Local historian Eric Washington, author of "Manhattanville: Old Heart of West Harlem," has chronicled the area's past since the battle of Harlem Heights in 1776. The first skirmishes between George Washington's New England Rangers and British troops occurred on what is now 130st Street - part of Columbia's expansion plans over the next decade.

Washington points out that a path planned by Columbia University will run through a building that used to be a factory for folding chairs used in the Civil War and an old stable belonging to George W. Plunkitt, a famed New York City power broker in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

The cost of losing some of the rich history of Manhattanville, which was founded in 1806, says the historian, is higher than the savings made in not restoring certain buildings.

But Washington also highlights the significance of three historic buildings that Columbia will be preserving and restoring as part of its plans: Prentis - a former dairy, Warren Nash - a former car servicing plant and Studebaker - a former car factory.