"At the Corner of 3rd and 3rd": A Documentary On The Coignet Building By Max Kutner

The Coignet building in all its glory. An etching from 1873.

Historic photo of the Coignet Stone Company Building

In many ways, the decrepit Coignet building at the corner of Third Avenue and Third Street exemplifies the industrial history of the Gowanus area. The building was designed by William Fields & Son and built in 1872-73 on a five-acre site. It housed the New York and Long Island Coignet Stone Company and was meant to showcase the durability and the versatility of the structural prefabricated and iron- reinforced concrete developed by industrialist François Coignet in Lyon, France in 1846.

The Coignet Stone Company factory closed in 1882 and the building next housed the offices of Edwin Clark Litchfield’s Brooklyn Improvement Company. In more recent years, it was used by the Pippin Radiator Company.Though the Coignet building was landmarked in 2006 by the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission, it has been allowed to crumble.

To chronicle its history and changing fortune, writer and filmmaker Max Kutner has made a wonderful documentary entitled At the Corner of 3rd and 3rd on "the past, present and future" of the Coignet Stone Company Building.  Kutner has just released a trailer, which you can see above
(And yes, that's me in some of the clips. Kutner also interviewed good friends Joseph Alexiou and Nathan Kensinger.)

At the Corner of 3rd and 3rd

Directed/Filmed/Edited by Max Kutner

(2013, 20 minutes)

At the Corner of 3rd and 3rd, a new documentary by Max Kutner, explores the evolving character of Gowanus, Brooklyn and the mysterious New York and Long Island Coignet Stone Company Building that captivates all who pass it. Constructed in 1873, the building at 3rd Avenue and 3rd Street is a historic landmark, but has been mostly abandoned since the 1960s. The Coignet Building got back in the news when Whole Foods broke ground on its first Brooklyn market just a few feet away from the landmark. Through archival materials and interviews with historians, activists, artists, photographers, and local residents, the 20-minute film presents the first comprehensive account of the past, present, and future of the Coignet Building and how a community looks to the future while fighting to preserve the past.

View the trailer for the film at vimeo.com/maxkutner/3rdand3rd.
More information is available at maxkutner.tumblr.com/3rdand3rd.

Gowanus Whole Foods Taking Shape

Construction of the future Gowanus Whole Foods Market at 3rd Avenue and 3rd Street has progressed at a steady clip in the last few weeks. Crews have been busy driving long piles into the ground and the steel frame of the 56,000 s.f. organic market appears to be mostly completed.

Prior to construction, the approximately 2.15 acre site was remediated under the Brownfield Clean-Up Program under the supervision of the New York State Department Of Environmental Conservation. The work included excavation and disposal of soils impacted with contaminants, the removal of underground tanks, ground water monitoring, the installation of a soil cover consisting of several feet of new fill and a layer of gravel to cap the site.

 One can only hope that the remediation will not be affected by the construction work. After all, the long piles are being driven deep into the ground through the protective soil cap, which is meant to protect from residual contamination.
And there seems to be plenty of digging through the clean fill as evidenced by the photo below taken by Martin Bisi last week.

The Whole Foods site along 3rd Street. Photo taken by Martin Bisi

Now that the steel structure is almost completed, it has become evident how completely the new Whole Foods market will wrap around the historic Coignet building.
The landmarked structure, which shares the site with Whole Foods, was not part of the original land purchase.  However, under the sales agreement with owner, Richard Kowalski, of Beach Haven, N.J., Whole Foods agreed to restore and repair the old building. That work has yet to start.

In January 2012, despite objection of preservationists, Whole Foods was granted a special dispensation from the New York City Landmarks Law to reduce the size of the Coignet building lot from 125 feet to 55 feet on the 3rd Avenue side, and from 55 feet to 40 feet on the 3rd Street side.

Just recently, owner Kowalski has put the Coignet building up for sale or lease.