The 11.5-acre Domino Sugar plant closed in 2004. (Municipal Arts Society of New York)

Last week, New York City's Landmarks Preservation Commission unanimously voted to landmark the Domino Sugar Refinery, three buildings built in the 1920s on Brooklyn's waterfront.

The 12-acre complex, which dates to 1884, is in the process of being redeveloped as 2,200 apartments in 30- and 40-story buildings. The Sept. 26 decision means that the commission must approve developer CPC Resource's plans to alter to the facades of the landmarked buildings.

"We think it's a great first step," says Lisa Kersavage, director of advocacy and policy at the Municipal Arts Society of New York, which testified before the commission last week. "Landmarks has designated the three most important buildings on the site and the three most prominent."

But the so-called Bin Building, built in the 1960s and adorned with the Domino logo, is not protected, and all of the other buildings on the site are slated for demolition.

"We will continue to advocate to the developer to retain [the Bin Building] and the syrup station," Kersavage says. Since both buildings have a small footprint, they should be easy to incorporate into the new condo towers, she says. "It will just create a better development to have more of a comb of old and new."

In the 1870s, the sugar refinery produced half of the country's sugar. It closed in 2004, to Brooklyn's chagrin.

In June, the National Trust for Historic Preservation named Brooklyn's Industrial Waterfront one of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places.

"The refinery vote caps a process that began last year, when Landmarks Preservation Commission's staff identified the plant as one of its highest preservation priorities," says Robert Tierney, chairman of the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

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