WASA/ODA PRESERVATION GROUP RESTORING MOMA’S HISTORIC P.S. 1 CONTEMPORARY ART CENTER FACILITY

- Romanesque revival building home to one of the nation’s oldest contemporary art organizations -

NEW YORK, NY – August 5, 2002 – The preservation group of WASA is restoring the brick and terra cotta facade, slate roof and windows of Long Island City’s P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center/MoMA, one of the largest and oldest contemporary arts organizations in the United States.

The project was completed by WASA under the joint venture of Wank Adams Slavin Associates LLP, one of New York City’s leading architecture, engineering and historic preservation firms, and Ohlhausen DuBois Architects.

WASA's approach to the restoration makes maximum use of existing materials, respecting the original building fabric of the Romanesque revival building, formerly a Queens elementary school.

Construction on the $10.7 million project, undertaken on behalf of the City of New York City Department of Design and Construction and Department of Cultural Affairs will begin this fall, and is scheduled to be complete by the fall of 2003.

“By preserving P.S. 1, WASA is contributing to the stewardship of New York City’s rich architectural heritage” said Leonard Franco, WASA’s partner-in-charge.

Water infiltration at the façade and slate roofing led to significant deterioration to the building envelope. In addition, a recent lightning strike destroyed a piece of terra cotta ornament and underlined the importance of improved lightning protection.

WASA’s conservative approach to the complex job is based on extensive archival research, photogrammetric documentation, structural probes, and materials and product testing. The work is proposed for implementation in three consecutive phases. The first phase consists of replacing the existing slate roofing, structural repairs to the roof framing, and the installation of a lightning protection system. The second phase involves façade preservation and sidewalk replacement, and the windows will be replaced in the final phase.

WASA (Wank Adams Slavin Associates LLP) has been active in the practice of architecture, engineering and preservation since 1903 when its predecessor firm (Reed & Stem) won the competition to design Grand Central Station. Today, WASA maintains a staff of 90 professionals in New York City. Some of the firm's current projects include: renovation of the historic 32-story Alfred E. Smith state office building in Albany, NY; exterior restoration of The Breakers in Newport, RI; the restoration of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater, and restoration of the historic Harvard Club in Manhattan.

Ohlhausen DuBois Architects is an architectural design studio formed in 1996 by Rolf Ohlhausen and Mark DuBois. The firm does a variety of public, institutional, commercial and residential work, and has won AIA National Honor Awards for the Cooper Union Residence Hall and the Tishman Auditorium at the New School. Current projects include a theater and teaching facility for the Actor’s Studio at the New School, new offices for the MacArthur Foundation in Chicago, and a large residence in Santa Fe, New Mexico.