Several years ago, I advised the Alexandria City Council that the all-glass building at the Edmonson Plaza was totally out of place in the Old and Historic District, and that it served as a signal to use glass elsewhere in this district, specifically at the North and South Robinson Terminals. The city’s planning staff and most of the Board of Architectural Review (BAR) are apparently taken with the idea of more glass in the historic district, since they want to approve another massive all-glass development for a 56-unit condominium building (King Street Gateway Project) located at 1604 to 1616 King Street. This particular development would be located directly in back of five town houses that were built in 1912. To their credit, at least two BAR members have expressed deep concern that this latest glass project is not in keeping with a historic district that is predominantly red brick. Obviously, the BAR will revisit this development again before it hits the Planning Commission and council.
Those of us who live in the Old and Historic District are concerned that an infusion of structures that are predominantly glass dilutes the character of the Old and Historic District. If this second all-glass development is approved, it is another yet another nail in the Old and Historic District coffin. At this rate, the Old and Historic district will soon be little more than a few scattered buildings to remind us of days gone by. The example of Chinatown in the District of Columbia comes to mind, where only the name of the district, the ornate Chinese Gate, and a few Chinese businesses remain, next to the Goethe Institute, Hooters, and Potbelly Sandwiches. As in the case of Chinatown (where tourists are bemused and confused by its transformation), the Old and Historic District may become a distant memory sooner than later. Once eradicated, it is difficult to restore the essence and atmosphere of a particular district.
Townsend A. “Van” Van Fleet
Alexandria