Ikea Says It Did Nothing Wrong Destroying Shipyard Records

Remember our item on Tuesday about Ikea destroying all the historic records of the old Todd Shipyard that occupied the land where it is building its big box in Red Hook? The Park Slope Courier reports that the Swedish retailer "insists it did nothing wrong." Gary Buiso, who refers to GL's original reporting of the story, writes:

Irreplaceable records charting the rise of a Brooklyn shipyard to a position of national dominance have been lost forever, vanquished to the trash heap by Swedish home furnishings giant IKEA.

Even as the skeleton of IKEA’s superstore is beginning to take shape along Red Hook’s waterfront, preservationists still worry about the cost of its construction...The documents detailed the workings of Todd, which occupied the site from 1915 until the 1980s. A shipyard had been on the site, which was at one time home to the U.S. Navy, since 1867.

IKEA insists it did nothing wrong.

“IKEA has been in full compliance with the terms of an agreement signed with the New York State Department of Environmental Conversation and the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation detailing exactly what types of historic preservation and recordation activities were required during construction of our store in Red Hook,” spokesperson Joseph Roth said.

“It is important to note that there were no conditions related to any materials that may have been left in the buildings by the previous owners after the sale of the property,” Roth said.

“We have met and will continue to meet all of our required obligations under this agreement as we move forward,” he added.

We have noted before that Ikea's public attitude about community concerns and issues raised by preservationists has been nothing short of disdain and matter-of-fact dismissal. How else can one explain resorting to "required obligations" as an explanation for destroying historical records that could have easily been saved from the dumpster? (IE: It wasn't in the contract, so we didn't have a legal obligation to save it. Sue us.) It would be more diplomatic to blame careless demolition people or to say that the place was such a mess that it was an unfortunate oversight.

Meanwhile, Ikea is filling in the Graving Dock on the property, bringing in fill by barge so that it can use the area occupied by the dock for part of its parking lot.

Related Posts:
Ikea Fills Red Hook Graving Dock, Trashes Historical Records
Ikea to Red Hook Critics: Go Ektorp Yourselves