Before and After: 238-240 Liberty Street

238-240 Liberty. before. 6. front image copy

Here is another amazing before and after courtesy of architect Mr. Drew Kartiganer. He also worked on 9-11 Catherine Street and 246 Liberty Street. As you can see from the photos 238-240 was a complete shell with a collapsed roof and collapsed interior floors. They were purchased for a total of $1000. According to Drew they probably were not even worth that unless there was an understanding of how to renovate them back to effective use. These were part of 4 devastated historic buildings shells on the block facing Liberty Street from Third Street to Catherine Street.

238-240 Liberty. before. 1. church through copy

238-240 Liberty. before. 8. rear image copy

238-240 Liberty Collage

238-240 Collage 2

And here are some nice pictures we don’t normally get to see, the people who worked on these buildings to make them happen. According to Drew, “most of the guys were from the inner City of Newburgh. They did all the demo, framing and all the other labor we needed on it, including helping on all the other trades and all the site work. The one with the guy on the roof outside shows the fascia that we had to work with to rebuild…total burnt stuff.”

238-240 Liberty. construction. 10. fascia prep copy

Here is a close up of the fascia. Regarding the work done here Drew says, “we built that on the ground and then just put it up after we painted it. [This] shows the fascia on the ground before we installed it. That was one of the cool things on this project.”

238-240 Liberty. construction. 10. fascia prep.2 copy

238-240 Liberty. after. 3 copy

The final product: a building saved from urban renewal and neglect. Once these buildings are gone they can never be replaced and they help maintain the character of historic Newburgh for generations to come. This building has about 5,500 sf of living space and has 4 apartments: 2 two bedrooms and a 3 bedroom and a 4 bedroom. As Drew says, these rehab projects show “what Newburgh could be.” There are about 700 other abandoned and vacant buildings in Newburgh if you would like to restore your own.

Collage 3

And here is a reminder of what this block used to look like:

246 Liberty St. Before. 02. street view. w 238 & 240 copy

If you have your own before and after photos to share of your home exterior or interior and would like to share it on Newburgh Restoration, please email me.

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