How will you spend your Thanksgiving break?
According to the university's Landmarks & Public Aesthetics Meeting yesterday, buildings 14a, 7 and 8 of Washington Mews will be converted from residential to academic use.
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Director of government and community affairs, Gary Parker, and a team of architects and streetscape artists presented an extensive proposal for the renovation, intending to create two new international houses.
According to Parker, the main goal for the renovation is balance, reuse and redevelop.
While 14a will be turned into the Africa House, dealing with African-American Affairs, 7 and 8 will be converted into a single building for the Asia Pacific/China House. There will be some restoration of windows and sidewalks as well as renovation within the buildings themselves.
As for the street itself, NYU street artists proposed continuous concrete sidewalks on both sides of the street. They also plan to implement a concrete curb.
The process would involve replacing the entire roadbed by picking up each cobblestone, numbering them and then replacing them exactly the way they were.
Those involved agreed to maintain the Mews' sense of intimacy and character — which carries with it historical importance dating back to the late 1880s.
