BMT Power Plant Coming Down?
BMT Power House
Photo: INSIJS
It looks like the former BMT power plant on Kent Avenue, just south of Division, is about to come down. I'm Not Sayin', I'm Just Sayin' has a post documenting the scaffolding of the building and commencement of demolition. He also has images of the building in its heyday, when it was constructed to supply power to the BMT surface railways - it was literally the power plant for Brooklyn's famed trolley system.
The building has been nominated for Landmark designation by the Roebling Chapter of the Society for Industrial Archaeology. In a recent letter Mary Habstritt of SIA (who is also a WGPA member), the Landmarks Preservation Commission said that, "based on our current priorities", the building would not be nominated for landmark status.
The BMT power plant was also one of the few buildings identified in the community-prepared 197-a plan for Williamsburg. In that plan, it was specifically called out as an important neighborhood historic resource. The plan called for the building to be designated a landmark.
INSIJS has much, much more on their site, including a number of historic images and a description of the building's history.
