Closing Bell: First-Ever Ortner Awards for Historical Preservation Ceremony Tomorrow

The first-ever Evelyn and Everett Ortner Preservation Awards will be given out Thursday at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, according to an email we received from one of the winners. The awards “recognize projects that are compatible with the historic architecture of Park Slope and interventions by individuals or groups to protect the neighborhood’s historic character,” said the Park Slope Civic Council, which chooses the winners. And they are:

*The award for Exterior Rehabilitation will go to 107 Prospect Park West, a single family mansion built in 1899 that was abandoned in the ’80s. After buying the house in 2011, Horrigan Development gutted and restored the decayed building, which had holes extending from the roof to the cellar and extensive water damage. The developer converted it to condos and rehabbed it into “a stately neo-Italian dwelling…that enhances the appearance of Prospect Park West,” according to the council.

*The Lincoln Place Block Association wins the award for Neighborhood Intervention. “As a result of their joint efforts, the residents were able to prevent alterations to a brownstone on their landmarked block that would have been detrimental to the appearance of their streetscape and backyards,” said the council in an email to us.

*And the Second Empire Victorian-style Henry Bristow School building at 417 6th Avenue, P.S. 39, pictured above, will receive the Exterior Restoration award. Brice Architecture revamped its severely damaged outside by replacing the cornice, fabricating and installing new decorative copper work, reconstructing the slate mansard roof and repointing the brick and stone masonry. Built in 1877, it’s one of the oldest continuously operating school buildings in the country.

*The award for Best New Construction will go to the energy-efficient two-family townhouse at 319 4th Street. Aspen Equities built the house in only eight months and incorporated green building materials, including a solar water heater, EnergyStar appliances and low VOC paints and adhesives throughout.

The Ortners, of course, were the noted preservationists who did so much to save Park Slope and helped launch the brownstoner movement across the country.

Ortner Coverage [Brownstoner]
Photo by New York Architecture Images