Melani, Oh, I was so hoping that you wouldn¹t do that. I was sitting on my front porch, smoking a cigarette, thinking, ³Oh, I really hope Melani doesn¹t respond to what I wrote.²
But you had to go and do it. The fact that we do not live in a ³local historical district² did not stop you and your UCHS ³Friends² from launching a vicious, personal and unrelenting assault on the poor, tiny, empoverished congregation of Calvary United Methodist Church when Calvary attempted to sell the domes and church in order to preserve the spiritual community that inhabited that building. You had no benefit of historical ³restrictions.² As property owners, we had ³development rights.² But you and your comrades very definitely said that we were ³destroying the historic atmosphere.² You called up the Eastern District United Methodist Conference. You called the buyer of the domes. You did not rely on some historical designation. You used every tool of political power at your disposal to stop what we were doing. Your hypocrisy on this point is nauseating to me. Please take note that I have never once objected to this project on the basis of historical issues. There is little that I loathe and despise more than hypocrisy. You and others know well that historic preservation is not very high on my list of values; it¹s nice, but pretty low next to things like housing, food, health care, survival, etc. I personally have been uncomfortable about the focus that some have placed on the historic nature of the building. It¹s a very sharp double-edged sword that I won¹t use. Me, I don¹t care about that much about historic preservation for it¹s own sake. I do care about the present character of the neighborhood that I call home, and will fight to protect it. But you you have been so quick to abandon your commitment to either historic preservation or to the character of the neighborhood that it has been utterly shocking. For all our battles, I was always able to give you the benefit of the doubt and attribute our differences to radically different values you valued historic preservation over other things, I valued other things. You valued buildings, I valued people. But now I don¹t know what the f*** you value. It looks to me like the answer is nothing. I assumed that of course Melani Lamond and the UCHS, who I am usually opposed to, would of course oppose this. To see you, of all people, line up to support it . . . . Melani, we have had our differences, but I¹ve always liked you, and I¹ve tried to respect you, and I¹ve tried to understand you. You have utterly lost my respect and understanding. I just don¹t get it. Kimm On 11/12/07 10:12 PM, "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > In a message dated 11/12/07 9:40:16 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > Lewis, > What concerns me about this project is that it may set a precedent . . . . > > > Yes, Lewis. That concerns me too. Slippery slope, especially since both our > local civic associations and self-avowed civic leaders and historic > preservationists all seem so willing to cave to commercial and academic > interests at the drop of a hat. > > Kimm > > Folks, we do NOT live in a local historic district! Our area does not have > the benefit of those restrictions! There is no "caving" here. Property > owners have development rights. Folks around them whose properties are not > designated cannot say that a new building is destroying the historic > atmosphere. The historic atmosphere has no standing for the houses on 40th > St, the houses on Baltimore, the houses on the north side of the 4000 block of > Pine, any houses that might see the building from a distance through the > trees. They have no historic designation and can't use that as an argument. > > UCHS TRIED to have the Spruce Hill area put on the local register, but there > was opposition, just as there is opposition to every other proposal for change > in the neighborhood. Because of that opposition, our Councilwoman introduced > an ordinance to change the ENTIRE Philadelphia system for designation. > Instead of relying on the trained historians at the Philadelphia Historical > Commission, the new ordinance would have left it up to the district council > reps to designate or not designate areas. This got awfully worrisome, in the > fifth (sixth?) largest city in the US, one known for its historic buildings > and relying on tourism as one of its industries. Suddenly this was no longer > a neighborhood squabble, but a citywide concern. Political cronyism rather > than merit as the criteria for, or against, historic designation? That's > where we ended up as a result of lobbying our Councilwoman. Fortunately, the > proposed ordinance went into committee at City Council and never emerged > again. I think by now it's expired. > > If you care so much about tall buildings towering over Victorians, where were > you when the Spruce Hill Historic District was being discussed? I didn't > hear from you then. Excuse me for sounding a little shrill about this, but I > was president of UCHS for some of the many years when we worked on it. > > Al Krigman opposed the HD, and so did some others on this list. When it was > discussed on the list, people said oh, who cares, there's nothing special > about this neighborhood, and what can happen if we're not locally designated? > I remember writing about Ocean City, NJ where houses not in its limited > historic district get torn down every year, replaced by MacCondos built to the > maximum footprint and height allowed on their lots. MacCondos with > vinyl-sided chimneys, replacing handsome little 19-teens Craftsman-style > bungalows. Replacing spunky wooden houses that survived the hurricanes, the > ocean flooding down the street, and all of the other calamities of a vacation > town, only to be demolished in great numbers in the past few years, in a > matter of hours, by the wrecking balls. Not quite making it to their > hundredth anniversaries. It makes me very sad. I watched one go down just > last month. > > I think folks on the list thought I was a bit mad. I think they thought, "it > can't happen here." > > Well, it can. Are you ready to lobby for passage of the Spruce Hill local > register historic district? The submission is still in place at the > Historical Commission. If you're not ready to support it, then stop writing > about 11-story hotels and precedents. The application which would have given > us the limitations, is still there at the Historical Commission. Support it, > or stop wringing your hands in false empathy. > > - Melani Lamond > > > > > Melani Lamond, Associate Broker > Urban & Bye, Realtor > 3529 Lancaster Ave. > Philadelphia, PA 19104 > cell phone 215-356-7266 > office phone 215-222-4800, ext. 113 > office fax 215-222-1101 > > > > ************************************** > See what's new at http://www.aol.com
