Please check out www.saveellisisland.org Who’s Mission is:
To raise the funds necessary to rehabilitate, restore and put to beneficial reuse the currently deteriorated and unused buildings of Ellis Island, located primarily on its south side.
History and Significance
Directly across the Ferry Slip from the Great Hall and the Ellis Island Immigration Museum stand the three buildings of the Main Hospital Complex. Located on an area of landfill originally completed in 1899 and designated "Island Number 2", the first building, the Hospital building, was completed in 1902 and was quickly outgrown as the tide of immigrants arriving in New York harbor continued to increase. Two additional buildings were completed in 1908, the Administration and new Hospital Extension buildings. Operating and treatment rooms, patient accommodations, offices and even a Maternity Ward were contained in the complex. Later structures were added to the south side on "Island Number 3", completed in 1906. Opened in 1909, these new buildings included the Measles and Contagious Disease wards and various support facilities such as an autopsy room and morgue. The pavilion-style arrangement of the infectious disease wards reflected the incorporation of new theories about controlling the spread of disease. In 1919, a new seawall joined the ends of Island Numbers 2 & 3 and during the 1920’s, an expanse of lawn was created with landfill between these islands, effectively creating a single area referred to now as the "south side".
Immigration laws during Ellis Island’s period as the United States’ principal immigration station mandated health inspections of everyone who entered the country. The Public Health Service (then known as the Marine Hospital Service) performed this task. It was illegal to allow entry to people who were deemed ill, insane, or infirm. A majority of those eventually were allowed into the country. A total of 355 babies were born in the hospital complex on Ellis Island. During both world wars, the hospital buildings on Ellis Island were used to detain suspected aliens and to treat returning wounded soldiers. After the immigration station closed in 1954, the General Services Administration declared Ellis Island surplus federal property and after a period of time and much public debate, the island was eventually transferred to the National Park Service in 1965.
Stabilization: Goals and Progress
To date, Save Ellis Island has successfully raised sufficient funds to stabilize the buildings on Ellis Island’s south side. This process, which includes inserting vented panels into window and door frames, securing roof structures to impede water damage, and removing hazardous materials, will halt deterioration and preserve the buildings until restoration and adaptive re-use can be completed. Save Ellis Island is currently seeking additional funding to begin stabilization on the Baggage and Dormitory building on the north side.
Rehabilitation: Goals and Progress
Save Ellis Island is the proud recipient of two Save America’s Treasures grants, which, with matching funds from the State of New Jersey and private sources, has resulted in the restoration of the exteriors of the Laundry and Hospital Outbuilding and the Ferry Building. Interior restoration on both these buildings is slated to begin within the next year. Once the Ferry Building interior is completed, it will house Save Ellis Island’s first exhibit, " Future in the Balance: Immigrants, Public Health and the Ellis Island Hospitals."
Save Ellis Island’s next goal will be the restoration of the corridor leading from the Ferry Building to the Laundry and Hospital Outbuilding and hospital lawn. Once this work is completed, Save Ellis Island will be able to offer limited guided tours of the south side to the public.
Save America's Treasures
Save America's Treasures began in 1998 as a public-private partnership between the White House Millennium Council and The National Trust for Historic Preservation and is dedicated to the celebration and preservation of our nation's irreplaceable historic and cultural legacy. The Ellis Island Ferry Building was among the first Save America’s Treasures grantees in 1999. Because of this grant, visitors to Ellis Island today are treated to the sight of a refurbished tower with four proud eagles atop a pedestal of new zinc-clad copper sheathing in the recreated Art Deco herringbone pattern of the original 1934 structure. Matching funds for this project were secured by Save Ellis Island from the New Jersey Casino Reinvestment Development Authority. Additional support for the interior of the Ferry Building, both cash and in-kind, has been raised over the past three years by the Save America's Treasures program and Save Ellis Island, including a generous grant from the United States Tour Operators Association's Travelers Conservation Foundation and Discovery, Inc. Original window and doorframes have been painstakingly removed and restored prior to reinstallation across the front of the Ferry Building. Terra cotta tiles have been reinstalled atop rebuilt roof structures and designs are underway for the rehabilitation of the building's interior.
A second Save America's Treasures challenge grant was awarded to Ellis Island's Hospital Laundry & Outbuilding in 2000 and the matching funds have been committed by the State of New Jersey along with additional funds to complete the restoration work on this structure. Stabilization of this first building on the south side is nearly complete and the design/planning phase is about to start for the restoration project.
From the outset, the Save America’s Treasures program exemplified the best aspects of public-private initiatives as the nation prepared to mark the new millennium by raising public awareness and generating new resources to preserve our historic and cultural treasures. The Star Spangled Banner, perhaps the most widely recognized historic treasure in America, was the backdrop for the launching of this unprecedented campaign. The list of treasures selected to receive federal challenge grants for the inaugural funding round included a wide-ranging array of beloved cultural icons from all corners of the country: Harriet Tubman's home, the Louis Armstrong archives, the Valley Forge Winter Encampment, San Esteban del Rey Mission, prairie churches all across North Dakota, Ybor City, Taliesin, the home of Frank Lloyd Wright, and World War II aviation nose art, to name a few. The National Trust for Historic Preservation characterizes the program's official projects from communities across the country as "[reflections of] the remarkable diversity of the people, places, and events that comprise the American tapestry."
www.saveellisisland.org
Information & History found on
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellis_Island & www.saveellisisland.org
Top Air View of Ellis Island found on www.visitingdc.com
