RAND is proud to announce our exterior and roof repair project at Park Slope Jewish Center in Park Slope Historic District has won a 2018 Evelyn and Everett Ortner Park Slope Preservation Award. The award is given out by the Park Slope Civic Council for restoration projects and interventions that preserve and enhance Park Slope's historic character.
The distinctive three-story yellow brick building on the corner of 14th Street and 8th Avenue in Brooklyn’s Park Slope Historic District Extension neighborhood stands as a tangible testament to the history of Jewish congregations and how they have changed and adapted in life in America. It was commissioned and built in 1925 by Tifereth Israel, a congregation as old as the neighborhood itself, who eventually merged with two other local congregations – B'nai Jacob and B'nai Sholaum – and became the Park Slope Jewish Center in 1960. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002, the building is indicative of the historicist attitude of the period and is excellent example of the Jewish search for historic precedent in designing new sacred architecture.
Diagonal cracks observed in the building's parapet walls.
In 2017, diagonal and vertical cracks observed in the building’s parapet walls prompted the need for emergency repairs. RAND was hired to perform a structural evaluation which revealed several critical conditions along the building’s facades: masonry above several arched window opens had failed, resulting in diagonal through-wall cracking visible from the interior and exterior of the building; interior wooden window frames were deflected; severely oxidized/deflected window lintel steel; and masonry on the north and west facades that had been parged with a non-breathable cementitious coating during a previous restoration was deteriorating rapidly due to trapped water infiltration. A portion of the masonry wall was so deteriorated, that temporary bracing and shoring was required to provide structural stability while the repair program was developed.
The scope of the exterior and roof level restoration program included reconstruction of portions of the wall within the window bays from the parapet level to the window arches. The north parapet wall was rebuilt down to the top of the arch brick window lintels along the north elevation. Spalled sections of stucco veneer on the north facade was removed, followed by a new coating system application. Cracked bricks at the parapet level on the east facade and vertically cracked areas at the parapet level along the south facade were removed down to sound substrate, followed by new waterproofing application, and the installation of new masonry ties and face brick.
RAND Project Associate Enny Filpo and Senior Engineer Vivek Patel, PE accept the Ortner Award Preservation at Park Slope Civic Council's monthly meeting on March 7.
Spalled and cracked masonry and stone sections were also repaired; a new downspout assembly installed; open joints sealed; and damaged and defective brick arch lintels, sills, cementitious coatings, and clay camelback coping segments were replaced. Damaged bluestone sills on the north facade were replaced with bluestone, matching the history masonry in terms of placement, dimensions, details, and finish.
In addition to its architectural significance, Park Slope Jewish Center became historically and culturally significant for its association with the development of Conservative Judaism. The congregation’s history has paralleled that of Park Slope and American society at large in the 20th century. An egalitarian and progressive house of worship, Park Slope Jewish Center was one of the first congregations to grant full equal rights to women in ritual manners, and welcome gay and lesbian families.
As the congregation has passed its building down from generation to generation, it has maintained a commitment to preserving its historical character and aesthetic beauty, and in doing so, it has also helped to preserve Park Slope Historic District’s unique historic identity. As the Architect and Engineer of Record, RAND Engineering & Architecture, DPC, and general contractor Lawrence Exterior Restoration Corp., worked closely with Park Slope Jewish Center on this exterior restoration project, which also received a Sacred Sites Jewish Heritage Grant from the New York Landmarks Conservancy.
For information on all of this year's winners, read the official announcement on Brownstoner.
