Open House: Better Doesn't Mean Good
On May 30th, the Historic Trust and Marathon Development unveiled their revised plans for the Academy site development. The design they unveiled was a bit better; the changes have resulted in design details that are somewhat more respectful and responsive to the character of the Academy. But those changes are also mostly superficial, and do not address the fundamental preservation issues with the proposal. Arched awnings and black balconies cannot solve problems of incompatible scale, massing and siting. The design is still one that cuts off important views to the Academy, cuts the Academy off from downtown, and cuts the Academy off from its history. The Trust made a big show of community engagement, but in the end, the Trust addressed very few of the comments they DID receive and certainly did not address any of the more significant historic preservation issues. More disappointingly, despite assertions that they would explain WHY other options were not feasible, the Trust just