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
| Jun 5, 2013
USGBC: Free LEED certification for projects in new markets
In an effort to accelerate sustainable development around the world, the U.S. Green Building Council is offering free LEED certification to the first projects to certify in the 112 countries where LEED has yet to take root.
| Jun 3, 2013
Construction spending inches upward in April
The U.S. Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce announced today that construction spending during April 2013 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $860.8 billion, 0.4 percent above the revised March estimate of $857.7 billion.
| May 29, 2013
6 award-winning library projects
The Anacostia Neighborhood Library in Washington, D.C., and the renovation of Cass Gilbert’s grand Beaux-Arts library in St. Louis are among six projects to be named 2013 AIA/ALA Library Building Award winners.
| May 24, 2013
James Turrell's art installation turns Guggenheim Museum into 'skyspace'
James Turrell, an artist whose projects are more properly defined as "light sculptures," will have a major installation at the Guggenheim Museum this summer, turning Frank Lloyd Wright's famed serpentine atrium into a show of shifting colors and textures. The site-specific project, Aten Reign, will run from June 21 to September 25.
| May 17, 2013
First look: HKS' multipurpose stadium for Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority (MSFA), the Minnesota Vikings and HKS Sports & Entertainment Group have unveiled the design of the State’s new multi? purpose stadium in Minneapolis, a major milestone in getting the $975 million stadium built on time and on budget.
| May 16, 2013
Chicago unveils $1.1 billion plan for DePaul arena, Navy Pier upgrades
Hoping to send a loud message that Chicago is serious about luring tourism and entertainment spending, Mayor Rahm Emanuel has released details of two initiatives that have been developing for more than a year and that it says will mean $1.1 billion in investment in the McCormick Place and Navy Pier areas.
| May 7, 2013
Renovated bridge building will anchor Nashville riverfront master plan
Renovations to the former Nashville Bridge Company building were recently completed, including a newly-built modern wing. The facility has been re-dubbed The Bridge Building and now offers spaces for meetings, parties, weddings, and other events.
| Apr 30, 2013
Tips for designing with fire rated glass - AIA/CES course
Kate Steel of Steel Consulting Services offers tips and advice for choosing the correct code-compliant glazing product for every fire-rated application. This BD+C University class is worth 1.0 AIA LU/HSW.
| Apr 26, 2013
BIG tapped to design Europa City in suburban Paris
Danish architecture firm, BIG - led by Bjarke Ingels – has been announced as the winner of an international invited competition for the design of Europa City, a 800,000 square meter cultural, recreational and retail development in Triangle de Gonesse, France.
| Apr 26, 2013
Documentary shows 'starchitects' competing for museum project
"The Competition," a new documentary produced by Angel Borrego Cuberto of Madrid, focuses on the efforts of five 'starchitects' to capture the design contract for the new National Museum of Art of Andorra: a small country in the Pyrenees between Spain and France.