| . |
Recent
Past Endangered List: Eastern U.S.
Format Change at
RPPN On-Line. Due
to an enormous response, and to make your world easier to navigate, our
"Endangered" section will be
rolled into the National Windshield Survey
for all future submissions. Instead of geographic listings, you will find
"Endangered" buildings and structures at the top of the page
under their "type" within the NWS. If you have not seen your
submission on-line yet and wish to politely remind the webmaster, please
send a note to submit@recentpast.org.
| The Museum of
Contemporary Arts and Design has purchased 2 Columbus Circle, designed
by Edward Durell Stone in 1965. Vacant since 1998, Huntington Hartford
commissioned the building to house his extensive modern art collection.
Because it is not a New York City Landmark, changes to the distinctive
facade do not have to undergo review by the New York City Landmarks
Preservation Commission. The Museum of Contemporary Arts and Design
has hired Allied Works Architecture, based in Portland Oregon, to
redesign the building, specifically stating that they plan to make
changes to the facade. Preservation organizations in New York have
advocated for a designation hearing for this building. Submitted by
Erin Tobin. |
|
 NYS
Pavilion Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens, New York. "New
York’s exhibit for the Fair was conceived as 'The County Fair of
the Future.' Of course this was to be America’s 'Space  Age'
World’s Fair and everyone seemed to be touting 'TOMORROW' in one
form or another. This significant structure is in serious jeapordy
of being demolished, even while a plan is being proposed to save
it! It will collapse or be destroyed very soon (we're talking weeks,
not years). Please speak up now and help the developers adapt this
building for a new use while saving and maintaining it's historic
design concept. The timing is critical! Dr. Charles Aybar, an aviation
executive, and Frankie Campione, Principal of CREATE in Manhattan,
offer an exciting plan to save this pavilion and adapt it for modern
use as an Air & Space Museum. But even with a viable plan on the
table, Parks Commissioner Henry Stern (the building's "landlord")
reportedly said he'd like to budget money to tear the "Tent of Tomorrow"
down because it serves no useful purpose. This coming AFTER this
proposal to save it! See the contact information below, and some
photos too! Please take action!" Author, Bill Young. For more
information see jetsetmodern.com
|
 Treasure
Island, Florida.
Member
Michael Stutz and RPPN received coverage in the St. Petersburg Times
for their efforts to document and preserve the mid-century resort
architecture of TI. See the article--There's
Cash in Kitsch--at the Times. But
a drive to revise local height-restrictions may mean the end of these
mom-and-pop motels. TI has lost three locally-owned motel/hotels in
the last year, at least one to the newest building trend: high-rise
condos with a view (link
to more information).
See more photos of TI and information, provided by Michael, on our
special RPPN page focusing on the bounty of Treasure
Island. |
| Connecticut
General Life Insurance Company and Emhart Corporation Headquarters
in Bloomfield, Connecticut, by Gordon Bunshaft, SOM, ca. 1950s |
|
 CIGNA
Corporation has announced plans to demolish two contemporary landmarks:
the Connecticut General Life Insurance Company and Emhart Corporation
Headquarters in Bloomfield, Connecticut. Both were designed by Pritzker
laureate Gordon Bunshaft of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in the
mid 1950s. The pristine 617 acre campus, formerly open to the community,
will be developed with 1.3 million square feet of office space,
surface parking, 400 housing units, a golf course, and a hotel.
This marks a dramatic departure from CIGNA's commendable stewardship,
and places a vital chapter in American history in immediate peril.
More Details from
The Campaign to Save Connecticut General site
|
| Cyclorama
Building at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Neutra and Alexander, 1958-1961
|
 Campaign
to save Richard Neutra's Cyclorama at Gettysburg needs your support!
This building, one of the earliest manifestations of a new building
type--the visitor center--is to be demolished as part of a massive
redevelopment plan approved by the National Park Service. This despite
a recent ruling that three other visitor centers of this period and
caliber are eligible as National Historic Landmarks. Please sign our
on-line e-petition calling for preservation addressed to the NPS and
President Bush today. See
the reCyclorama web site for more information.
|
| The
Carousel of Progress, Walt Disney World, Florida, 1964 |
|
"Debuting
at the 1964 Worlds Fair, the Carousel of Progress was Walt Disney’s
personal vision of hope for the future. Soon after a successful
run at the fair it moved to Disneyland in California and then to
its current home in Walt Disney World. 'Carousel of Progress was
Walt's own idea. He loved it,' as the introduction said. Unlike
the rest of Tomorrowland, this showed the future directly related
to your lives - learning about tomorrow from the past." Check
it out on these two sites: http://www.geocities.com/savethecarousel/whysaveit.html
| Save
the Carousel of Progress
|
|
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