Thursday, April 14, 2011

Will 35 Cooper Square get the St. Ann's treatment?


What if developer Arun Bhatia decides to placate members of the community by keeping part of the structure intact? Much like NYU did by incorporating the façade of St. Ann's into the entrance of the 12th Street dorm.

Goggla mentioned this yesterday in the comments about 35 Cooper Square: "I wonder if something similar could happen here where the façade (or some replica of it) gets 'preserved' purely for decoration."

Would this be a victory? Or is it worse to see the daily reminder of what was entombed around a soulless, glassy tower?

Or, better, 35 Cooper Square could remain, and the mystery project is built around the historic structure... similar to how the Cooper Square Hotel went up next door to the home of Hettie Jones...

[Image via Jeremiah's Vanishing NY]

[Top image via]
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8 comments:

  1. AnonymousApril 14, 2011 at 9:45 AM

    are we to become like a stage set where the facade is preserved and there is nothing left of the original structure? sort of like the movie blazing saddles?
    there can be sightseeing tours to see the shells that remain of the historic lower east side/east village.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bowery BoyApril 14, 2011 at 12:53 PM

    I think that the best we can hope for at this point is if they incorporate the house into a new design similiar to the way Gemma Restaurant is in the garage that was perserved when they built the Bowery Hotel. If BH can save an old garage, you'd think these folks can save the oldest structure on Cooper Sq.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ken from Ken's KitchenApril 14, 2011 at 1:12 PM

    Facades! That's what you'll find at East Village World® Resort. There are many guest services and entertainment roles in which our Cast Members bring East Village facades to life. From our enchanted parks and world-class hotels, to "underground" shows and beloved characters, East Village World® Cast Members take pride in turning facades into reality!

    ReplyDelete
  4. EV GrieveApril 14, 2011 at 1:16 PM

    @Ken

    Ha.

    And we're going to need room to park the buses. Maybe the Marble cemeteries? And a church... and a school. We don't need those things here!

    ReplyDelete
  5. LisaApril 14, 2011 at 1:44 PM

    @ Ken and Grieve - you are both hilarious.

    But I am not sure if the footprint here is enough to enable saving part of the original building; the St. Ann's lot was much larger.

    But at least I have solved the problem of the sinkhole - let's just stuff Arun and his crew in it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousApril 14, 2011 at 2:24 PM

    The facade approach is a disgusting and miserable compromise. It's just tragic to see a beautiful structure mutilated in this way.

    ReplyDelete
  7. CookiepussApril 14, 2011 at 2:28 PM

    The facade of St. Ann's looks disembodied.

    It's like here you want a piece of the body to remember... ok here's the head.

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousApril 14, 2011 at 5:30 PM

    You can't really preserve the facade on a building with a pitched roof, nor should you. All or nothing.

    ReplyDelete

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