Stabilizing St. Paul's: The Next Steps

Through CNY, the recently hired construction manager, a short-term “temporary protection plan” is being developed to stabilize the physical buildings at the St. Paul’s site for whatever purpose is eventually selected by the Board of Trustees.

In May, the design team conducted an FAA-approved drone flight at the site. As per our protocol when something out of the ordinary occurs all first responder agencies within the Village were notified as well as all the property owners’ associations. The Garden City School District was also notified. The drone flew over the entire recreational area, but mainly captured views of the existing buildings. The information gathered will be used to guide and facilitate the next steps involved in stabilizing the building.

There has been an increase in activity at the site. After consultation with the Project Manager an eight-foot high fence, which includes protective screening around the entire length of it, has been erected at the site. The fence encircles the entire building from the front steps on the south side up to the roadway by the Recreation cottages to the north. It runs along Rockaway Avenue on the east side and along the west side of the building by Cluett Hall. There are access gates for vehicles off of Rockaway Avenue, and several pedestrian entrances around the site.

This fence will help protect the site and protect anyone around the site, as there will be heavy equipment being staged inside the fenced-in area that will be used in the process of stabilizing the building. Crews will soon begin assessing the degree of damage inside the building to aid in the creation of a stabilization plan, which will then be presented to the Board of Trustees. There is a great deal of fact-finding underway, which will be shared with the community as the project progresses.