Roosevelt Island Community Meeting on the Renovation of Good Shepherd Chapel and Plaza Thursday March 24. 7 PM - Come Learn What Is Happening, Comment and Ask Questions

Image From RIOC

Commenting on an earlier post regarding the Red Bus, Roosevelt Island resident Gregor suggested:

I think there should be a RI residents open forum with Mr. Martinez making a presentation on exactly how the red buses are run, especially with regard to meeting the tram and picking up tram passengers ...

Well Gregor, there will be an open forum this week for Roosevelt Island residents to learn from Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) staff not about the Red Bus, but about the Good Shepherd Chapel and Plaza restoration status. According to RIOC:

Members of the RIOC Staff will be presenting an update on the renovations of the Good Shepherd Community Center Chapel and Plaza 

All members of the Roosevelt Island community are welcome to come, learn what is happening, comment and ask questions. The meeting will be held Thursday, March 24, 7 PM at the Good Shepherd Community Center lower level. Yesterday,  I asked RIOC's VP of Operations Fernando Martinez for some information about the renovation update prior to the meeting so that members of the community could come prepared with comments and questions.  Have not received a reply yet but if I do, will include that as an update to this post.

A previous Town Hall meeting on the Good Shepherd renovation was held last March 25.  A brief summary by Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) President (then Planning Committee Chair) Matt Katz from an earlier post follows:

... Turcic, RIOC Chief Engineer, presented the plan. He said there was little change involved, and that the proposed HVAC upgrade was the only element that requires approval from the Landmarks Preservation Commission. The cooling tower in the Chapel belfry is to be replaced by a ground-level condenser just west of the side entrance that will be covered by a wooden barrier. The red slate pavers are to be replaced, drainage will be reconfigured, bench locations are to be reconsidered and the tall lights will be replaced by ten-foot lights similar to the ones on Main Street and with new eight-foot lights at the west entrance doors. Russem said the Plaza is dim and asked if three lights each on the north and south sides would be sufficient to make the area brighter.

Turcic indicated that subsidence has caused drainage problems. The north-south-running drains on the east and west sides of the Chapel will remain, but the other north-west-running drain, located near the back of the Chapel, would be replaced by east-west-running trench drains where the concrete stripes now break up the red tile pattern. In addition, the squared-off concrete apron at the eastern (apse) end of the structure would be rounded to conform to the shape of the building. Chirivas asked if there would be any interior Chapel work and Turcic responded, “No.”...

 Click thru for the entire report.


View Larger Map