The need for a new climate-controlled space for the City’s historical records has long been recognized. In 1986, the Municipal Archives leased warehouse space in Brooklyn’s Bush Terminal complex for off-site storage of archival material. Although the waterfront area was desolate and the warehouse did not provide optimal storage conditions, the space was far superior to the previous off-site location in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. More recently, Bush Terminal has been rebranded as Industry City and the entire Sunset Park neighborhood has been revitalized.

Now, after years of planning, construction of a new facility is finally underway. Upgrading the current space while still occupying it would have been nearly impossible, so we are moving—but just a short distance, to an adjoining building in the Industry City complex. Even though the distance is not great, the task is Herculean. The tentative move-in date is September 2020.

The Archives’ space will be spread across three floors and is adjacent to DORIS’ Records Management Division’s storage center. Both divisions will share modern office space on the 7th floor. The facility will also include a public research room which will greatly reduce the transfers of archival materials to and from Manhattan for patron access. A digital laboratory with stations for films, videotapes, negatives and paper documents is another feature of the new space and will help facilitate the growing digitization initiatives of the Archives.

Climate-controlled storage rooms, including a walk-in cold storage vault for negatives and film, will protect the collections from the deteriorating effects of inappropriate temperature and humidity levels. State-of-the-art filters will also eliminate harmful atmospheric pollutants. A conservation lab will allow for the on-site treatment and isolation of mold-damaged or infested materials. In all the storage rooms, new custom-built, high-density shelving will help protect materials and allow for a greater storage capacity in a smaller footprint. Concentrating the materials in this manner will reduce rent costs and lessen the energy draw of the climate-control systems. But of course, the build-out is just one part of this task, the move is the other.

As anyone who has ever relocated from one apartment or house to another can tell you, moves are stressful. They are also an opportunity to take stock of what you have, rediscover things you’ve forgotten, and re-evaluate some of the things you’ve been hanging onto for no apparent reason. Over the past three years, municipal archivists have been surveying and re-appraising collections, and conservators have been preparing condition reports. The current facility suffers from drafty windows, peeling paint, and dust accumulated over ages. Many collections were transferred from filthy warehouses and never cleaned. Archives staff have begun the process of reboxing and cleaning every single item that needs it. It is estimated that approximately 50% of the collections will be re-boxed, a total of over 70,000 new containers. Recycling the old boxes is itself an enormous task. In addition, every single ledger on open shelves (50,000 total) will be vacuumed, and eventually every object will be barcoded. And then, the 140,000 cubic feet of historical records will be moved from one building to another.

At the end of process, we will have greater control over our collections, they will be in better storage containers and in a better storage environment, and we will have a public footprint in Brooklyn.

Future blog posts will update this continuing saga.