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Structure Data conference at the Mission Bay Conference Center in San Francisco on Wednesday & Thursday, March 9-10, 2016
Bannerman decorated everything with cannon balls. He used cement ones. He also used clay tiles to look like cannons pointing out of the turrets. You can see the supports that have been put in place to stabilize the structure. It's too far gone to be rebuilt but is stabilized from further massive collapses.
STORY OF THE ISLAND
I have boated around Bannerman's Island throughout my childhood in the 1980s. It is the ruins of an unusual "castle" situated a few miles north of West Point and slightly south of Newburgh New York.
We boated around this island for many years, but getting close was difficult since there are rocks and sandbars and silted areas. I know many people would take small boats and kayaks to the island and "party" aka vandalize the island's buildings. Since 1993 a trust has been formed to save and promote the island as a state park. steps have been made to stabilize the remaining structures. In the years since I used to sail by it much of the castle has collapsed beyond the point of repair. Fortunately spelunkers can not get on the island easily and there are alarm systems in place to protect it.
It was an arsenal owned by Frank Bannerman, son of a Scottish immigrant who started a business buying military surplus. This was old, outdated weaponry and military equipment (even things as small as buttons) sold mainly to collectors. NO weapons were ever sold to a warring party. Wagon wheels rifles, cannon balls, uniforms, helmets, guns, boots. rations, swords, shovels...anything the military used and didn't need were bought up and resold.
They also was acquired live ammunition and gun powder which was originally stored in warehouses in Brooklyn. THe City of NY (rightfully so) decided they could not store this in the city and insisted they find a new warehouse for all this explosive material. The island used to be known to shad fisherman as a place to drink and take prostitutes to. A wealthy woman bought the island to stop this and then sold it to Bannerman - on the condition that no alcohol could be consumed on the island.Being a solid Presbyterian Bannerman agreed and began building a warehouse.
He built a bunker for powder and a huge warehouse to store military surplus. he never hired an architect but instead scribbled out drawings of medieval castle designs which he hired workers to build. The terrible condition of the property is due, in large part because of Bannerman's cheapness in building.
He used low-grade cement, and 2nd grade bricks and they followed no standard building practices. The island is almost all solid rock and Bannerman blasted out a flat spot for the warehouse. Rather than buy building materials he used as much waste rock as possible.
ON the top of the Island he had a summer house or lodge built for his family. It is eclectic like the castle and decorated with lots of Scottish memorabilia. The Scottish and American flags were the symbol for his company. THe house is now a shell of its former self but it really quaint and must have provided awesome views of the Hudson Highlands.
THe castle ad lodge are decorated with cannon ball motifs - something he was very fond of. He also decorated the places with drain tiles that look like cannons poking out of the turrets. All the walls are decorated with arrow slits like medieval castles. The cannon ball motif is everywhere. MOst were made of cement but two live, explosive cannon balls were found to adorn the center warehouse during removal of live ammunition in the 1950s. One dropped 2 stories (the crewman covering his ears for the explosion and his end) but did not explode!
In about 1900 the powder room ignited (as the city officials were afraid of) and set off an explosion that damaged houses miles away and threw the doors from the powder room nearly a mile away. The powder house was gone but nobody was severely injured. The warehouses were damaged but intact. He never repaired the windows or the roof of the building - also hastening it's degradation. Cheap Cheap!
The island remained in the family's hands until the 1950s when the Island was closed and the stock was sold off. Looters apparently routinely "visited" the island further damaging the structure.
IN the teens Bannerman acquired barges to build protected swimming areas on the sides of the island. He removed the flooring from the barges, filled them with dirt and rocks and sunk them to make a sort of natural harbor. These areas have silted up (the Hudson is very muddy) and make navigation nearby quite risky.
Bannerman used the floorboards from the barges for flooring in the warehouses and in the 1960s there was a fire that gutted the castle. THe boards were soaked with creosote ad burned like they were soaked with gasoline. The company was officially closed up in the 1970s and the Island lay unprotected and in increasing disrepair until the 1990s.
This has been a dream to see the island and I am so glad they are working so hard to preserve this unusual piece of history.
Structure Security conference at the Golden Gate Club in San Francisco on Tuesda & Wednesday September 27-28, 2016
Structured copper cabling system- a Panduit High Density Solution installed by Cableguys Corporation
Structure Data conference at the Mission Bay Conference Center in San Francisco on Wednesday & Thursday, March 9-10, 2016
Structure Security conference at the Golden Gate Club in San Francisco on Tuesda & Wednesday September 27-28, 2016
Structure Data conference at the Mission Bay Conference Center in San Francisco on Wednesday & Thursday, March 9-10, 2016
Part of the downtown motel that was demolished a few months ago. The only thing left of the building is part of the bathroom walls.