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Century-Old Forest Hills Kiosks Undergo Major Facelift Using Hawaiian Lava

By Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska | February 4, 2015 9:43am
  The kiosks in Station Square now feature new windows and rooftops.
Historic Kiosks in Forest Hills Undergo Major Facelift
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QUEENS — A pair of once-crumbling kiosks that have served as Forest Hills Gardens landmarks for about 100 years are getting new life as "lanterns" for the private community after undergoing major renovations, including the addition of Hawaiian lava-stone roofs.

The kiosks in Station Square recently got new doors and windows, as well as new rooftops — an effort that took nearly three years to complete and involved shipping in pieces of lava stone.

Initially, the kiosks, built in the early 1900s, served as police outposts at the entrance to the garden community founded in 1909, according to James Chamberlain, of the Forest Hills Gardens Corporation’ Beautification Committee.

Later, one of the booths was also used for a taxi dispatcher. Most recently, the kiosks have been used as storage for gardening equipment for local volunteers.

But Chamberlain said that after nearly $20,000 renovations, the kiosks have been given a new function to serve as "lanterns."

The windows have been covered by clouded glass and the lights installed inside the booths display various colors to celebrate different occasions. For Hanukkah the lights were turned blue, and for Valentine's Day they will be red, he noted.

Over the years, the booths' windows and doors were occasionally repaired, while the dilapidated rooftops, which feature pieces of blue tile and small black rocks, were left unfixed.

“They didn’t know what this blue stone was and couldn’t match it,” Chamberlain said.

The unique greenish blue color, known as Harwichport blue, was picked by architect Grosvenor Atterbury, who designed Forest Hills Gardens, Chamberlain said. A number of architectural elements in the neighborhood, including lanterns, also feature the same color, he said.

But tiles in Harwichport blue have not been produced in years, Chamberlain said.

After months of research and failed attempts to mix various rocks and dyes, Chamberlain found a company in Ohio that offered a powder in a similar color that could be added to white clay, he said.

Grace Anker of The Potter’s Wheel, a pottery studio in Kew Gardens, took on the challenge, testing numerous versions of the mixture before firing them in a kiln at nearly 2000 degrees.

“There was no set recipe,” said Anker, who spent about a-year-and-a-half before reaching the desired result.

The tiles were then smashed into pieces and mixed with crushed lava, which Chamberlain shipped from Hawaii.

The mixture was then cemented to the roofs.

The renovation process will be completed in spring, when several cracks in the base are scheduled to be repaired.