contributes to its lack of historic integrity.
Not only do I feel sadness and outrage, but the questions I’m left with are ones like: Why aren’t our beloved cultural venues protected? What is left to save when the place-ness of a place has already been lost? How important are physical places to our personal memories, our identities and our culture? Why should faithful preservation of architectural detail eclipse cultural history?
Please feel free to get in touch to share your thoughts.
Some Links:
Landmarks Preservation Commission Denies Historic Designation application
The Brooklyn Paper: Grand Prospect Hall Denied Landmark Status
NY Times: The Dream May Be Over for Grand Prospect Hall
The Grand Prospect Hall history
Grand Prospect Hall Commercial
Gothamist: Locals Scramble to Save GPH
NY Times: Colorful Restoration of a 1903 Ballroom
GPH Temporarily Spared Demolition
