Ground has been broken on a new $3.6 million community and environmental education center at 99 Plymouth Street on the Brooklyn waterfront in DUMBO and Brooklyn Bridge Park.
The center’s “main phase” is scheduled to open in the summer of 2015.
The 10,650 square foot site is being renovated and converted out of a building that formerly housed maintenance materials for the city Department of Environmental Protection.
Once complete, the building will provide 11,300 square feet of space for a 300-square foot community room, an 800-square-foot environmental education classroom, a kitchen, two bathrooms, locker room and basement storage area. The classroom will feature an aquarium and “touch” water tank full of marine life.
The center will also eventually serve as the permanent home of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy.
“With its flexible community areas and educational facility, this space will provide important year-round programming opportunities for the local community and all park users,” said Regina Myer, president of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation.
According to Stalco Construction Project Manager Keith Ward, the “main one-story building [and] two adjacent storage structures” will be demolished and replaced with a soundproof glass curtain-wall on the west and south sides, refurbished exterior brick walls, a new storefront entrance, additional window and garage door entrances, and a completely renovated interior.
In an effort to mitigate the negative impact on residential homes, businesses and 19th century architecture, construction teams will use vibration monitors “in order to protect the surrounding historic structures and the landmark neighborhood,” added Stalco Assistant Project Manager Jeanette Macleod.