Building Shells: Building Community
Project Leads: Naomi Hersson-Ringksog (urban planner), Liz McEnaney (preservationist), and Patra Jongjitirat (graphic designer).
Building Shells: Building Community is a preservation, policy and design project that explores how the community can work collectively to prevent historic buildings from becoming shells, and to use art as a way to reactivate existing building shells to encourage future redevelopment. Specifically, we are looking at small but proactive ways the community can work together in partnership with the municipality to preserve these historic building assets and, in doing so, stabilize the neighborhood.
Project Milestones
Building Shells: Building Community Toolkit
Click HERE for the Community Toolkit!
The bilingual toolkit (English and Spanish) informs Newburgh residents of the complexity of issues surrounding building shells and exploring the roles and actions that residents can take to incrementally help preserve these historic structures. The toolkit seeks to make the government process more transparent to empower neighbors and residents to potentially take more action. The information in the toolkit is based on research; interviews with city leaders and preservation experts; and feedback gathered at a community workshop held at a city-owned building shell at 169 N. Johnston Street in October 2021. The community workshop was done in partnership with Newburgh’s Love Your Block Grant, Paint & Play, Awesome Newburgh, Hudson Valley Collaborative, Blacc Vanilla, and Holy Temple UHC Church. The design prompt was created by two Columbia GSAPP architecture students: Yaxin Jiang and Anoushae Eirabie. The toolkit (designed by Patra Jongjitirat) is currently being distributed with the help of local partner organizations.
For a printed copy of the toolkit, please email us at thefullertoncenter@gmail.com.
The Building Shells: Building Community Toolkit is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. Additional funding was provided by the James Marston Fitch Charitable Foundation. / Este proyecto es posible gracias al Consejo de las Artes del Estado de Nueva York con el apoyo de la Oficina del Gobernador y la Legislatura del Estado de Nueva York. La Fundación James Marston Fitch igualmente ha proporcionado fondos adicionales.
A special thanks to illustrator Genevieve Lacroix and translator Mariella Salazar who made the toolkit possible.
Building Shells: Building Community Walking Tours
The Building Shells: Building Community Walking Tours were designed & researched by historian Steven Baltsas in Spring 2022 as a way to further share and engage the community with the toolkit information; to teach residents how to “read” a building (identifying building parts and also noticing any signs that the building is in distress); and to raise awareness about the City of Newburgh’s SeeClickFix platform (a mobile app that allows residents to report building-related issues, bridging communication gaps between residents and the city).
Let us know if you’re interested in joining a walking tour! Email us at thefullertoncenter@gmail.com.
Steven Baltsas and his project, Building Community: Building Walking Tours, is a 2022 Open Space Institute McHenry Award winner in the Historic Preservation category. In honor of Barney McHenry’s contributions and accomplishments, the Open Space Institute has established and administers an award to celebrate his leadership and foster future leaders in the Hudson River Valley.
Look! Mira! Architectural Scavenger Hunt
Look! Mira! Architectural Scavenger Hunt Map featuring Johnston, William, Dubois Streets creatively connects the general public with the city’s biggest assets in a fun and exploratory manner. Being the birthplace of the historic preservation movement and being the second largest historic district in New York State, exploring and discovering the architectural richness of each and every corridor is endless!
This guide is intended for everyone but especially for the youth and families to explore the city and learn a little abut the history through the Urban Archive app.
The Look! Mira! Building Design Literacy project is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. The Look! Mira! Scavenger Hunt has also been funded in part by a grant from the John E. Streb Fund for New York of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. / Este proyecto es posible gracias al Consejo de las Artes del Estado de Nueva York con el apoyo de la Oficina del Gobernador y la Legislatura del Estado de Nueva York.
(New)burgh Porch
In Spring 2022 we launched the Building Shells: Building Community open call seeking proposals for a site-specific commission for a building shell located at 15 S. Johnston Street in Newburgh NY. Applicants were encouraged to think about the building shell typology and its preservation challenges in Newburgh. We received over 50 incredible applications with projects ranging from architectural interventions to light projections to dance performances.
The winning commission was the (New)burgh Porch, designed by architect Joshua Jow. The project launched in October 2023 as part of the inaugural Archtober Newburgh celebration.
“The (New)burgh Porch is a temporary architectural installation that will interface with the tectonic and cultural past and present of Newburgh, NY. Together with The Fullerton, this project aims to inspire both new and existing conversations around the revitalization of building shells within the city.
Building shells are remnants of past buildings and often only consist of the exterior walls in various stages of disrepair. These shells that remain are a result of the legacy of urban renewal and industrial decline that Newburgh experienced in the 1960s and 1970s. This is a period which wiped out more than a thousand of the city’s buildings and the promised replacements were never realized due to the loss of federal and state funds. In reaction to this, the city landmarked what is now known as the East End Historic District, a 445 acre stretch of land next to the Hudson River containing 2,217 buildings. Many of these structures are 2-3 story townhouses whose porches — a symbol of hospitality and leisure — are also in need of care. The Queen Anne is one historical housing style that is represented in this group, and it is marked by its ease of construction and replication through detailed distribution in mass-market pattern books.
As a piece of architecture, the (New)burgh Porch is designed through its component parts to be used as an educational tool. As a nod to the Queen Anne style, the porch is constructed from standard off-the-shelf wood products and metal connectors paired with traditional porch elements (balustrade, spindle, handrail, etc.). Underlying this architectural project is a robust schedule of programming coordinated by The Fullerton that aims to engage the community with discussions on the how and why of restoring and maintaining the buildings of Newburgh. Together we hope to create a living framework for the future cultural, economic, and architectural development of Newburgh. “
Collaborators: Joshua Jow Architects and J&C Home Renovations
The (New)burgh Porch was made possible with the generous support of the National Endowment for the Arts and the James Marston Fitch Charitable Foundation.
Look! Mira! Literature Review and Community Outreach
We worked with architect & preservationist Enrique Aureng Silva to research & produce a Literature Review and Community Outreach Report that looks at the intersection of historic preservation and the Latinx community in Newburgh and beyond. The literature review analyzes existing research, case studies and articles from diverse sources and sheds light on the significance of historic preservation for immigrant groups, particularly the Latino community in the US. The Community Outreach component of the report is based on conducting targeted community outreach via a 20 question survey to understand the Latino community’s experience with historic preservation in Newburgh.
Please check back soon! We will publish the report online in early 2024.
The Look! Mira! Building Design Literacy project is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. / Este proyecto es posible gracias al Consejo de las Artes del Estado de Nueva York con el apoyo de la Oficina del Gobernador y la Legislatura del Estado de Nueva York.
Our Supporters
This Building Shells: Building Community project is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts; the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature; the James Marston Fitch Charitable Foundation; and the Open Space Institute’s 2022 McHenry Award. A special thanks to illustrator Genevieve Lacroix and translator Mariella Salazar who made the toolkit possible.
Acknowledgments
We’d like to thank all the individuals, organizations, and City of Newburgh staff who have not only made this project possible, but who inspire us in our work. It takes an incredible community to make a project like this happen and we’re lucky to have one in Newburgh. CLICK HERE To see our incredible list of supporters.
