Liebeskind's Civic Center Re-design - 'The Response'
'Civic Center redesign draws critics
Capitol Hill residents attacked Daniel Libeskind's design for Denver's Civic Center on Wednesday night at the first town-hall meeting since the plan's unveiling last week.
Calling the plan out of touch, the vast majority of the approximately 25 people at the Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods Land Use, Zoning, Transportation and Liquor License Committee took turns critiquing Libeskind's modern design.
"The Libeskind design is an obliteration of the historical features," said committee member and resident Tamar Gerber.
She criticized Libeskind's use of water, given water issues in the West, and wondered why city officials wanted to overhaul the historic park.
Gerber and others said safety is the main issue at the park. She noted that when New York officials sought to revitalize Central Park, they focused on police enforcement.
The group applauded Gerber's comments.
Andrea Josefiak said she wanted to preserve the park as a historic landmark. And she denounced the Civic Center Conservancy as a wealthy interest group that wants to "put their stamp" on the park.
"I want to know what we can do to stop it," she said.
Dennis Humphries, chair of the Civic Center Conservancy design committee, took issue with Josefiak's comments.
"This is a park that is important to me," he said, noting his involvement in the area as president of the Golden Triangle neighborhood association.
Resident Randy Swan, president of the Cygnet Group, a historic preservation company, offered to have his firm come up with a new design.
The lone resident who spoke in favor of the design was Patrick Soran. He compared some of the concerns over Civic Center to concerns about Paris' Louvre Museum when it opened.
Soran said Libeskind's design could get people excited about the park.
"Yes, it's beautiful," he said. "But I go down there, and there is nobody in it."
Denver Parks and Recreation's Civic Center project manager Helen Kuykendall told the group that Libeskind's design is just to inspire input.
She said the city is going through a vetting process to find out "how much change can Civic Center take."
"This is not the plan that the parks department is going to build," Kuykendall said.
City officials are holding a series of town-hall meetings about Civic Center through mid-October.'
Capitol Hill residents attacked Daniel Libeskind's design for Denver's Civic Center on Wednesday night at the first town-hall meeting since the plan's unveiling last week.
Calling the plan out of touch, the vast majority of the approximately 25 people at the Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods Land Use, Zoning, Transportation and Liquor License Committee took turns critiquing Libeskind's modern design.
"The Libeskind design is an obliteration of the historical features," said committee member and resident Tamar Gerber.
She criticized Libeskind's use of water, given water issues in the West, and wondered why city officials wanted to overhaul the historic park.
Gerber and others said safety is the main issue at the park. She noted that when New York officials sought to revitalize Central Park, they focused on police enforcement.
The group applauded Gerber's comments.
Andrea Josefiak said she wanted to preserve the park as a historic landmark. And she denounced the Civic Center Conservancy as a wealthy interest group that wants to "put their stamp" on the park.
"I want to know what we can do to stop it," she said.
Dennis Humphries, chair of the Civic Center Conservancy design committee, took issue with Josefiak's comments.
"This is a park that is important to me," he said, noting his involvement in the area as president of the Golden Triangle neighborhood association.
Resident Randy Swan, president of the Cygnet Group, a historic preservation company, offered to have his firm come up with a new design.
The lone resident who spoke in favor of the design was Patrick Soran. He compared some of the concerns over Civic Center to concerns about Paris' Louvre Museum when it opened.
Soran said Libeskind's design could get people excited about the park.
"Yes, it's beautiful," he said. "But I go down there, and there is nobody in it."
Denver Parks and Recreation's Civic Center project manager Helen Kuykendall told the group that Libeskind's design is just to inspire input.
She said the city is going through a vetting process to find out "how much change can Civic Center take."
"This is not the plan that the parks department is going to build," Kuykendall said.
City officials are holding a series of town-hall meetings about Civic Center through mid-October.'
posted by Big Daddy at
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Denver
2 Comments:
I'm glad the civic center park plan is being criticized; it looks awful. I like the hamilton wing but I think civic center is nice as it is. Any suggestions on what people can do to help stop this?
I am sure there are going to be tons of public meetings on it. I doubt much of it will come to actually being built.
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