Lloyd Alter

A Visit To A Very Different Michigan Central Station

By total coincidence, the day I wrote the post below on Michigan Central Station, I visited St. Thomas Ontario for the first meeting of the local chapter of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario, which was held in another station on the same line.

Yesterday I wrote about the possible loss of Michigan Central Station in Detroit, which I considered a tragedy. Citizens of Detroit disagreed, saying that there was no money, there were other greater needs, and that it was too far gone to be saved. Coincidentally, last night I found myself 110 miles down the track in another abandoned and deteriorated Michigan Central Railroad Station, in another economically depressed town, St. Thomas, Ontario, that is following a very different trajectory. More in TreeHugger

Michigan Central Station To Be Demolished With Stimulus Money

Anyone who cares about architecture should be just sick about what is going on in Detroit: The mayor wants an "emergency demolition" of one of the city's greatest buildings, the Michigan Central Station, designed by the same firms that built Grand Central Station in New York. To add insult to this extreme injury, they want to use $3.6 million in Stimulus funds to do it. More in TreeHugger

How Will Historic Buildings Fare During the Recession?

Interesting article by David Hill in Architectural Record:

Like most market sectors that require architectural services, historic preservation has been hit hard by the economic downturn. Newspapers around the country are peppered with reports of preservation or renovation projects that are up in the air due to funding challenges. But preservationists do see a possible silver lining: some historic buildings that might otherwise have been torn down because of rampant development may escape the wrecking ball.

“There’s probably no better friend to historic preservation than a good recession,” says Robert Musgraves, executive director of the nonprofit Historic Denver, Inc. “It may not be a good thing for society, but it does tend to bring development projects to a standstill, or at least cause them to slow down a little bit. When things are going fast and furiously, it can be difficult for historic preservation organizations to keep up with the challenges and opportunities out there. A recession gives them a little breathing room.” More in the Architectural Record

Why Old Windows are Green Windows

Steve Thomas recently wrote a post entitled Convince Your Local Historic Commission to Go Green, and noted that "I'm very much in favor of historic houses. I think that historic commissions have to expand their thinking a little bit and let homeowners make green upgrades." He also noted that the Historical Commission in Salem, where he lives, won't let him change his windows. Finally he writes "historic commissions will need to upgrade their technological thinking on it and allow homeowners to green their historic houses."

I try and explain why they do what they do. Why Old Windows are Green Windows

When Times are tough, reach for a Gun

Writing in Acorn, the journal of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario:

Times are tough all over right now, and unemployment is rising. North and south of the border, people are talking about stimulus, about the need to inject money into the economy. Roads. Bridges. “Shovel ready” projects that put people to work.

But people don’t build roads with shovels any more, they use big machines, made in Japan or Peoria. Dr. Jim McNiven, professor emeritus and former dean of management at Dalhousie University notes in the Globe and Mail that the way we build things has changed in seventy years:

On saving old windows

I have become a bit crazed about saving old windows, it is quite a battle. The National Trust for Historic Preservation covers the issue well, and has a forum on historic windows going on right now. See the Forum on Historic Windows: Part 1