The H.E.ARTS Feasibility Report brings together the metrics of zoning, site, building and economic analysis into the conceptual mission and design framework for the H.E.ARTS community Center. The proposed design puts together the diverse programs and agendas of the Mott Haven – Port Morris community into one building- creating a series of flexible, multi-functional, and inviting spaces to accommodate the health (coded green), education (coded blue) and arts (coded red) programs.
The pre-schematic design proposal maintains the functional use and core architectural criteria developed through the community engagement process. These ideas were developed further through an iterative process of design discussions with South Bronx Unite members and their consultants between July 2017 – May 2018 to craft this preliminary architectural proposal for the adaptation of the existing Lincoln Detox Center into the H.E.ARTS Community Center.
A History of the Lincoln Detox Building
The three-story, yellow brick building at 349 East 140th Street is a modest example of civic architecture built under Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration in the 1930’s. It was designed as the Mott Haven Health Center by the architect William H. Gompert in 1931. By the 1960’s the (main) Lincoln Hospital struggled to function efficiently, suffering from the disinvestment by the city in public services in a racially marginalized, low income neighborhood. The conditions in the hospital were so poor that it often resulted in the deaths of patients, and residents came to refer to Lincoln Hospital as the “butcher shop of the South Bronx”. Reacting to this crisis, the Young Lords and Black Panthers made headlines by marching into Lincoln Hospital and staging a nonviolent takeover in 1970. This intervention had lasting effects for the community and led to the formation of new social justice and health focused initiatives within the South Bronx.
This included the establishment of a one-of-a-kind holistic drug rehabilitation program – “The People’s Drug Program” – administered by a group of radical doctors, psychiatrists, and community leaders in what became known as the Lincoln Detox Center. This community-driven program pioneered the use of acupuncture as an alternative to methadone to treat heroin addiction. In the late 70’s the city shut the program down, displacing the center’s most progressive leadership of color. The city then reopened the facility as Lincoln Recovery Center which operated and served the community until the eventual closure of the program in this location in 2012. The building, currently under the management of the Health and Hospitals Corporation, has been vacant and is in a state of rapid deterioration. The bold and inspiring history of this place, the robust bones of its 1930’s construction, and the widespread need for access to health, education and the arts in the South Bronx call for the re-consideration of this building as the H.E.ARTS Community Center, owned and administrated by the local community land trust.
Community Engagement
South Bronx Unite’s community engagement process began in 2013 shortly after the building was vacated. Local grassroots organizations began getting together and envisioning what needs could be met through the utilization of the space. In 2015, South Bronx Unite together with other community organizations formed and incorporated a community land trust, the Port Morris-Mott Haven Community Land Stewarts, Inc. to be a vehicle for acquiring and repurposing the building for community needs.
In 2016, South Bronx Unite partnered with the Spitzer School of Architecture CCNY (CUNY) to carry out a series of community envisioning events, which started documenting the collective vision of various sectors of the community. Each event informed the next and grew into broad-based report backs and other large-scale events and festivals, further establishing recognition and building hope for what became a unified call for health, education and the arts.
Pre-Schematic Design Proposal
The design keeps the new spaces flexible and re-arrangeable while opening up some of the smaller spaces around the perimeter to bring in light and sociability to the interior of the building. A few new openings towards the Willis and Alexander Alley Parks also reconnect the building to the outside. The terraces provide a place to grow plants and vegetables integrating the environmental focus of the many tenants into the building. The intermediate lounges and open core of the building create opportunities to create art installations and collaborative planning workshops.