MAIN BUILDING ELLIS ISLAND
NATIONAL MONUMENT
NEW YORK CITY
Between 1898 and 1954, some 14 million immigrants entered the United States through the Main Building at Ellis Island. In the 25 years that followed its abandonment, Boring and Tilton's handsome buildings began to deteriorate to noble ruins in the hostile marine environment of New York harbor: By 1979, the deterioration of the roof and windows had resulted in extensive build-up of salts on the interior and in high humidity levels, which would subsequently take two years to mechanically control.
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NOTICE THE WINDOWS WITH THE CROSS BAR TRANSOMS ON THE LEFT OF THIS PHOTO. THE FIRST PHASE IN A RESTORATION AND REPLICATION IS TO RECREATE ACCURATE DRAWINGS OF THE EXISTING WINDOWS. THE ORIGINAL SKETCH BELOW WAS CREATED BY ONE OF OUR DRAFTSMEN’ SURVEYS OF THE EXISTING CONDITION AT THE BEGINNING OF THE ELLIS ISLAND PROJECT.
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The First Time We Visited Ellis Island to Plan the Restoration Process for the Wood Windows
In1982, planning commenced for the $120-million mixed restoration and rehabilitation of the building into a Museum of Immigration and History of the Island. Scheduled for completion in 1989, in addition to a strict restoration of the exterior elevations, its program includes period interpretation of monumental and many typical spaces, and adaptive use of others to serve the needs of a contemporary museum. The planning process included a conditions' survey and archival research of the building's 410 windows. The retrofit measures included introducing new ~ weatherseals and additional glazing equipped with an ultraviolet filter.
Several options were initially considered, such as interior and exterior storm windows, both of which were ruled out due to the visual impact.
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Single Glazed Window Details
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Following unsuccessful attempts to add insulated glazing into the existing 2 1/4-in. sash, the decision was made to retain and restore the existing yellow pine sash with single glazing in spaces where interior controls were not critical, and to replace the sash elsewhere. New sashes are being fabricated in preservative-treated sugar pine equipped with a 5/8-in. insulated glass system comprised of a uv film filter laminated between two layers of lI8-in. glass and a 1/4-in_ airspace, and a third layer of lI8-in. g lass. Apart from the filters and layers, the new sash looked identical to the existing units.
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REPLICATED SASH DETAILS
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The replacement sash remained operable despite the central hvac. To solve the problem of balancing the heavier glazing, the upper sash were fixed in place, and the lower sash were doubly counterweighted in both pockets. All missing hardware was replaced with replicas.
POWER HOUSE
ELLIS ISLAND
NATIONAL MONUMENT
NEW YORK CITY
Unlike the Main Building to the south, the windows of the more modest Power House, which were not stabilized in the 1970s, were determined to be beyond repair. All windows in the building, mostly double-hung including the most minor casements and a group of horizontal pivot sash, were replaced brick to brick with new operable units. As in the Main Building, the objectives of exterior restoration were balanced with interior use. Most windows did not require insulated glazing and, apart from the introduction of vinyl weatherstripping, matched the original millwork exactly. Several units in spaces planned for office use were equipped with insulated glass, requiring an enlargement of the center muntin from I-in. to 1 1/2-in., a modification that is visible upon close inspection. A greater visual impact, however, resulted from the substitution of the original clear plate glass with obscure glass in windows where the incinerator storage was housed. By introducing a nonuniform pattern of
glazing, the effect, whether· intentional or not, softened the hard
edge of the new windows in this otherwise weathered building.
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SECTION REPLICATED WINDOW
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