By Michael Ventura
DNAinfo Managing Editor
MANHATTAN — The MTA unveiled revised plans this week for a ventilation plant to be built at the West Village's Mulry Square, after their initial plans were shot down by the community board.
The exterior of the plant, to be constructed at the intersection of Greenwich Avenue and Seventh Avenue South, is designed to blend in with the surrounding historic district-protected neighborhood, complete with a brick facade and windows.
The windows are coated with a glaze so people can't see into the facility, where a $108 million fan plant is meant to provide emergency ventilation to the subway system.
The MTA presented its plan to Community Board 2 Tuesday night. It will also be shown to the Landmark Preservation Commission next week, transit officials said.
The agency hopes to award a contract for the project by the end of the year. There's no timetable for when the fan plant will be complete.
Residents had objected to the original designs that were presented a year ago.
"If this were any other landlord presenting this, we'd laugh at them for presenting this in a historic district," Community Board 2 chair Jo Hamilton said last May. "I don’t know how we got to this — a blank, hollow concrete bunker."
Community Board 2 is reviewing the revised MTA plan now, District Manager Bob Gormley said Thursday. They expect to have a resolution the week of June 6, he said.
Andrea Swalec contributed reporting.
