Public Employee Press

Restoration of 1694 Quaker Meeting House
History in their hands

By JANE LaTOUR

The large, plain wooden structure sits with its back to the world that bustles by on Northern Boulevard across from the Queens Town Hall. But step inside and you enter a hushed and sacred space. A canopy of trees protects the old graveyard of Quaker souls who once roamed these premises. Sketches of these formidable forebears line the walls inside the Quaker Meeting House, which was built in 1694.

The historic restoration of the building that started in 2004 concluded June 22 with an official walkthrough by the project partners, including the members of Civil Service Technical Guild Local 375 at the Dept. of Design and Construction who oversaw the contractors carrying out the restoration. “This building is a federal, state and local landmark, so we were only allowed to work on the exterior,” said Michael Kenny, a deputy program director at DDC.

The preservation project required special care working with the fragile, original structure, building a new roof of red cedar wood shingles, reinforcing structural elements and restoring the front windows, porch, and the two wooden doors to the way they were built three centuries ago.

“When you first walk in, you can smell the history — you can feel it,” said Kenny. "It was an honor to work on this building."

Design Project Manager Alexander Novik said history placed a burden on the project staff. “We all tried to do a good job, not just us but everyone at the DDC, including those who helped us with the legal issues and the design process.”

Construction Project Manager John Romanowich felt a special connection to the job. “This is probably the last major project I’ll be involved in before I retire in September. It’s somehow fitting that I wound up working on the oldest building I’ve ever worked on, right at the close of my career," he said. The irony of an old man working on an old building somehow seemed proper.

For more information about the building and the Quakers, who came to America seeking religious freedom, visit www.nyym.org/flushing/history.html.