However, the report also found that some of the island's old buildings were not irrevocably destroyed.
The red brick slab storage facility, built around 1910 opposite a U-shaped educational institution for boys and men that has also been preserved, "is suitable for repairs and can be put into operation," says the report. "With a footprint of approximately 35 feet by 35 feet, the building is not difficult to repair."
The report recommended fencing instead of demolishing the building, which has a flat pyramidal roof with tall cloister windows, and city engineers rated its “restoration friendliness” as “fair to good”. But the structure should now be leveled.
The 2020 report also described a one-story red brick pumping station from the 1920s as "storable," but recommended demolition nonetheless.
The red brick and stone Catholic Chapel, built by Catholic Charities around 1935, is "still in surprisingly good condition," according to a 2018 travel guide published by the Historic Districts Council, despite the removal of its bell and stained glass windows city-wide monument protection group. By 2020, engineers at the Department of Buildings rated the church's "ease of restoration" as "moderate," but still recommended that it be razed to the ground.
The foundation stone for the chapel, at the time of its construction the only separate prison building in the United States dedicated to Catholic services, was laid in 1931 by the rector of St. Patrick & # 39; s Cathedral in a ceremony attended by prominent Protestant and Jewish clergymen participated, laid citizens and about 1,000 prisoners. The church replaced wooden chapels that had been built on the island by Catholic, Episcopal and Hebrew organizations and was used by all faiths.
In the 1950s, the chapel served homeless men living in a rehabilitation center on Hart Island, but the religious building was abandoned in 1966 after the island's workhouse closed. According to the city's current emergency ordinance, the chapel will be leveled.
