Construction has begun at 299 DeGraw Street, where a two-story former firehouse is being converted into a music school for the Noel Pointer Foundation in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn. Designed by MBB Architects and developed by the New York City Department of Design and Construction on behalf of the Department of Cultural Affairs, the $17.8 million project will renovate the 6,000-square-foot structure, which dates to 1857. The project will also include soundproofed lesson rooms, a recording studio, a music library and gallery, an ensemble room, and a courtyard for multidisciplinary programming.
Rendering courtesy of MBB Architects.
Renderings from MBB Architects show the firehouse’s historic brick and terracotta façade restored, with the ground-floor garage doors converted into glazed openings that will bring natural light into the interior. Preserved “B.F.D.” signage beneath the bracketed cornice recalls the Brooklyn Fire Department, which predates the borough’s consolidation with New York City. Inside, a high-ceilinged reception area with an ADA-accessible open staircase will lead to the main ensemble room, finished with a ribbed wood ceiling and acoustic wall baffles. A new elevator will connect all three floors.
Rendering courtesy of MBB Architects.
The firehouse was built in 1857, when the Brooklyn Fire Department still relied on horse-drawn apparatus. A plan to sell the property drew protests in which then-Councilman Bill de Blasio and actor Steve Buscemi, a former FDNY firefighter, were arrested, and the City Council ultimately barred a sale and restricted the site to community facility use. A 2011 proposal to convert the building into a music center for the Brooklyn Philharmonic never materialized, and the firehouse sat vacant until December 2019, when the city committed an initial $6.5 million in capital funding for the Noel Pointer Foundation.
Construction at 299 DeGraw Street is expected to be completed in fall 2028, according to the Department of Design and Construction.
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