Karen Brooks Hopkins, president of the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), gives Bob a peek at the restoration of the main building.
Clip Summary
Karen Brooks Hopkins, president of the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), gives Bob a peek at the restoration of the main building. BAM, which held its first performance in 1861, is the oldest performing arts center in country. After a fire in 1903, the center was moved from its original location to its current place in the fashionable neighborhood Fort Greene. Over the past thirty years, this area has gone through gentrification and the surrounding community has been revitalized. BAM is now the largest presenter of contemporary international dance, theatre, and opera in the United States. The entire weatherworn facade is being restored, including the terracotta cherubs and colorful cornices. The architectural firm managing the BAM renovation is Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates. Hugh Hardy is leading the team, using modern technology and materials to renew the terracotta ornamentation's luster and to reconstruct the parapet and cornice (which was removed for safety reasons almost 50 years ago). Other work being performed includes replacement of cracked brickwork and lintels and part of the roof, refurbishment of stained-glass windows, cleaning of the facade, and the addition of an undulating, 130 foot-long glass entrance canopy.
