In the 1800s, firefighters in New York City watched over their communities perched from cast-iron watchtowers that dotted the metro, and rang bells in those towers to alert nearby fire companies.
Pull boxes for fire alarms rendered the towers obsolete in the 1870s, and over the decades those structures fell into disrepair and near collapse. One of the structures—the Harlem Fire Watchtower, the third such tower in the city, built in 1856 within Mount Morris Park (renamed Marcus Garvey Park in 1973), and deemed a NYC Landmark by the National Register of Historic Places in 1967—has been restored and reconstructed, thanks to the activism of Harlem’s community.
City officials retained the engineering firm Thornton Tomasetti to reconstruct the watchtower. Its restoration design included structural assessment, historical documentation, and a finite element analysis of the cast-iron structure.
Elements of the watchtower’s cast iron structure that analysis deemed too deteriorated for reuse were replicated. The old structure failed under wind load tests, and required interventions to satisfy structural and historic preservation goals. The reconstruction included a new bracing system. The historic metals were painted the original color, while supplemental elements were stainless steel.
The tower’s 5,000-lb bell, dating back from 1865, underwent a non-destructive testing that confirmed casting anomalies and micro cracking. The bell was shipped to the Netherlands for brazing to reconstitute its structure.
Using historic photos as its guide, Thornton Tomasetti recreated or restored several of the watchtower’s lost features, such as its copper sheet roof. Landscaping around the tower was modified with ADA-compliant access. Ground-level security screens, a modern twist, nevertheless recall the original enclosure. Lighting protection, concealed within the structure, is incorporated into the roof filial.
Engineers from Thornton Tomasetti inspect a portion of the Harlem Fire Watchtower.
The city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission approved the reconstruction of the four-story octagonal watchtower on July 14, 2015. The project’s funding was $7,970,000, and reconstruction began in July 2017. Its Reconstruction Team included the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation (which owns and operates the park), Mueser Rutledge (engineering consultant), Nicholson and Galloway (copper roofing), Allen Architectural Metals (cast iron structure), and Verdin Bell Company.
The reinstalled watchtower was revealed at a ceremony on October 26 at the Acropolis, which overlooks the park. The Marcus Garvey Park Alliance/Public Arts Initiative has requested city funding to install lights and cameras on the Acropolis.
Related Stories
| Oct 20, 2014
UK's best new building: Everyman Theatre wins RIBA Stirling Prize 2014
The new Everyman Theatre in Liverpool by Haworth Tompkins has won the coveted RIBA Stirling Prize 2014 for the best building of the year. Now in its 19th year, the RIBA Stirling Prize is the UK’s most prestigious architecture prize.
Sponsored | | Oct 19, 2014
The Exploration Tower in Port Canaveral dazzles visitors
With a mission to provide the experience of a lifetime, the Exploration Tower at Port Canaveral, Fla., is designed to inspire, as visitors learn about the history and nature of the port and beyond. SPONSORED CONTENT
| Oct 19, 2014
White House Visitor Center reopens in Washington, D.C.
Designed by SmithGroupJJR and Gallagher & Associates, renovated center shows public its unique role as office, stage, museum, park, and home.
| Oct 17, 2014
OMA, OLIN design unanimously chosen for D.C. elevated park
In the design, the ends of the bridge are pulled upward to form an "X" shape. It allows ample room for add-ons such as a cafe and performance space, in addition to open space for plazas, lawns, and urban agriculture plots.
| Oct 16, 2014
Perkins+Will white paper examines alternatives to flame retardant building materials
The white paper includes a list of 193 flame retardants, including 29 discovered in building and household products, 50 found in the indoor environment, and 33 in human blood, milk, and tissues.
| Oct 16, 2014
Rocky Mountain Institute breaks ground on net-zero Innovation Center
Encompassing the Rocky Mountain Institute’s 32 years of innovation, the new 15,610 square-foot facility will exhibit the principles of integrative design and energy and resource efficiency.
| Oct 15, 2014
Harvard launches ‘design-centric’ center for green buildings and cities
The impetus behind Harvard's Center for Green Buildings and Cities is what the design school’s dean, Mohsen Mostafavi, describes as a “rapidly urbanizing global economy,” in which cities are building new structures “on a massive scale.”
| Oct 15, 2014
First look: Blueprint revealed for proposed High Line project in Queens
Yet another High Line-esque project has been proposed, this time in Queens. A blueprint has been developed for a 3.5-mile stretch of abandoned railroad tracks, which would connect Rego Park to Ozone Park with a walkway and bike path.
| Oct 14, 2014
Proven 6-step approach to treating historic windows
This course provides step-by-step prescriptive advice to architects, engineers, and contractors on when it makes sense to repair or rehabilitate existing windows, and when they should advise their building owner clients to consider replacement.
| Oct 12, 2014
AIA 2030 commitment: Five years on, are we any closer to net-zero?
This year marks the fifth anniversary of the American Institute of Architects’ effort to have architecture firms voluntarily pledge net-zero energy design for all their buildings by 2030.
