The south side of Ellis Island was included on the 1996 World Monuments Watch, which helped draw national and international attention to the work required to restore all structures on the island. (...)
The south side of Ellis Island was included on the 1996 World Monuments Watch, which helped draw national and international attention to the work required to restore all structures on the island. WMF undertook a stabilization project for select buildings and corridors on the south side of the island in 1997, which focused on the stabilization of the Office and Laboratory Building using appropriate, cost-effective and efficient methods, materials, and craftsmanship. The demonstration project was to serve as a temporary solution until a more comprehensive restoration program could be implemented and future reuse scenarios could be explored. The two-and-a-half-story, square plan Office and Laboratory Building was built in 1909 with brick bearing walls, reinforced concrete floors, and a wood-framed ceramic French clay tile hipped roof. This building was selected for the pilot project because it was in poor condition, was of a manageable size, and faced similar problems of deterioration plaguing other structures on the south side, including deteriorating effects from acid rain and vegetal overgrowth. The building also included an adjacent corridor section open to the elements, which could serve as an example for the stabilization of several hundred feet of corridor on the south side. The drainage system, roof tiles, and doors were in need of repair and aggressive vegetation needed to be cleared. Due to hazardous materials and potentially dangerous conditions within the buildings, the project was approached with the idea that all necessary stabilization work could be accomplished from the exterior. Site work included identifying and protecting the historic landscapes and plant specimens, and cautiously removing vegetative overgrowth around the buildings and pathways, including pruning overhanging limbs, clearing clinging vines, and applying herbicide. Historic fabric was collected and safeguarded by the National Park Service staff for documentation and cataloguing, scaffolding was erected, vented window panels were constructed and installed, and weatherproofing measures were carried out. The reinforced concrete was repaired and loose concrete from the corridor’s interior walls and ceiling was removed. This effort, conducted in cooperation with the New York City Landmarks Conservancy, led to support resulting in the stabilization of the entire south side of Ellis Island in subsequent years.
The Baggage and Dormitory Building on the north side of Ellis Island, which accommodated immigrant detainees and housed family members of hospital patients, was listed on the 2006 Watch, in an effort to further assist Save Ellis Island, a fundraising arm of the National Park Service, to address unrestored buildings based on an island-wide needs assessment. The Baggage and Dormitory Building, constructed in 1908, was designed in Beaux-Arts and neoclassical styles and contains the only existing collection of in situ graffiti on the island, created by immigrants surviving in limbo on the edge of America. WMF supported the June 2008 Education/Awareness Strategy Forum at Ellis Island, which recognized the significance of the preservation project undertaken on the island and discussed ways in which the preservation field and general public could treat the preservation work as an educational resource. The current efforts of Save Ellis Island are beginning to yield impressive results, including the initiation of the Ellis Island Institute and Conference Center, which provides educational and public programming on the island, as well as the potential for expanded programming relating to public health, immigration, and historic preservation.
