Cupar stonemason helping Harlem build for the future - Fife Today

Cupar stonemason helping Harlem build for the future

 By Lindsey Alexander

A NORTH east Fife stonemason is to help young New Yorkers rebuild their community.

Kenny McCaffrey from Cupar travelled to the run-down district of Harlem this week where he will spend time training youngsters in the art of masonry and building preservation.

Kenny, who is based at St Andrews Cathedral, and fellow stonemason Malcolm Hutcheon from Aberdeenshire will help the Abyssinian Development Corporation (ADC) which aims to revitalisate the community by focussing on the physical infrastructure.

To help achieve this, ADC has implemented Youthbuild, a nationally recognised workforce development initiative for 'at risk' youth.

As part of the trip, which is organised by Historic Scotland, a workshop will be held at the Cathedral of St John the Divine, where the Scottish team will be working with Chris Pellitteri the cathedral's stone carver in residence, to help share advice and expertise on stonemasonry with the local young people.

Speaking prior to leaving for the US, Kenny said: "I have worked on a number of fantastic buildings in my time, but to have the opportunity to visit and train young people in New York City is a huge honour.

"A lot of the stonework used in the New York area is of a similar consistency to Scottish sandstone and we have a wealth of expertise here, honed over many hundreds of years that can be used to help train others working with similar materials on the other side of the world."

He said a key part of the visit will be focussing on skills that can be transferred into caring for other buildings, and visiting other projects in the area.

A large part of housing stock in Harlem is of 'brownstone', much of which was in the hands of the city when the ADC was launched 20 years ago.

Now less than 30 per cent of the housing stock is owned by the City of New York, and the ADC has provided over 1000 units of affordable housing.

Read more in the Fife Herald.

Cupar stonemason helping Harlem build for the future - Fife Today.