TDR + Landmarking Has Potential For Saving The Forest Hills Tennis Stadium

Famed Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, 9/4/10 photo by Michael Perlman

Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, "Queens as Natural Playground of NYC," Queensborough, Page 2, July 1932, Courtesy of Queens Chamber of Commerce

Below is a 9/16/10 letter to the editor of the Queens Tribune, by John L. Gann, Jr, President of Gann Associates, who is a marketing consultant of preservation regulations and land use ordinances for a number of U.S. cities. Rego-Forest Preservation Council endorses his appeal, since the marriage of Landmark status + Transferable Development Rights (TDR) for the iconic yet endangered Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, could very well result in a win-win for the West Side Tennis Club and the greater American and International supporters:

To The Editor:
In the center ring of the tennis world at the moment is another U.S. Open. Off to one side is some action reported in these pages that could be of much greater consequence to the legacy of the sport. The Open's traditional home, the shuttered 1923 West Side Tennis Club stadium in Forest Hills, may not survive.

Unused for matches since 1978, the stadium has decayed despite a brief second life as a concert venue. The Club is to vote Sept. 23 on sale of the property to developer Cord Meyer for a reported $9 million for redevelopment in condominiums.

It is zoned for residential and not protected as an historic landmark by New York City law. Although the developer says it will preserve the historic stadium façade, city regulations would not legally bar its demolition, nor, it seems, would the private covenants of the elite Forest Hills Gardens community. The Tennis Industry Association has endorsed landmarking, and political leaders from the area have asked the city to study the feasibility of such designation.

With good reason. Tennis history in the United States has a name: Forest Hills, the Wimbledon of the New World. The upscale sport has made Forest Hills the only neighborhood in this oft-ignored borough known around the globe. No surprise that the community is probably the most sought-after place to live in Queens.

Tennis put Forest Hills on the map and gave it a classy brand. And just as with consumer products, an esteemed brand is a value-enhancing economic asset to a neighborhood and its residents and property owners. The Forest Hills tennis brand may be worth a lot more than just a few more housing units in an already crowded part of the city. Every residential neighborhood in New York has housing. Only one has a revered historic tennis center.

Smart companies are reawakening to the economic value of the brands that helped make them successful. ExxonMobil has revived its decades-old flying red horse with that in mind. Viewed in terms of the value of branding, the movement to save the stadium is more than just nostalgic sentimentality.

Understandably, the Tennis Club has not sought landmark status that might limit its options. Ordinances that bar demolition or substantial alteration of historic buildings have raised serious property rights issues in New York and elsewhere when they in effect ask private property owners to pay for the benefit to the public of continuing to enjoy an undisturbed historic building. But without such protections, cities can lose irreplaceable treasures like the predecessor of today's Penn Station, the demolition of which energized historic preservation in this city.

There is, however, an as yet little-noted win-win solution that New York invented. It has been used to preserve historic structures, open spaces and environmental areas nationwide while keeping property owners whole.

Transferable Development Rights (TDR) can move the development potential defined by the zoning of such properties to another site and allow the property owner to be compensated for the loss. Landmark the stadium, build the number of new homes allowed on its site somewhere else, and pay the Tennis Club what they would have realized from the sale for redevelopment. The stadium could then neither be razed nor otherwise developed but might be devoted to neighborhood-compatible low-intensity uses.

TDR can be complex to work out. But even in crowded New York, there are other places for more housing. There's only one Forest Hills. Retaining the visible evidence of decades-long association with an upscale sport by a place with an international reputation may be a better bet economically than building on its few remaining square feet of open land.

A player who loses at the Open can come back. A venerated historic building that is lost cannot. Holding off on a sale to consider TDR and other uses a rehabilitated stadium could be put to might be the best course. More housing is surely the least imaginative solution to the future of a very special place.

John L. Gann, Jr.,
Cleveland,Ohio
John L. Gann, Jr., President of Gann Associates, has prepared historic preservation regulations and other land use codes for Cleveland and other cities and now consults on marketing cities. He is a graduate of Forest Hills High School.

Source: http://www.queenstribune.com/inyour/Your%20Opinion_091610.html

Rego-Forest Preservation Council Photoset featuring Stadium, Clubhouse, Memorabilia -
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8095451@N08/sets/72157607136282297/

Iconic Forest Hills Tennis Stadium: Gallery 1 featuring Joe Shlabotnik/Peter Dutton's photos -
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8095451@N08/galleries/72157624960334088

Iconic Forest Hills Tennis Stadium: Gallery 2 featuring Joe Shlabotnik/Peter Dutton's photos -
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8095451@N08/galleries/72157624960580042/

Queens Tribune "Best of Queens 2010" - Historic Picks By Rego-Forest Preservation Council

The Best of Queens 2010 edition of the Queens Tribune was published for the week of Aug 26th - Sept 1st. It is a tradition that its readers anticipate, and have the privilege of playing a role. It is an annual magazine, and in culmination on your bookcase, it will speak measures about Queens when viewed in a decade. In fact, it already has, being that it features numerous sites that are an integral part of our borough; some of which has a varied and distinctive history of their own, awaiting discovery and re-discovery. We thank the Queens Tribune for their diligent work!

The cover presents the iconic Unisphere of the 1964 World's Fair in Flushing Meadows Park with soaring fountains; an attention-grabber that reads Queens all over it! The preface begins with words of inspiration, To Be The Best, at the foot of a recent work of art, the Willow Lake Preserve gate. It then reads "Queens is known for many things - its people, its foods, its schools, its attitude, and so much more. One of the highlights is the parks, which are more plentiful in our borough than anywhere else. But in asking the readers of the Queens Tribune what is the Best of Queens, you may be surprised by the answers. From the music groups to the mom and pop shops, there is something to love in every hidden corner of this great borough. So turn the page and see what your neighbors and friends have deemed the Best of Queens. You may even find yourself."

Since this is a preservation blog, we will touch upon the historic sites that deliver character, which won a place in the Queens Tribune's annual edition. Whether large or small, these physical characteristics grant our neighborhoods a sense of place, so we can take pride in calling it our own, while our neighbors can share in our pride. And here they are.....

Best of Queens Places 2010

Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, 1 Tennis Place, Forest Hills
"Its architectural significance is important to the community, and has the potential to revive our local economy. It is not a shell of the past, but a tremendous historical sight we need to share with future generations. It's an international icon that Queens is blessed to have. It's endangered, but extensively endorsed for landmarking. It is a potential 21st century family destination if sold, funded, restored, and reused." - Michael Perlman, Rego-Forest Preservation Council, Chair

Please Help Our Landmark Letter Campaign:
http://regoforestpreservation.blogspot.com/2010/07/save-forest-hills-tennis-stadium.html
Photos & memorabilia: http://bit.ly/cGFb77

The historic home to tennis, music, architectural firsts or "Wimbledon of the New World." Classics live on forever. Don't let it live on only in history texts. Landmarking, restoration, & mixed-use creative revitalization, so future generations will thank you. Aerial photo by Hamilton-Maxwell Inc, 1929

Bob Dylan at home of Summer Music Festivals, August 28, 1965. Let him have a reason to sing his classic hit, "SAVED!"

Bank of America, 99-01 Queens Blvd, Forest Hills (Metropolitan Industrial Bank, 1952)
"By famed architect Philip Birnbaum. Award-winning "International Style" facade and interior. Revolutionary - first bank to use all industrial materials, and redefined banking." - Michael Perlman

Photos & memorabilia: http://bit.ly/9cDfGY

Award-winning mid-century modern masterpiece by Architect Philip Birnbaum. When a bank was a bank!

Queensborough magazine: Recipient of 1952 Bronze Building Award during Queens Chamber of Commerce's annual building competitions, based upon its excellence in design and civic value. These competitions would encourage owners and architects to exercise their minds. This signifies how some modernistic sites can have class.

Jorissen's Millstones, Long Island City
"Endangered in cases on a construction site in Queens Plaza, LIC. Remnant of first tidal mill in Western Queens." - Michael Perlman

Photos & blog posting:
http://regoforestpreservation.blogspot.com/2010/07/jorissen-millstones-endangered-request.html


Best of Queens Food 2010

Eddie's Sweet Shop, 105-29 Metropolitan Ave, Forest Hills

"One of the last virtually intact, classic ice cream parlors citywide. One of the earliest mom & pop businesses in Queens extant." - Michael Perlman

"Premium ice cream, quality service." - Brian M. Bast, Oakdale

"Homemade ice cream with fresh made whipped cream. They keep it in a big bowl in the fridge. Plus the decor is from the 40s, I think. And they have a cute gift shop." - Elizabeth Marco, Queens

Photos: http://bit.ly/9YRXpp

All routes to Eddie's Sweet Shop, your classic soda fountain! Building by Seelig & Finkelstein, 1925

Eddie's Sweet Shop interior, known as Witt's Ice Cream in the 1940s. The decor dates to 1925 according to the Dept of Buildings, but some claim 1909. It was presumably a bakery cafe in the 1920s. The most intact example of an ice cream parlor citywide! Note its marble and wood counter, cast-iron stools, vintage fridge, ornate stenciled built-ins, clock. honeycomb mosaic floor, tin ceiling, chandeliers, original phone booth...and dates since your great-grandparents' time. Please NEVER shutter!

Best of Queens Senses 2010

Weeping Willow Trees, Flushing
"There are several near the Jewel Ave exit ramp near the L.I.E. It reminds me of my childhood in Louisiana." - Susan Margolis, Forest Hills

Best of Queens People 2010

Property Owners Who Preserve Young To Mature Trees, Evident on select Queens properties
"Trees convey life, beauty, and sustain our environment." - Michael Perlman

Kudos to MacDonald Park & Forest Hills Jewish Center for preserving their trees. Our own backyard is the "Garden of Eden." No concrete lawns here!