Berkeley-Carroll Expansion Approved by LPC

The Berkeley-Carroll School's proposed expansion to their Lincoln Place campus has been approved by the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission:

Proposed addition, Berkeley-Carroll School - rear view

This part of the school's campus stands within the Park Slope Historic District, so LPC approval was required. An LPC spokesperson, quoted in the Brooklyn Paper, states why the expansion was allowed:

The project was approved because it “does not involve the removal of historic fabric, and the addition is not visible from a public thoroughfare,” said Landmarks spokeswoman Lisi de Bourbon.

She added that the agency is not charged with assessing “quality of life concerns,” but merely the impact of a project on a community’s historic texture.

It should be noted that changes are conditionally permitted by the LPC, even when visible from the street.

The BCS project is yet another example of a permitted change within a historic district, and thus repudiates those who erroneously contend that historic preservation "freezes a neighborhood in amber". On the contrary, changes are still permitted, but controlled in such a way that the historic district is not adversely impacted.