Demolition Party
There’s been a lot of chatter recently (with some great comments at the Penguin, in particular) about the fate of the Perpetual Building at the corner of Georgia and Cameron. There’s a proposal on the table to tear it down and build a new structure with ground floor retail, offices, apartments, and a “pocket park.” (I expect someone, at some point, to ask the inevitable question: “Is that a park in your pocket?”)
While historical types want it to stay (It’s *50* years old! That’s historical!) because if its “significant architectural importance,” public opinion seems to sway heavily toward the “tear it down” contingent. I, personally, don’t find it all that attractive and couldn’t care less either way. If a structure can go up that would provide more resources to the community with something other than a “suburban Baby Boom modernism” feel, I say go for it.
But I think an even better idea would be to have a demolition party. The technology is available to implode the thing without harming the Metropoplitan Building next door, and who doesn’t enjoy watching shit blow up? Mind you, I don’t harbor any ill will toward the structure, but I’d be the first in line to buy front row tickets if they sold them.
I even set my alarm to watch Three Rivers Stadium go up in smoke. If this doesn’t get your heart pumping, I don’t know what would.
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“Preserving the past, building for the future”
http://www.gazette.net/stories/011608/silvnew210501_32360.shtml
Perpetual Building Association Building Hearing Before the Montgomery County Planning Board, 1/10/08
http://www.mc-mncppc.org/board/agenda/2008/agenda20080110e.html
then click on each:
Part 10
Part 11
Part 12
From the Gazette Article:
Double A-MEN to the Little Tavern, Jerry.
And like I said – it’s not that I want the building torn down. I really don’t care all that much one way or the other. But I also like the comment in the story from Wayne Goldstein about learning new things about buildings like this just from the debate itself. Raze or no raze.
I also don’t know how historical that particular building is, but I do like the marble (?) used for the facing on the lower levels and the trapezoidal windows.
What’s a damn shame is that stupid Chevy Chase bank across the street. Now THERE’S an efficient use of commercial space… Their cookie-cutter buildings with the fake columns are all over the place now. Why not tear that down and build on that plot instead?
Sligo,
The weird thing about this particular Chevy Chase location…Chevy Chase razed the early 1950s Industrial Photo building that was on the site (originally a Giant grocery store)…ALL of it except the Georgia Avenue and Cameron Street facades. They then carefully braced them, as if to incorporate the elevations into new construction like they did with the early 1930s People’s Drug Store facade at Georgia and Bonifant where they have another branch.
A month or so later the facades were knocked down and before we know it…their cookie-cutter design is built that we’ll have to look at for the next 20 years…till they tear it down for something with greater density.
I wrote to Chevy Chase for an explanation as to what happened as I was really please with their adaptive reuse of the People’s elevations. Never received a reply…and I’m a Chevy Chase checking account customer!
Tear it down
Mr McCoy, tear down this building.
Mr. President,
The Chevy Chase Bank branch on Cameron? With pleasure!
I have to side with preservation on this one. It’s a neat building produced from quality materials. And, as has been pointed out, it’s an f-ing bank. So force Chevy Chase to sign a 99 year lease at an obscene square footage price as punishment for knocking down the building across the street and putting up that shit box. Then turn the Chevy Chase parcel over to a developer smart enough to do something cool that transitions into the Tastee diner.
Can you tell I’m a former Chevy Chase customer who wants to see that lousy institution suffer? Not that Royal Bank is any better. But still . . .
Some retail would be good over there. Too bad it’s too small a plot for a current grocery because Safeway desperately needs the competition to raise its standards.