Proposed Move of Historic Grange Divides Residents, CB9

At Thursday night’s Community Board 9 meeting, the meaning of Winston Churchill’s “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others,” quoted by a speaker, seemed to hit close to home. After almost two and a half hours of confusion and frustration, the meeting’s attendees shuffled out of the Manhattanville Community Center, having opened up as many new issues as had been resolved.

Thursday’s meeting saw the passage of a resolution against the move of Hamilton Grange—the former residence of Alexander Hamilton—and continuing contention over Columbia’s expansion.

A plan by the National Park Service, developed in 1995, would move the Grange from its current location at Convent Avenue and 141st Street to nearby St. Nicholas Park. The new location would allow for restoration work, particularly the reattachment of the original wrap-around porch. Currently, the cramped Convent Avenue location limits visitors’ ability to fully view the building.

But according to some, the current National Park Service plan differs from the one CB9 agreed to in 1995. Ruth Eisenberg, a member of West Harlem’s Coalition to Preserve Community, explained that the original plan provided for a visitor and research center on the old Convent Avenue lot, something which the NPS has since eliminated due to lack of funding. Eisenberg noted that the land may now be sold to a commercial developer.

The current NPS plan also does not have the front of the house facing southwest, as it would have in the original plan. “The Park Service must honor its commitment to the community,” Eisenberg said.

The issue of ‘solar orientation’—having the Grange face southwest to meet the sunrise—seemed to be the biggest concern for attendants. Architect and preservationist Paul Sheehan explained that “200 years ago, when there was no electricity, the orientation of the house towards the sun was the prime consideration for sighting a building. ... The maintenance of the facing should be second nature to any preservation architect.”

Brad Taylor, who opposed the CB9 resolution and supported the Park Service’s plans, said that the house is also not oriented properly in its current location, and any move out of the confines of the Convent Avenue lot should be welcomed. He noted that, with funding scarce, the Grange could end up rotting in its current location, and details like solar orientation may have to be sacrificed to save the building as a whole.

Issues relating to Manhattanville and the rezoning of 125th Street also caused a stir. Marcello Velez, Columbia’s assistant vice president for Manhattanville capital construction, gave a presentation regarding the four-inch diameter borings being done around Manhattanville to test for the geostructural integrity of the ground, the presence of soil contaminants, and the feasibility of water pumping and sewer installation. According to Velez, the University has already drilled over 150 test site holes in the Manhattanville area, with 100 more to come in the coming weeks.

Several attendees pressed Velez to make the findings of the soil contaminate tests available to the community. Velez said such reports are typically not made public, but that he would bring this issue up with other administrators.

Velez also stressed that, because the sheer size of the proposed Manhattanville complex requires a 50- to 60-foot-deep foundation, all of the potentially contaminated topsoil would be removed by necessity of construction, thus eliminating any environmental hazard.

Peter Favant, a local resident, brought up the issue of off-street parking in Manhattanville. In the final agreement with City Council, the University agreed to mitigate the loss of parking garage space from the proposed campus construction.

But according to Favant, he and approximately 50 other parking garage renters had been asked to vacate their spaces in a parking garage to make room for Columbia. “This is an issue where the Environmental Impact Statement comes back and says that this is what Columbia has to do to mitigate what their project is doing,” he said, “and they’re just paying no mind to it.”

zack.hoopes@columbiaspectator.com