Proposed new location of elevated railroad tracks
and sites for Court House and Municipal Building
Willoughby Street, along its distance from the Borough Hall Square to Fort Greene Park, should at some time be used as a relief to Myrtle Avenue and for that distance should be the important and improved street. Furthermore, it will become, if developed, a strong factor in relieving that portion of Fulton Street below Flatbush Avenue of the traffic from the eastern section of the Borough, which has for its objective point Borough Hall Square. This artery, leading directly to Fort Greene Park, centers on the Martyrs' Monument. Since this monument has been carefully placed on the axis of Willoughby Street, it is not only desirable but economical to bring it into value. Willoughby Street crosses Flatbush Avenue at its highest point and from this intersection the façade of the proposed court house will come finely into view. There will be, therefore, strong reasons for developing Willoughby Street.
The location of the municipal building on the plaza site will allow of the widening of Washington Street. It will further the improvement of the approach to the Brooklyn Bridge.
The erection of the court house on the present site near Borough Hall will admit of the widening of the streets by which it is bounded, namely, Livingston Street, Court Street and Joralemon Street.
Improvements such as these are very important in view of the concentration of street cars and other traffic at this center. Further relief might be had by placing additional street car loops at the Bridge plaza where part of the cars that now crowd Borough Hall Square might be carried around the north end of the proposed Municipal Building.
The buildings located as proposed do not make a formal group in the strict sense of the word. They may be made, however, to count together. One's attention, immediately on crossing the Brooklyn Bridge, whether by the cars, by vehicle or on foot, will be controlled by the façade of the municipal building with its foreground of public space and on passing beyond this building into Washington Street, one's attention will be carried with interest to the façade of the court house which will frame the Borough Hall silhouette and dominate Borough Hall Square.
Owing to the location of the Borough Hall on the Washington Street axis, it is recommended that no central motif be used in the court house design. The façade of the court house must be designed as a foil to the broken silhouette of the Borough Hall and its cupola. Should the Borough Hall be ultimately removed, the axis may be controlled by a central feature of monumental or commemorative character. The converging lines of the lower cornice of the buildings, of the curbs and of the lamp posts, carry the eye forward to this motif and to the façade of the court house.
Co-operation between the architect selected for the municipal building and the United States Supervising Architect should be urged, so that this building and the Post Office will be harmonious in architectural character.
Various monuments and architectural details are suggested on the plans. They must all be in harmony and in scale with one another and with the buildings. Their setting must be carefully studied in detail. The placing and proportioning of balustrades, of pools of water, of grass plots and in particular of trees must be done in the finest way, as it is only by a careful attention to all these details that this group can be brought into harmony of high order in keeping with its importance.
