Herewith, this is the history of Prospect Hall and the German immigrant (Kolle) family that built it. Conceived in 1882, built in 1892, severely damaged by fire in 1900, reopened in 1902, continually owned and operated by Kolle generations, until sold in 1945 to a Polish group, who later sold to a Greek family, Michael and Alice Halkias in the 1980s. This ambitious couple redecorated the smokey-stained Victorian carved & beveled oak panels graced within cornice crown and base molding, carved of grapes & leaves, to produce a French Revival Flair of pastel-painted pink panels, lime-green trim and bright red fruit. This revived Public House then became famous in New Your for its some-what cheesy video commercial solicitations for weddings & event for forty years -- often lovingly spoofed on television like SNL and Jimmy Kimmel Shows.
The building was recently sold in July 2021, after Michael H. died of Covid-19 in 2020. Without an approved demolition permit, the new developer/owner practically demolished the entire interior to make way for a huge residential development, of which many in the community would rather wish to incorporate Prospect Hall's frontal facade into the new replacement -- to honor the historical significance of the old. Nonetheless, the eagerness by some in Brooklyn to crush history, reminds is of the famed, Buddhas of Barniyan and the Taliban.
Consequently, the Great, Great Grandson, (writer & filmmaker, Glenn Palmedo Smith), of original builder John Kolle spent his entire national Covid-19 lock-down putting this film together at zero cost, with over 6,000 archival photos, newspaper clipping, letters, family diaries and ephemera to share the amazing accomplishments of those raised upon these hallowed grounds.
15 май 2021
