Thursday, August 22, 2013

"Disassembling" a Landmark: Day 2

This is what the historic house at 900 Columbia Street looked like at about 7:30 p.m. today.


2 comments:

  1. This is such a shame. Not only has this man corrupted architecture with his infamous columns and his noted disdain for trees, now he is using his connections to rearrange the historical landscape of our city. I remember that he asked for permission to move buildings before, this one and the Taylor house, but I don't recall that permission was given. What do you recall Gossips?

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    1. Hudson DAR--Galvan Partners/Foundation proposed moving two houses: the Robert Taylor House and 900 Columbia Street. The Historic Preservation Commission denied a certificate of appropriateness for moving the Robert Taylor House, and Galvan initiated an appeal to the Common Council to have the decision reversed. They withdrew that appeal, but it was never quite clear why.

      The house at 900 Columbia Street was a different story. All efforts to save that house--beginning in February 2011 and involving direct appeals to Jeff Rovitz at the Mental Health Association and intervention at the state level by the State Historic Preservation Office--had failed, and moving it was seen as the only way to save it. It definitely wasn't the best choice, since the building was significant where it stood, but it was preferable to demolition, so the HPC and Gossips celebrated it. Of course, nobody anticipated that what Galvan meant by "moving" was demolishing and rebuilding.

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