Preservationists milk historic merits of Clinton Hill dairy

Ron Schweiger and 580 Myrtle Avenue
Ron Schweiger and 580 Myrtle Avenue

Brooklyn preservationist group the Historic District Council is pushing for the Landmarks Preservation Commission to recognize the M.H. Renken Dairy Company office building in Clinton Hill, in order to protect the brick façade.

Bob Furman of the Brooklyn Preservation Council and Brooklyn’s official historian Ron Schweiger, however, told the New York Daily News they are not familiar with the building or its history.

“Sometimes people go a little bit overboard trying to preserve something,” Schweiger said.

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German immigrant and milk mogul Martin H. Renken founded the dairy in 1888, then relocated it to the Art Deco building at 580 Myrtle Avenue, near Classon Avenue, in 1932. The plant became the third biggest dairy in the city, but was shuttered in 1959. Several businesses have operated there since.

The commission has not set a date to vote on the proposal yet, the newspaper said. [NYDN]Mark Maurer