Today- and every day- you can help save some of Brooklyn’s historical landmarks with just a click. 40 nominees throughout NYC are vying for big grants via the Partners in Preservation program. The program will award $3 million in grants and we have quite a few landmarks in Brooklyn that will be awarded the monies- but voting will determine who will get the biggest grants.
How can you vote?
- You can vote for your favorites on Partners In Preservation’s Facebook page
- Vote online once a day until May 21
- Check in on Foursquare for a “Preservation Nation” badge
- Follow @PartnersinPres and @AmericanExpress on Twitter (Partners in Preservation is a partnership between American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.)
Our blog has been enlisted to help get the word out about three of the Brooklyn nominees- specifically ones that might interest you as parents. We already wrote about The Lehigh Valley Railroad Barge No. 79 and Tugboat Pegasus and today we are writing about Congregation Beth Elohim. Both desperately need repair and preservation help.
What makes Congregation Beth Elohim special for families? Justine Cooper went to find out and took some fabulous photos and notes on her visit with her own kids.
From Justine:
The Beaux-Arts Classical Revival building of Congregation Beth Elohim (CBE) is such a beautiful Park Slope landmark, but I hadn’t realized it wasn’t only a place of worship until last week!
In fact it was named “one of America’s most vibrant congregations” by Newsweek, which also hailed Rabbi Andy Bachman as one of the top rabbis in the United States. Judging from the variety of inclusive educational and community based activities they offer, it’s not so surprising.
Amongst the many programs they have, there is an Early Childhood Center for kids 2-5 years old which is open to families of all faiths and backgrounds. Established in 1978, Congregation Beth Elohim’s Early Childhood Center is a popular preschool in Brooklyn.
When I visited I found kids in the Early Childhood program enjoying the nice weather by having their snack outside.
They had just returned from visiting the sanctuary and and “playing” the new installation and musical instrument “Jacob’s Ladder by BanG (architects Babak Bryan and Henry Grosman). The title of the work is taken from one of sanctuary’s two 400 square foot glass windows.
Children in the After School Center (K-6th grade) had made the mallets used to play the installation. The After School Center provides a pick-up service from many neighborhood schools, including PS 321, 282, 154, 372, 39, 10 and Berkeley Carroll.
They have a heated POOL (!) so kids can take swimming or other activities depending on their age like chess, cooking, photo/video, art, jewelry, dance, various sports, and theater. The pool is available to all Temple members and Non-members can sign up for a pool membership for family at $450 or as an individual for $300. They also have homework clinics, plus mini and summer camps for all different ages. Pretty cool.
Given all the cultural and educational offerings at CBE, it’s a total shame that the original 1910 temple sanctuary is in such poor physical shape.
The main sanctuary’s ceiling collapsed in 2009 and CBE’s services were moved to Old First Reformed Church. CBE had the opportunity to return the favor when Old First’s ceiling collapsed this past Fall, and could offer their space. While the ceiling has been repaired there is still plenty of needed restoration.
For instance, right now temporary plywood sheets are protecting some of the exquisite, though damaged, 100 year old stained glass windows.
They have cracks and the colored glass is fading. The stained glass windows’ lead encasing is also structurally damaged. It would be amazing to see this Brooklyn jewel returned to its full glory! Please vote online to help them through the Partners in Preservation program!
Details:
Congregation Beth Elohim
274 Garfield Place
Brooklyn, NY 11215
Tel: (718) 768-3814
Disclosure: This post was sponsored by the Partners in Preservation program.
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Justine Cooper, our “Top of the Shop” photographer, loves capturing babies and families so much, she made a career out of it. Originally trained as a photojournalist, she also has a Masters in Fine Art. She splits her time between creating work for galleries and shooting families in the New York area. She lives with her husband and two children in Brooklyn. Her portrait work can be seen at www.justinecooperphotography.com. Justine was voted “Brooklyn’s Best Family Photographer” by Nickelodeon’s Parents Connect.