GARNER Arts Center in Rockland County Secures $5,800

Preservation League awards grant from Donald Stephen Gratz Preservation Services Fund

PRESS RELEASE

The Preservation League recently made a $5,800 grant to the GARNER ArtsCenter, the not-for-profit arm of the Garnerville Arts & Industrial Center.

The grant is the third made from the Donald Stephen Gratz Preservation Services Fund of the Preservation League of New York State. The grant to GARNER will support the cost of a conditions assessment and feasibility study for the reuse of Building 21 in the mill complex known historically as the Garner Print Works.

BKSK Architects of New York City was selected to produce this study, which includes the exploration of options for viable uses, a preferred conceptual approach, an annotated drawing for the preferred approach, and preparation of a conceptual cost estimate.

“The Hurricane devastated GARNER Arts Center’s beautiful loft gallery and base of operations in Building 21,” Robin Rosenberg, president of GARNER Arts Center, said. “Thankfully, we were able to save the historic exterior wall of the building but what is left is an empty shell. The Gratz Grant has provided us the opportunity to envision our future and create an exciting new life for this once-beautiful structure that will add to the cultural life and economic vitality of our region. We look forward to attracting thousands of visitors again one day with the help of this Grant and the assistance we have received from the Preservation League. We are immensely grateful for their support and that of the Donald Stephen Gratz Preservation Services Fund for this exceptional grant opportunity.

The Garner Print Works was first established as a textile mill in 1828 and among many notable industrial contributions, the plant made uniforms for the Union Army during the Civil War. The mill complex of some 40 buildings straddles the Minisceongo Creek, which supplied water to the mill for manufacturing but which caused significant flooding and damage to the complex during Hurricane Irene.

The Preservation League added the Garner Print Works mill complex to its 2012 list of Seven to Save endangered places, and awarded the Garner Arts Center a $3,000 Technical Assistance Grant to determine the viability and costs of converting Building 35, the then-vacant mill cafeteria, into gallery and exhibition space for the Arts Center. Renovation of Building 35 is currently underway.

Later in 2012, the Preservation League, in partnership with the New York State Council on the Arts, awarded the Garner Arts Center a Preserve New York grant of $7,724 to complete a National Register Historic District nomination for the Garner Print Works. The complex was designated a New York State Historic District in 2013 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in March, 2014 as the Rockland Print Works Historic District.