Wednesday, March 5, 2008

the ruins:

It is pretty difficult to not see these crumbling buildings when coming in and out of Anacostia. Last fall similar pictures made the front page of the Washington Business Journal for the supposed progress made in their restoration, and the Historic Preservation Review Board ruled in favor of preserving their facades. Where is the scaffolding? Where are the construction fences?














ahh, the contrast of old and new
...and oh, you can take down that office "for lease" sign now.


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Update: okay, maybe I was premature in my "where are the fences?" comments, because reading back (on my own blog, no less), I realize that the developers said that they expect construction to start in August 2008.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I dont believe these buildings are going to be restored. Last I heard, they were being surveyed to produce HABS/HAER-ish drawings because the demolition of the buildings seemed inevitable. Not sure whats going on now.

DG said...

right. I don't think that the buildings themselves will be restored -- but I am pretty sure that the HPRB ruling means that the facades have to be preserved, and at least incorporated into whatever development goes up around it.

It is my understanding that the development will be a partnership between Douglas Development and Anacostia Economic Development Corp.