The Municipal Arts Society presented some alternative ideas to the U.S. Army National Guard Bureau about the fate of Admiral's Row. The MAS hopes to show it's possible to "retain the historic buildings on the Admiral’s Row site while also allowing for the construction of a much-needed supermarket and new retail and industrial space." While six plans were presented, here's a look at how stark the visions are, by looking at renderings (created by the MAS) to see the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corpration's plan just seems like a parking lot, vs. a greener idea from MAS:
The renderings illustrate the stark differences between the concept behind one of the MAS alternatives and the BNYDC’s proposal. In the MAS alternative, the historic houses along Flushing Street are retained and are used on their ground floor as retail to encourage pedestrians to walk between the houses into a central green space. By contrast, the same viewpoint in the BNYDC’s plan simply shows the suburban-sized supermarket and acres of asphalt and concrete.
The structure on Admiral's Row were built in the 19th century, as homes for high-ranking officers. Many of the buildings are crumbling and are considered beyond repair. Here's more information via The Officers Row Project and more recent photographs here.
