Comments on: Downtown bank building on preservation wishlist

By: sergio m

sergio m — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 23:32:19 +0000

Lets not forget to thank our wonderful historical society for preserving the breath-taking facades between the Lee Building and the soon-to-be LiveNation (formerly JC Pennys” on Colesville Road! Imagine if we had lost those BEAUTIFUL storefronts thank you historical society. .

By: tdiddy

tdiddy — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 19:26:15 +0000

This is such a joke – the “Silver Spring Historical Society” is a farce, it would be more accurate to state that they are an anti-growth group.

I’d love to see the actual criteria for selecting historical properties published. Can Jerry McCoy provide us with a report for each of the current properties on their list of historical sites?

Listening to the Silver Spring Historical Society discuss a “historical walk” at an ESSCA meeting, it seemed arbitrary. The properties seemed to be selected to prevent growth and development, more on the lines of personal opinion than anything scientific.

I’m all for historical preservation but give me a break.

By: LuvMyHood

LuvMyHood — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 21:52:53 +0000

Jennifer, some people, including some reporters/editors have a tendency to say this or that “will” happen, when the this or that in question is only proposed.
Developers (and often Park & Planning folks) usually say “will”. Therefore, the developers are counting their chickens before they are hatched (as in most of the way built) and the media folks are doing the same thing. It gets worse when ordinary folks jump on the bandwagon. I understand that developers have a vision and want to believe in it. But the rest of us should be more cautious. Look at it this way, if your gal pal already has a wedding gown on layaway and her boyfriend hasn’t even proposed yet, she is counting her chickens — oh, well, I realize I am starting to sound like that “It was a dark and stormy night” contest.

By: LuvMyHood

LuvMyHood — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 12:16:56 +0000

Lolly’s comments are great. Batman asks where the pocket park “is going to be.” “Where would the pocket park be” is more like it. A proposed change to land and buildings is a proposed change. Developers should not count their chickens before they are hatched. And we certainly should not count such chickens for them!

Editor’s note: What? — JD (Oct 2, 2009)

By: batman

batman — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 22:35:11 +0000

I’m just worried about the pocket park. Where is it going to be exactly? Hopefully on the side or something, and not the front…

By: David

David — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 17:34:23 +0000

So to respond to my own comment about more rigorous standards for determining whether an older building should be preserved, here is a criteria based on the National Register standards, and how I think the Perpetual Building may measure up against these standards. The standards are:

“The quality of significance in American history, architecture, archeology, engineering, and culture is present in districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects that possess integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association, and:

A. That are associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history; or

B. That are associated with the lives of significant persons in or past; or

C. That embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, or that represent the work of a master, or that possess high artistic values, or that represent a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction; or

D. That have yielded or may be likely to yield, information important in history or prehistory (i.e. archeology).

I don’t think that the Perpetual building is associated with a particular event that has made a signficiant contribution to American History. While the company may have helped advance civil rights for African-Americans by making some of the first loans to the black community in Montgomery County, these progressive policies are not in and of themselves discrete events. Nor is the building associated with the lives of significant historical figures. I’m not an architect or scholar of American architecture, so I can’t say for sure whether the building embodies distinctive characteristics of the period. I don’t think that the Perpetual building represents the work of a master or possesses high artistic values.

The first paragraph is pretty squishy. Is the significance of American history and architecture present in the building? Does it possess integrity of design, feeling, and association? I don’t know. Based on the more tangible criteria A through D (above). The building fails on A, B, and C and might pass the first part of C. This one seems like a really borderline candidate for preservation.

By: Lolly

Lolly — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 17:01:19 +0000

I love the older commercial buildings in Silver Spring, the ones like Perpetual and Club Soda. And we are lucky to have a few spectacular residential buildings such as the Watson House, the Condict -Greyrocks Farm, the Wilbur House and a few others. Thank goodness people before us fought to save the portions of Sligo Creek Park when it came under attack before, as the golf course is now. Thank goodness downtown did not become a monolithic retail/entertainment monster operated by absentee owners. Thank you to Wayne, Jerry, Marci, Lorraine, Bob, Marilyn, Sally, Rebecca, Rachel, Phil, Jim and all the other neighbors that fight so hard to retain some of the charm we are lucky enough to enjoy as we go about our business every day. Without the efforts of these people and many others (without pay) I fear we would have very little left here to remind us of the rich history of Silver Spring and Southern Montgomery County. I did wander down to the Planning Dept. to watch the slides and listen to the comments when the Pertetual building was discussed … the richness of the story was fabulous and not contrived as some who would profit from it’s demise would suggest.

By: Steve

Steve — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:28:36 +0000

I have to admit that I don’t always agree with Jerry McCoy and the SSHS (e.g. the NW parcel of the Falklands could go in my opinion), however I think they might have something with the Perpetual Builidng. I really like the unusual windows, and I think that with a little TLC the entrance could be made more interesting. I don’t see the need to tear it down – maybe just clean it up and give it a very light face-lift.

By: Jennifer Deseo

Jennifer Deseo — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:22:06 +0000

Suburban Baby Boom modernists can’t afford to retire. Same goes for quasi-urban, Gen-X lesser proletariats.

By: JG

JG — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:16:09 +0000

“…labeled the building’s style “suburban Baby Boom modernism”.

I really wish this generation would retire to Florida or go senile or something already. Suburban Baby Boom modernism? Please.