FRIENDS Testimony:

The Preservation Committee found the revised proposal to be a modest improvement to the original. The hierarchy of the fenestration and the use of divided light windows on the front façade enhance the reading of the building. However, at the rear, multi-light windows would be more appropriate for the punched window openings.

Although our Committee found the proposal to be acceptable overall, the application represents a missed opportunity for a creative new façade. At the same time, it fails to recognize the opportunity to create a design with a sensitive relationship to the building’s history. We reiterate our previous testimony in recommending that the applicant should either look to the 1939 tax photo as a guide for restoration or put forward a contemporary solution, rather than the proposed limestone Beaux-Arts pastiche.

The Preservation Committee at FRIENDS asks the Commission to continue to work with the applicant to come up with a more appropriate proposal.

Thank you.