As predicted by many of us, the Overture Center would not be the end of the suburbanization of State Street. Take a look at this rendering of the Overture Foundation’s plans for the State-Fairchild-W. Mifflin block:
Exhibit A in how to kill a downtown.
Luckily, we have a newly re-invigorated preservation community, and the Madison Trust for Historic Preservation is leading the way. For a brief look at what the Trust proposes, go here. The highlight is this rendering, from about the same perspective, of the same block:
Note the re-imagining of a tired block. The block does indeed need work, but it doesn’t need to be torn down. It is a classic urban block, and needs to be rehabbed as such. The ugly fire escapes can, and should go away. With appropriate internal revisions it can be done, and according to code. Roofs can be re-inforced for rooftop festivities. Spaces can be aggregated/divided as needed. It just takes a little imagination. (And many thanks to Elizabeth Cwik–civic architect extraordinaire–for having exactly that imagination in formulating the Trust’s tasteful alternative.)
Embracing the quirkiness of old buildings is truly an art.
The Overture wants office park. In their view, the quirkiness of history-in-the-landscape must be obliterated! Their design is one of sleeky exteriors suitable for viewing at 35 mph, and giant floor plates offering interior expanses that only an insurance company could love. Cubeland.
The Madison Trust for Historic Preservation and other downtown civic leaders, on the other hand, want the old buildings retro-fitted with edgy interiors, maintaining the pedestrian-scaled historic exteriors–the kind of places that bleeding edge tech companies, architects, creative agencies and design firms would gravitate to.
Madison economic development know-it-alls are always going on & on about how we should be attracting just these sorts of leading-edge firms. Well, if we don’t hold on to the very places that nourish creativity (and it ain’t happening out in suburban office parks), we won’t be attracting them. And believe me, the actuaries inhabiting insurance co.-cubeland won’t be adding much life to downtown. They’ll brownbag it for lunch, and at 5 PM they’ll be hightailing it to their Blu-Rays in Fitchburg. The employees of creative firms on the other hand, dependent as much on networking as on their brainpower for success, will most certainly see & be seen at State Street’s lunch places. After hours they are more likely than your standard insurance co. drone to hang out at downtown’s restaurants and to take in some nightlife with colleagues & friends. It’s what we call economic development in the biz.
If you want to Keep State Street Real, see the Capitol Neighborhoods’s presentation on this very topic (info below).
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CAPITOL NEIGHBORHOODS INC.For immediate release
Contact: Michael Bridgeman, 608-334-8051“HISTORY AND ALTERNATIVE VISION FOR THE 100 BLOCK OF STATE STREET”
Capitol Neighborhoods Inc. to Present Free Public ProgramMADISON, Jan. 3, 2012 – As redevelopment plans for the 100 block of State Street continue to make news, Madison residents can learn about an alternate vision for the historic block across from the Overture Center.Capitol Neighborhoods will present a special program at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 26 at the Downtown Campus of Madison College at 211 N. Carroll Street. The event is free and open to everyone.– Local historian Gary Tipler will show vintage images and describe the history of the block bounded by State, Fairchild and Mifflin Streets. People with old photos of the area are encouraged to bring them to share.
— Jason Tish, executive director of the Madison Trust for Historic Preservation, will describe how an imaginative approach to re-using the existing buildings can add vibrancy to the area.
— Architect Elizabeth Cwik will show illustrations to suggest how historic buildings on the block can be re-used and enhanced.The Block 100 Foundation, created by Overture Center benefactors Jerome Frautschi and Pleasant Rowland, has advanced a proposal that would demolish all or parts of six buildings on the block including two local landmarks. Their proposal calls for reconstructing facades on State Street and creating a small private plaza at Mifflin and Fairchild Streets across from the Overture Center.Capitol Neighborhoods Inc. is dedicated to improving the experience of residing in Madison’s vibrant downtown and represents people who live in the five districts that surround the state capitol building. The website is at capitolneighborhoods.org
Contact: Michael Bridgeman, 608-334-8051“HISTORY AND ALTERNATIVE VISION FOR THE 100 BLOCK OF STATE STREET”
Capitol Neighborhoods Inc. to Present Free Public ProgramMADISON, Jan. 3, 2012 – As redevelopment plans for the 100 block of State Street continue to make news, Madison residents can learn about an alternate vision for the historic block across from the Overture Center.Capitol Neighborhoods will present a special program at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 26 at the Downtown Campus of Madison College at 211 N. Carroll Street. The event is free and open to everyone.– Local historian Gary Tipler will show vintage images and describe the history of the block bounded by State, Fairchild and Mifflin Streets. People with old photos of the area are encouraged to bring them to share.
— Jason Tish, executive director of the Madison Trust for Historic Preservation, will describe how an imaginative approach to re-using the existing buildings can add vibrancy to the area.
— Architect Elizabeth Cwik will show illustrations to suggest how historic buildings on the block can be re-used and enhanced.The Block 100 Foundation, created by Overture Center benefactors Jerome Frautschi and Pleasant Rowland, has advanced a proposal that would demolish all or parts of six buildings on the block including two local landmarks. Their proposal calls for reconstructing facades on State Street and creating a small private plaza at Mifflin and Fairchild Streets across from the Overture Center.Capitol Neighborhoods Inc. is dedicated to improving the experience of residing in Madison’s vibrant downtown and represents people who live in the five districts that surround the state capitol building. The website is at capitolneighborhoods.org
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