Community Board 7 approved a letter of support on May 26 for capital funding to renovate the Woolworth Building on the Woodlawn Cemetery grounds.
The Woodlawn Conservancy submitted an application to Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and Councilman Andrew Cohen requesting money to upgrade the building.
The stone building was originally constructed in 1935 and features a bell tower and copper roof. The capital funding would support renovations to the building, including making it ADA compliant and installing an HVAC system, climate control and a new roof.
Woodlawn Conservancy makes the Woolworth Building available to the community for public events, including Community Board 7 meetings.
Cohen, who virtually attended the meeting, said this is a project that he has been working on for a couple years.
“I think it could really be a community asset if it were more accessible,” he said.
Community Board 7 District Manager Ischia Bravo will generate a letter and send it to the agencies and local electeds.
James W. Garland, vice president, Woodlawn Conservancy is praised CB7’s decision.
“We are pleased to have hosted the CB7 general monthly meeting in the Woolworth Building and are appreciative of their support and understanding of how critical it is to the community that the appropriate renovations, among them a new roof and ADA compliant restrooms, are completed on the building,” Garland said.
