The race to complete renovations of the Prison Ship Martyrs Monument in Fort Greene Park by its November centennial remains delayed by the fallout from an allegedly corrupt former contractor and cost overruns.
Park boosters are nervous that the work, stalled since May, on the fenced-off, hilltop memorial will not be finished before the 100th anniversary of the monument, which contains the remains of the 11,500 American prisoners who died aboard British ships in the Revolutionary War.
“We haven’t seen any work done,” said Ruth Goldstein of the Fort Greene Park Conservancy, who quickly added taht she is “guardedly optimistic that the work will be done.”
Right now, the fields around the 148-foot tall monument are unkempt and overgrown, giving the area an appearance of neglect not seen since the early 1990s.
The renovation project has been sidelined since the city canned the contractor who was charged with underpaying his employees.
This setback, combined with cost overruns have put the project almost $600,000 over its original $2.3-million budget, according to Parks Department spokesman Phil Abramson. But budget headaches aside, the agency promises to finish sprucing up the Stanford White-designed crypt by the November rededication ceremony, which will include a speech by famed historian David McCullough.
“We anticipate the contractor returning to the project in the next few weeks” to complete “the renovation in time for the big celebration in November,” Abramson wrote to The Brooklyn Paper.
But people engaged in planning for the ceremonies feel the city is overlooking one of its most significant historical sites by allowing it to fall into a state of disrepair, even if help is on the way.
“They don’t seem to understand this is a very significant event,” said Ted General, a member of the Society of Old Brooklynites, which is hosting its own ceremony on Saturday. “If this was the battlefields of Gettysburg, it would get a lot of attention. But for some reason it doesn’t.”
The Society of Old Brooklynites memorial service will be on Saturday, Aug. 23 at 10 am in Fort Greene Park. Call (718) 833-4928 for information.
