Sunday, November 06, 2005

Although many people may not have heard of him, Robert Tennenbaum is a bit of a Columbia icon. After all, he was there at the beginning as a planner employed by James Rouse. Tennenbaum is still active in issues affecting the community, and played a significant role in the Charrette. But he's got someconcerns (two links), particularly about the idea of demolishing the Columbia Association headquarters building, which is also home to Clyde's, the iconic Columbia restaurant. From the first link:

The lakefront is the iconic image of Columbia and as such the entire urban design of the lakefront should be preserved as is. The Exhibit building, Columbia Association headquarters building, American Cities Building and the General Growth Properties Inc. headquarters building were designed to bein scale with each other, the trees and the lake. Frank Gehry, now a world-famous architect, designed two of the buildings to respect the urban design of the ensemble. Jim Rouse followed the design process and approved it.

Amazingly, the proposed demolition completely ignores the fact that Clyde's and Tomato Palace would be sacrificed. Both restaurant/cafes are a vital part of the social fabric of Columbia. Clyde's, celebrating its 30th year, and Tomato Palace are exactly the kind of restaurant/cafe that the charrette plan believes is vital for a vibrant Town Center. But the plan sacrifices them for a "view."

The demolition idea and the sketch depicting the silly church steeple building replacing the CA headquarters building should be trashed.

I love the honesty, though I don't fully agree with his