Vauxwatch is a regularly updated list of endangered architectural and landscape design work created by Calvert Vaux and his contemporaries. CVPA will use Vauxwatch to highlight these significant sites in order to help insure their preservation for future generations to appreciate.
Nominations to Vauxwatch will be accepted all year - round by CVPA's Vauxwatch Committee. Nominations from organizations or individuals are acceptable. In order to nominate a site for consideration, a brief history of the site and a description of its current plight along with at least one recent and one historic jpeg image should be provided via e-mail to info@calvertvaux.org - please allow up to 60 days for a response. Be sure to provide complete contact information of the nominating organization or individual.
Newburgh City Club (Culbert House)
Newburgh, NY
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The Newburgh City Club, originally the Culbert House, was designed by Vaux and A.J. Downing in 1851 - 52 during their all too brief working relationship. The house was designed for a prominent Newburgh doctor, William A.M. Culbert (design #22 entitled "Suburban House With Curved Roof" in Vaux's book, Villas and Cottages), and was expanded after the Newburgh City Club acquired it in 1904. The building was restored in 1975 - 76 only to have its interior gutted by a suspicious fire in 1981. The City Club still sits today in front of the south end of the Newburgh Free Library. The exquisite concave roof is completely gone, as are the majority of the building's exterior design elements, yet its basic structure appears to be sound and restorable. It is part of CVPA's mission to see that this contributing building to Newburgh's Montgomery - Grand - Liberty Streets Historic District is fully restored and an adaptive reuse found that will benefit the Newburgh community and its struggling economy.
The Hoyt House ("The Point")
Staatsburg, NY
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The Hoyt House, also known as "The Point", was designed in 1855 for a wealthy heir of a New York merchant and his wife, a Livingston family member (design # 31, entitled "Picturesque Stone Country House" in Vaux's book, Villas and Cottages). The building and its grounds were acquired by New York State's Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation in 1963 with the intention of demolishing the house and constructing a public swimming pool in its place between Margaret Lewis Norrie State Park, where the house is now located, and the grounds of the Staatsburgh State Historic Site, also known as the Mills Mansion. Due to public outcry, the Hoyt House was never torn down but it has suffered from over 45 years of neglect and vandalism. CVPA successfully nominated the house for the Preservation League of New York State's Seven to Save list for 2007 and raised funds to repair fallen masonry on the house's north wall and front portico in 2008. Other local organizations have raised funds for minor repair work on the house over the years as well.
The Hoyt House is an exquisite example of Vaux's interpretation of the picturesque movement, a view of design that employs Gothic Revival elements as enjoined with natural settings. Vaux's unique mastery of architecture and landscape design as applied together in the Hoyt House and its grounds are readily evident in a way that no other nineteenth century designer working in America has demonstrated. OPRHP has recently reissued a Request for Proposals for a long term lease on the house, ancillary buildings and grounds to parties willing to restore the house in compliance with New York State preservation stipulations. We are currently awaiting the outcome of the proposal process.
Dutch Reformed Church
Newburgh, NY
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Newburgh's Dutch Reformed Church is an outstanding example of Greek Revival architecture designed by A.J. Davis in 1835. It is an imposing structure that faces southward down the Hudson from the north end of the lot that also contains Vaux's Newburgh City Club.
Unused as a church since 1967, the structure's exterior has suffered severely, although the interior remains largely intact. The building was given National Historic Landmark Status in 2001 (see David Schuyler's ceremonial remarks in the Historical Documents section of www.calvertvaux.org). The Newburgh Preservation Association delivered the Historic Structure Report on the building in 2003 and proceeded to execute numerous repairs, particularly to the foundation and drainage system. In 2005 the building was also named by the World Monument Fund to their worldwide list of "100 Most Endangered Sites." In addition, the main sections of the church's Ionic columns have been restored and an exterior lighting system added for nighttime illumination.
The Newburgh Preservation Association has done an admirable job in acquiring grant awards, recognition and generally bringing the DRC restoration project this far - they are to be applauded. Much work remains to be done and CVPA is exploring ways to help contribute to NPA's mission for the full restoration and adaptive reuse of Davis' Newburgh masterpiece overlooking the Hudson.
Hudson Valley State Hospital
Poughkeepsie, NY
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Designed by Frederick Clarke Withers and completed in 1871 with accompanying landscape by Vaux and Olmsted (plans designed in 1867), the Hospital's central structure, known as the Kirkbride Building, was, according to Architectural Historian Francis Kowsky, "the first significant example in the United States of the application of High Victorian Gothic design to hospital construction." It was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1989 and sustained a devastating fire to its south wing in 2007. The building is listed as "threatened" by the National Park Service. After numerous delays, the current owner is proceeding with plans to develop the site for multiple residential, commercial and retail uses. CVPA's intention is that the remaining portions of the original Withers design is preserved and that the integrity of the Vaux and Olmsted grounds plan remain intact. The developers have stated that they will execute their plans with the significance of the site in mind. CVPA will continue to follow the project's implementation.
Central Park
New York, NY
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CVPA remains deeply concerned about Manhattan's Central Park. While the Central Park Conservancy had indeed brought the park back from the brink in the 1980s and has maintained the park ever since, it has more recently, in our view and the view of other preservation groups, overstepped the bounds of its public trust. The four transverse roads that run east - west through the park were an innovative feature of Vaux and Olmsted's original Greensward Plan, integral to the park's design. They were intended to siphon off cross-town carriage traffic into recessed, carefully landscaped roads, hidden from public view. Yet, the Conservancy has taken excessive liberties with these roads. In 1998, they allowed New York City's Department of Transportation to blast out selected rock formations on the 96th Street transverse road and replace some of those sections with concrete slabs. In 2008, as an overreaction to a single rock rolling into the road, the Conservancy, again in conjunction with NYC DOT, irrevocably altered and removed original rock formations lining the sides of the same transverse road near its east entrance to the park. (see the photos above). Furthermore, the addition of unsightly electrical conduits and metal plates along the 86th Street transverse road has greatly added to the deterioration of that historic route. Vaux and Olmsted's transverse roads must be maintained with the same thoughtful consideration as more visible areas of the park, such as Bethesda Terrace and the Ramble.
In a more general sense, The Central Park Conservancy is well funded and firmly entrenched in the power structure of the City. The NYC Landmark Preservation Commission and the NYC Department of Parks have provided the Conservancy with insufficient oversight, all but rubber stamping alteration requests, if such requests are submitted at all, and approving the implementation of "capital projects." We, the general public, must be vigilant that the Central Park Conservancy is not given carte blanche to arbitrarily alter important elements of the park at their discretion. The integrity of this historic and artistic jewel must be preserved for future generations. Everyone should bear in mind that Central Park is the world's park, for all to admire and enjoy.