On Tue, 29 Dec 1998, Norm/Ilene Tyler wrote:

> And then, of course, there is the facadectomy of our Art Moderne Bus
> Station!  Larry is retired from the Historic District Commission, but I,
> on the other hand, have one more meeting to go, and it is likely that
> the applicant will come before us in January before I, too, can safely
> retire from the controversial vote.  The applicant "needs" to demolish
> the main part of the structure to be able to construct parking at the
> lower level of the entire parcel, and will then reconstruct the facade
> and front portion of the original design as part of the new first
> floor.  I think it is at least as good as the Washington, D.C. solution,
> but the integrity of the original structure is compromised.
>
> I feel it is better to reconstruct a portion of the building on its
> original site, than to move and/or reconstruct all of it on another
> site.  There are lots of historic associations at the original site, and
> its presence in the streetscape, and the appreciation of the facade by
> both pedestrians and those in motor vehicles cruising by, is retained.
>
> My position is open to criticism, for sure, especially from my spouse,
> but there it is anyway.  Maybe I will change my mind when it comes to
> the vote...that ought to scare the applicant, if he were on this
> listserv...shhh!
>
> Ilene

My position on this, as I made clear at my last meeting, is in opposition
to the proposal.

The bus station is an individual historic property (a city protected
landmark), meriting the highest level of protection available under the
Ann Arbor ordinance.  To allow a developer to demolish probably 99% of it,
leaving only the front facade, is a travesty.

If the existence of a protected landmark makes it impossible to construct
a ten-story building on that portion of the site, that is not really our
problem.  Ann Arbor has few buildings of that height in any case, and if
some more should be needed, there are plenty of other sites in the
downtown where they could be built.

This is a situation, once again, where someone has wormed his way into
getting the Commission to think it is obligated to approve something.
That resolution we approved when we denied the original demolition request
expressed our willingness to see "some OR ALL" of the bus station
incorporated into a larger building.  I don't think that "less than one
percent of the building" is an acceptable definition of "some or all".

Moreover, under this proposal, the east facade of the building and the bus
driveway or "covered street", character defining features, will be
completely destroyed.

The best way to preserve the bus station, under the Secretary of the
Interior standards, is for it to continue in its original use as a bus
station.  No one has suggested that this is not an economic use of the
property.

Ann Arbor is going to be hugely embarrassed by how this bizarre apparition
is going to look -- the bus station facade with nothing behind it but a
new ten story building.

I need hardly remind you that, when the original demolition proposal was
brought to us, we received an unprecedented number of calls and letters,
not to mention personal contacts, from people opposed to the demolition.
A lot of people are very fond of that building, and they look to *us* as
its guardians.

Of course, I won't get to vote against it, so unanimous approval is
likely.

I can't tell you how disappointed I am with my former colleagues on the
Ann Arbor Historic District Commission.

                                 Larry Kestenbaum