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Landmarks
Central Park Conservancy’s Proposed Reconstruction of the Fort Clinton and Nutter’s Battery Overlooks
At the regularly scheduled monthly meeting of Community Board Five on Thursday, October 10, 2013, the following resolution passed with a unanimous vote of 38 in favor; 0 opposed; 1 abstaining:
WHEREAS, The Central Park Conservancy ("CPC") has presented to Community Board Five an overview of their proposed reconstruction of the Fort Clinton and Nutter's Battery Overlooks, located south of the Harlem Meer near the Park entrance at 106th Street and Fifth Avenue; and
WHEREAS, The Conservancy has already begun restoration of the Fort Landscape surrounding these overlooks, and the project is one of the last phases of their ongoing restoration of the upper park landscape stretching from the Metropolitan Museum to the Harlem Meer; and
WHEREAS, Fortifications were first built on these sites during the Revolutionary War, and were rebuilt during the War of 1812, and were on either side of a narrow opening that would become known as McGown's Pass, the primary passage connecting the city to points north; and
WHEREAS, The remains of these fortifications were integrated into the design of Central Park in 1863, with two 18th- century cannons installed in 1906; and
WHEREAS, In the 1920s and 30s, the sites were overgrown, left to deterioration, and fenced off with a chain link fence; and were redesigned in the 1940s to include a masonry wall in a rustic style, bluestone coping, asphalt paving, and staircases and new paths to increase accessibility; and
WHEREAS, This redesign also resulted in some areas being surrounded with a steel picket fence, and with concrete benches installed; and
WHEREAS, The proposed reconstruction is the first that would take place in these sites since 1945, with most of the stone components crumbling or missing entirely; and
WHEREAS, This project has the following stated design goals:
- Improve the function of the sites as overlooks and destinations
- Better integrate the overlooks with the Fort Landscape; and
WHEREAS, The proposed alteration and restoration work in Fort Clinton includes:
- Repave the overlook with stone screenings in a more organic configuration; Contain screenings by boulders at steep slopes and rustic cribbing at flatter grades
- Replace the existing benches with backless rustic benches so that visitors may face inward towards the cannons or outward to take in the views
- Remove the existing metal picket fence and replace with a rustic wood fence to match the fence that was in place in the early twentieth century
- Restore the existing stone monument base and reinstall conserved cannon and mortar to their original locations, and replace missing plaque
- Install a new flagpole in the original flagpole location, where it was in place for most of the twentieth century
- Protect the surrounding steep slopes with low shrub plantings and groundcovers that will grow over the timber cribbing to soften the edges, deter visitors from climbing down the outcrop from above, and add to the naturalistic character of the site; and
WHEREAS, The proposed alteration and restoration work in Nutter's Battery includes:
- Reconstruct the existing stone wall on the western side of the overlook at 18" high, to allow for its use as public seating, with a smaller footprint as originally envisioned in 1945; Salvage the existing stone and install new bluestone coping; Repair the eastern side of the wall in place and install new bluestone coping
- Remove some of the existing asphalt paving in order to expose more of the rock outcropping; and replace remaining asphalt paving with stone screenings
- Plant low shrubs and groundcovers on the west side slope to soften the visual impact of the wall from below; and
WHEREAS, The budget for this project is projected at $265,000, to be funded by the Conservancy and the City; and
WHEREAS, Community Board Five supports the proposed reconstruction and restoration work; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That Community Board Five recommends approval of Central Park Conservancy's Proposed Reconstruction of the Fort Clinton and Nutter's Battery Overlooks; and be it further
RESOLVED, That Community Board Five encourages the Central Park Conservancy to return for review of their plan for informational and interpretive signage in the area to improve the public's appreciation of the historical significance of the project sites.