Newsday from New York, New York • 39

23 Phone items to (212) 251-6800 Fax (212) 696-0487 Restoring Hamiltons Home Plan would convert site into museum By Kathleen Duffy STAFF WRITER The Hamilton Grange national memorial has been waiting for a miracle. Nearly 200 years old, Alexander Hamiltons country estate once sat among rolling lawns and wooded areas at what today is the intersection of West 143rd Street and Amsterdam Avenue. The nations first secretary of the treasury lived there until his fatal duel with Aaron Burr in 1804. Designed by City Hall architect John McComb the Hamilton Grange was named after his familys ancestral Beat in Scotland. His wife, Elizabeth, continued to live in the house until 1834, when she moved to Washington.

Near the turn of the century, other owners donated the house to St. Lukes Episcopal Church. It was moved two blocks southeast to the site on which it stands today at West 141st Street and Convent Avenue. Completed in 1802, the Hamilton Grange has deteriorated, the victim of a lack of preservation efforts and natural elements. But federal officials are Newadqy Photos Richard Lit Officials plan to restore the historic Harlem house that was once the country home of Alexander Hamilton.

planning a $4. 25-million restoration a project that will take more than three years and would transform the house into a full-scale museum. About $3 million in funding has yet to be acquired, officials said. Rep. Charles Rangel (D-Manhattan) has obtained $750,000 in federal funding for some of the restorations.

Rangel said that opponents told work is not part of the planned four-phase restoration, which is intended eventually is to turn the two-story house into a museum with exhibits and period furniture on both floors, said Georgette Nelms, superintendent of Manhattan sites for the division of the National Park Service that includes Hamilton Grange. In the first phase, the physical condition of the house will be analyzed and ideas for changing or moving the house will be considered, along with the cost of each idea. In the second phase, the space will be divided into areas for exhibits, administrative and other uses. Preservation and restoration of the Grange will be discussed. Plans for construction will be the subject in the third phase.

The actual construction will take place in the fourth phase. Were actively seeking minority participation in the construction process, Nelms said. And, at points along the way, public input will be sought, Bhe said. The public needs to know that have something wonderful to forward to, that theyre going to have a nationally historical Bite right in Harlem, she said. "The community will be revived by this house.

Theyre going to feel a sense of pride in that neighborhood. The Hamilton Grange, 287 Convent is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays. For information, rail (212) 283-5154.

him, We cant afford that and were going through a recession. Thats exactly why were doing this. Work on the national monument would generate employment for the renovations, he argued, and the site, once restored, would attract tourists and draw businesses nearby. Also, he said, the renovations will intensify the feeling of the house. When you walk into that place, you can feel the presence of Alexander Hamilton, he said.

The Hamilton Grange already is undergoing a preliminary facelift, paid for by the Department of Interior. Joan Berkowitz, architectural conservator with the Park Service, said JAC Diversified is replacing the roof, applying exterior paint, repairing the dilapidated woodwork and doing masonry work. The wood being used on the Federal-style building is Southern yellow pine, and the paint will match historical colors as much as possible. The siding is a yellow buff. The trim and window set and the window columns are white.

However, this initial Site superintendent Georgette Nelms examines an antique piano. NEW YORK NEWS DAY, FRIDAY. MARCH 6. 1992 will be held in Queens as well as Manhattan and Staten Island. Nationwide, the walkathon is held in about 1,400 communities and involves more than 800,000 walkers.

More than 18,000 walkers last year raised over $2 million for the Greater New York March of Dimes Campaign for Healthier Babies. Money raised through WalkAmerica funds a variety of research projects and essential services to improve the health of New Yorks children. In addition to Island will be husband-and-wife Rudolph Giuliani and Donna Hanover. He is a former U.S. Attorney, she is a television journalist.

Co-chairs of TeamWalk, the corporate arm of WalkAmerica will be Carol Jenkins, WNBC news anchor, and Sam Champion, WABC-TV meteorologist Participants walk as individuals or as members of teams representing companies, dubs, schools and other organizations. For more information and to register, call (212) 353-8353. research on birth defects and childhood disabilities, the money raised finances school-based education programs aimed at preventing teenage pregnancies and AIDS transmission, prenatal education seminars in the workplace and community outreach campaigns for high-risk pregnant women. Mayor David Dinkins will be the honorary chairman of the Manhattan walk. Queens Borough President Claire Shul-man will help inaugurate the Queens walk.

The honorary co-chairs of Staten CITYWIDE Walkathon Plans for April in Step From the vantage point of winter, the last Sunday in April may seem far distant. But not so for the Greater New York Chapter of the March of Dimes which is making plans for the WalkA-merira walkathon. WalkAmerica, New York Citys oldest walkathon, this year for the first time.