A Question of Compatibility

Gossips has given a lot of attention to the new buildings going up at 102-104 Union Street and the fact that the reality departs significantly from the rendering presented to the Historic Preservation Commission. Now it's time to take a long view.

From half a block away, the new buildings, although they dwarf the house next door whose proportions the rendering purported they would replicate, do seem compatible with the larger context. The fact remains, however, that the Historic Preservation Commission and the public were not provided with the means to judge compatibility accurately. Perhaps the HPC should require renderings that show proposed new construction not only in relation to the edge of an adjacent building but also dropped into the larger streetscape.