AMERICA’S EXTREME MAKEOVER: BROOKLYN EDITION

Thanks to Innovative New Program, “Education Through Renovation”

Flatbush, NY – December 11, 2008… The Education through Renovation program, managed by Taskmaster Apprenticeship, Inc., aims to provide educational outreach to various organizations and industries.

“The Education through Renovation program will also provide building industry apprentices and educational organizations with the opportunity to renovate and restore historic properties in such a way so these locations would serve as “classrooms outside the classroom,” says Dr. Al Cresci, President of the Taskmaster Apprentice, Inc.

Cresci has been speaking with assembly member Rhoda Jacobs, New York City council member Mathieu Eugene and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz along with other business and civic leaders in the Brooklyn community together to learn how historic restoration projects can benefit the entire borough in more ways than one.

“This will be a nonprofit organization that ideally will train people to do certain trades and tasks in construction and art restoration, similar to how a construction company teaches apprentices a trade, only this will be done on behalf of historic structures in dire need,” says Cresci.
“Our current focus is on the renovation of The Holy Innocents Church in Brooklyn, N.Y., which has extraordinary marble and granite features that are in desperate need of repair. We provide the partnership with reputable educational institutions to provide the hands-on training ground for our future masons, artists, builders, etc.” says Cresci.

Cresci organized a partnership between a mural conservation program at the University of Delaware, headed-up by Prof. Richard Wolbers and Tom Venturella, of Venturella Studios, a local art studio which specializes in restoring stained glass from medieval Europe and 20th Century America.

“The plan is for these programs to come to Holy Innocents and restore both the murals and the stained glass at the church while providing students with valuable apprentice work,” says Cresci.
Cresci adds that “partnerships such as these will not only preserve America’s historic treasures, but also provide our citizens with the vocational training and educational classes that will greatly influence the success of our communities.”

Anyone interested in making a donation or learning more about the Education through Renovation program, can call 718-469-9500.

“The aim is to address the Brooklyn delegation of council members on this project,” Cresci says. “It’s an ambitious project, to be sure, but it’s also needed for the community. All eyes are on us now, and if we can make it happen here in Brooklyn, there is hope for similar revitalization projects throughout the country.”

###

Dedication, Detective Work Lead to Unique Restoration

Brooklyn, NY....Al Cresci is one of those people who believes he could move the earth if he
had A large fulcrum and someplace to rest it. Dr. Alfred E. Cresci, director
of music at The Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Innocents in Brooklyn,
labored for three long years to document and save the historic 81-year-old
Ernest M. Skinner OPUS 390 pipe organ that has inspired parishioners and
visitors since it was first installed in the new church in 1923. The pipe
organ and console are being restored by the Peragallo Organ Company of
Paterson, NJ, thanks to a generous $300,000-plus grant from the Joseph G.
Bradley Charitable Foundation. And, it has been made possible by Dr.
Cresci's sleuthing, which uncovered the original plans and orders for the
organ, and his persistence in refusing to take no for an answer when
pleading for financial support.

The tale begins with Cresci's growing up in the Holy Innocents parish,
going to school there and playing the unique 2,000-pipe E. M. Skinner organ
for decades. He recalls that when his family moved there in 1964, instead of
playing baseball with the kids, he would go to the church to heard Michael
A. Green (who was director of music, 1947-1972), play the Skinner organ. "I
was inspired," he recalls.

Cresci began playing the clarinet at the age of eight and then took up the piano and
organ. He graduated from Nazareth High School and earned a B.A. from Pace
University. He obtained his M.S. in math education from Long Island University, Brooklyn campus and then added an M.S. and a P.D. (professional diploma) in educational administration and supervision. At Seton Hall University, he earned his fifth degree, a doctoral in educational supervision, majoring in the technology in the automation of school operations.

He taught for 13 years and then did a stint as a teacher of computer
technology with Tandem. He is the vice principal of the McGinnis School in
Perth Amboy, NJ. He and his wife, Elizabeth (Liz), who is principal of
Highland Park Middle and High School, live in Piscataway. But Brooklyn and
Holy Innocents have never been far away.

A labor of love, he has played the Skinner organ there for decades and
was assistant director of music for Patrick J. Marvello, who was director
from 1972 to 2000. In that year, Cresci became the director. The trio of
Greene, Marvello and Cresci has made this particular Skinner organ come
alive for almost 60 years. Cresci has worked with the instrument as
associate organist and principal organist since 1976 and has regularly
attended service since 1964. For Cresci, it has been a lifetime of
involvement.

When he took over as director, Cresci decided it was time to restore
this "Cadillac of Organs" to its formal glory. "Most of the pipe work is
original, dating back to 1922," recalls Cresci. "Some of the work done on
the organ has changed over the years. The Great Diapson has been altered to
reflect a brighter timbre. The French Horn was replaced with a 4-rank
mixture. The other ranks had been largely unaltered. I wanted to restore the
original sounds that Ernest M. Skinner engineered in the 1920, while
allowing for an on-going maintenance of the instrument, so that the
beautiful sound generated by the Opus 390 will be preserved for generations
to come."

When Cresci approached the then pastor, the Rev. Joseph J. Weber, he
found only a few thousand dollars, at most, available. He began looking into
grants. At the same time, he began to document the history of the instrument
to support any grant applications.

He checked Internet sites, historical documents and organ-specific
magazines and societies. His work led him to Allen Kinzey of Tucson,
Arizona and Edward Millington Stout of Hayward, California, who aided him in
locating the original paperwork on this fine and historic instrument. Cresci
explains that when Skinner died, the firm became known as Aeolin-Skinner,
which was later sold to Rodgers Company. Edwards Millington Stout had
purchased from Rodgers all the original files on Skinner organs.

"I called Stout in California and asked if, by chance, he had any
paperwork on a certain Skinner organ, Opus 390," recalls Cresci. "He said he
didn't know and would have to look through his voluminous files.. Within two
hours, he called me back with the great news that, indeed, he had a big file
on Opus 390. I was enraptured. I asked what would it take to have it
photocopied and sent to me. The reply was, 'Just a Merry Christmas will
do.'"

So, Cresci got the files, and among them, were the original 1922 stop
list, a contract signed by a Mr. William Zeuch, vice president of the
Skinner Organ Company, and Fr. Francis McMurray, the second pastor of Holy
Innocents. The shop specs that were developed by a Mr. Fred Goodman of the
Skinner Company were also included. There was even the original $14,850
contract for the construction and installation of the organ, signed on
September 11, 1922 and the organ was completed and dedicated about June 1,
1923.

To support his application for a grant for the organ restoration,
Cresci was in constant touch with the Organ Historical Society, and reached
out to the Choir and Organ Magazine, The Diapason Magazine, the American
Guild of Organists, The National Association of Pastoral Musicians and a
myriad of people. He obtained a copy of a book, "The Life of Ernest
Skinner," by Dorothy Holden. He traveled out to Skinner's birthplace in
western Pennsylvania, near the Ohio border. He interviewed people on
Skinner's life. He even obtained a movie, "Mr. Skinner's Home Movies."

With all the documentation, he applied to the Joseph G. Bradley
Charitable Foundation, which studies the significance of Skinner organs and
supports historic organ rehabilitation projects. The Foundation studied
the Skinner 390 in Holy Innocents from top to bottom. Cresci was asked to
play in order to hear the sound, and he responded with Ode to Joy and a
number of hymns. The foundation awarded the parish and community a grant of
over $300,000 to fund the restoration by the Peragallo Organ Company,
Paterson. This firm recently restored the giant organ with some 7,000 pipes
at St. Patrick's Cathedral on Firth Avenue in Manhattan. Incidentally,
Cresci has played that organ.

The Peragallo firm, now in its third generation, is headed by
69-year-old John Peragallo, Jr., who still crawls around organs, and his two
sons, John III, a concert organist and electrical engineer, and Frank, a
carpenter and cabinetmaker of extraordinary talent. In fact, the late John
Peragallo, the founder, was an apprentice to Ernest M. Skinner. So, in a
sense, the Peragallo family firm is a subset of the Skinner operation,
although not connected. In a real sense, it is an extension of the Skinner
legacy.

On March 14, at a 4 p.m. vesper service about 24 hours before the
Peragallo firm removed the organ and console, Msgr. Rollin J. Darbouse,
pastor, offered a benediction for the success of the operation. The service
has been committed to a CD to record the last sounds of the organ before its
rehabilitation.

The grant indicated that the church has to take steps to restore the
building to protect the restored organ. The Gothic Romanesque church, whose
cornerstone was laid in 1922, has had water damage and extensive wear and
tear, inside and out, over the 80-plus years. The masonry, roof system and
other basic need extensive restoration and soon. "The church building that
houses this notable organ - the best in Brooklyn - must also receive the
same kind of attention," says Cresci.

He is now spearheading another drive to raise $1.5 million to restore
Holy Innocents to its former glory. He points out that the facilities are
used not only by parishioners, who hear services in English, Spanish and
French Creole, but the community at large. The church has been deeply
involved in the Community Action Project (CAP) and other community-based
programs. It is also involved with the Pacific Institute for Community
Organizations (PICO), a national network of community organizations
dedicated to the development of leaders who are working for social justice
in poor communities across America. In January this year, CAP's General
Assembly was addressed by U. S. Senator Charles Schummer of New York.

Cresci has reached out across the Metropolitan area to such luminaries as Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, Councilman Vincent Gentile, Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes, Councilwoman Ivette Clark and a host of others across the New York-New Jersey border such as Senator Jon Corzine and former Senator and Mrs. John Lynch. On June 11, 2004 Cresci orchestrated a meeting at Brooklyn City Hall, which included Atkins. Their aim is to use the Holy Innocents Church restoration as a catalyst to revitalize a very historic part of Brooklyn, while increasing tourism to the borough. According to Councilwoman Yvette D. Clark, “The Skinner Organ at the Holy Innocents Church should be one of many stops on a tour of Brooklyn’s Historic treasures.”

The architectural staff at Pratt Institute is working on the initial
plans for a restoration project and an application for a grant has been
filed with Kathleen Howe of the New York State Office of Historic
Preservation in Albany.

The superb English Gothic church, designed by Helme and Corbett,
architects, has an exterior of seam face granite with limestone trimming.
The interior walls are of sandstone, limestone and bathstone, while the
altars are made of selected Italian marble. John Morgan and Son, New York
executed the beautiful memorial stained glass windows. "Major restoration
work is required," says Cresci.

Meanwhile, a memorable re-dedication ceremony and recital will be held
at Holy Innocents in the spring of 2005, at which time, Cresci, Marvello
(the former director) and John Peragallo III (of the organ restoration
company) will be three of a number of organists who will rededicate the
restored instrument. "The event will be something to witness," promises
Cresci, "and the rededicatory events will be coupled with a multimedia
presentation outlining the life of Ernest Skinner and the story of the Holy
Innocents organ restoration process.

It will be not only a renaissance of an historic organ, but of an
historic church. For Cresci, it is a labor of love.

# # #

Educating Brooklyn through Historic Restoration

Flatbush, Brooklyn…. Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and other business and civic leaders in the Brooklyn community recently attended a presentation at Brooklyn Borough Hall to learn how historic restoration projects can benefit the entire borough in more ways than one.

Both, the Pratt Institute and the International Masonry Institute are currently exploring the possibility of using the historic structure of Holy Innocents Church in Flatbush, Brooklyn as a classroom for students seeking to learn vocations, such as architecture, masonry and roofing.

According to Jonathon Holsgrove, Director of Public Projects at the International Masonry Institute, “the Church’s extraordinary marble and granite features are in desperate need of repair and a partnership with the Church would provide a hands-on training ground for our future masons.”

Council Member Yvette Clark adds, “partnerships such as these will not only preserve Brooklyn’s historic treasures, but also provide our citizens with the vocational training and educational classes that will greatly influence the success of our communities.”

However, in order to launch the program, Holy Innocents Church will need to raise the money for the costs of the building materials.

“Based on our conditions survey, we will need to raise $30,000 just for the roof itself. Our parishioners are helping in every way they can, but we’ll need to seek out the help of all those who have a stake in our community to actually make this happen,” says Msgr. Darbouze, Pastor at Holy Innocents Church.

Anyone interested in making a donation or learning more about the renovation at Holy Innocents Church, can call 732-322-5684.

* Photo (Left to Right): Kenrick Cort, President & CEO of Tri-Borough Home Care, Ltd. who attended the presentation, entitled “Education through Historic Renovation” at Brooklyn Borough Hall, is joined by Msgr. Darbouze, Pastor at Holy Innocents Church; Dr. Alfred Cresci, Music Director at Holy Innocents Church; and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz.

Brooklyn Diocese Seeks Historic Preservation: Hopes to Restore Historic Gem

Brooklyn, NY....After 80 years of wear and tear, Holy Innocents Church in the historic Flatbush section of Brooklyn has seen better days. But just stroll around inside and it’s easy to see how beautiful this historic structure with its stately granite walls, Italian marble tile and limestone exterior could be. It’s worn and it’s dirty and it’s damaged, but you can tell just by looking at it that the church has the potential to be magnificent—many local leaders say a tourist attraction.

When the parish was founded in 1909, a temporary building was placed on the corner of East 17th Street and Beverley Road. In 1922, a cornerstone was placed for a permanent edifice. The prelate of Brooklyn and Queens, the Most Reverend Bishop Thomas E. Molloy dedicated the present church on Sunday, October 21, 1923. It was considered and remains to be a remarkable architectural masterpiece in the Romanesque and English Gothic Tradition.

This historic and beautiful building enjoyed notoriety as many of the leading builders of the day contributed to its significance in Flatbush Brooklyn. The chief architects were the world-famous Hemle and Corbett Architectural firm. The John Morgan and Son Company constructed the stained glass windows of the highest quality. Also noteworthy, were the construction and installation of a tower bell system by the Degan Church Bell Company from Chicago, Illinois, and the coveted Ernest M. Skinner Pipe Organ from Boston, Massachusetts.

However, due to economic changes in the neighborhood, this once prosperous building is now in need of attention and requires a fair amount of restoration work. Years have taken their toll on the church, including a fire that destroyed most of the church in 1973.

“In order to compete for Historic landmark grants, the building must first be registered as a historic landmark. The Catholic Church always examines restrictions that might be placed on churches that are awarded this distinction,” says Dr. Alfred E. Cresci, the Director of Music at Holy Innocents Church who is spearheading a committee to restore Holy Innocents to its former glory.


Recently, Dr. Cresci along with Msgr Darbouze, the Pastor at Holy Innocents Church were able to facilitate meetings between the New York Landmark Conservancy
and the office of the Brooklyn Diocesan Bishop, Nicholas DeMarzio. “The two parties just needed to meet. We thought about the implications and what it would mean for both the Church and the community if we could just iron out some issues,” says Msgr. Darbouze

It worked. For the first time ever, the Brooklyn Diocese has allowed the Holy Innocents Church to serve as the ‘test case’ for the entire diocese in the quest for a National Historic Registry of its building.

“This project could spearhead the renaissance of other houses of worship and other historic buildings in the metropolitan area,” says Cresci. Therefore, the support given by the diocese could have far-reaching implications for the borough of Brooklyn.

Things started looking bright for the church, when just a few months ago, they discovered that their building housed a priceless Skinner Pipe Organ, one of a handful in the metropolitan area. The Joseph Bradley Charitable Foundation from Pennsylvania, a foundation that studies the significance of Skinner organs, extensively examined the organ and the building. Holy Innocents’ Skinner Opus 390 was singled out as a truly important example of American organ architecture. In fact, the foundation awarded the parish and the community a grant of over $300,000 to fund the total restoration of the Opus 390 by the Peragallo Organ Company of Paterson, New Jersey. This is the same organization that is responsible for the on-going restorative work and maintenance of the organs at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City.

A memorable rededication ceremony and recital will be held at Holy Innocents in the spring or fall of 2005. The Church’s goal is to have the building fully restored before the rededication ceremony.

“I’m hoping that the excitement that has been generated by the restoration of our historic Skinner Church Organ will have a direct influence on the renaissance of a once prospering neighborhood,” says Cresci.

And that’s the goal of many local leaders as well, who have recognized the importance of restoring Holy Innocents and its impact on the surrounding community.

Cresci and Darbouze recently organized a meeting at Brooklyn City Hall, which included Greg Atkins, Brooklyn Borough Chief of Staff; Richard Bearak, Borough Deputy Director of Planning and Development; Council members Yvette Clarke and Vincent Gentile; Erin Tobin Bearden of the New York Landmark Conservancy and many others including representatives from the International Masonry Institute.

The meeting identified the significance of the Holy Innocents restoration, as well as the logistics of raising money for its successful completion.


“This restoration project will be used as a model for other similar community restoration projects that aim to improve local neighborhoods, while attracting tourism to the borough,” says Council Member Yvette Clarke. She adds that a successful renovation like this could add momentum to the overall revitalization of a community and its local economy.

“Churches such as these contribute to their communities in a myriad of ways, both Christian and non-Christian. Holy Innocents has established community outreach programs that have given meaning to the lives of many youths and adults in our Flatbush community,” says Dr. Mathieu Eugene, Director of Youth Education and Sports (Y.E.S.).

Despite the support of numerous leaders and the backing of the community, the church will not likely receive any money from the city.

“New York City’s official policy is that taxpayer money may not be used for restorations such as these, regardless of their positive effect on surrounding neighborhoods,” says Clarke.

“While we’re anxiously awaiting the decision on our landmark status, the church is actively reaching out to local business leaders and organizations that have a stake in the revitalization of this vibrant Flatbush community,” says Cresci. “We are in the process of a direct mail fundraising campaign to generate a portion of the estimated $1.5 million dollars needed. It’s not going to be easy, but we’re hopeful.”

Cresci adds, “It’s a stunning structure, but I have to say, the most beautiful feature of this church isn’t the architecture, or the artistic details, or even the organ…It’s the community it serves.”

# # #