Dear Editor:
Rita Mann’s 7/24 letter calls for my response. I suspect that she still does not fully understand what historic preservation entails. She has moved away from the notion that no objective criteria exist for preserving old buildings. However, now she believes both Simon Silk Mill and Roosevelt Stadium do not meet criteria (not connected to significant historic events or important people of the past.)
Union City’s reputation as the embroidery capital of the country is well known. The Mill clearly is associated with our nation’s industrial era harking back to the 19th and early 20th centuries. Large mills like the Simon turned out specially embroidered products sold in markets all over the country. While our industrial era is over, this building reminds us of how many women and men once made a living here. When you visit the ground floor office of the Mill you get a feel for the life of 100 years ago that cannot be gained from a written account or period photo.
Roosevelt Stadium is also a living legacy. It was built during the 1930’s work program (WPA) in which FDR led the country through the Great Depression by putting people, particularly artisans, artists, painters, writers and sculptors to work. Thus the stadium is associated by name as well as by era with a president who was “significant to our past.”
Regarding adaptive reuse Ms. Mann suggests it’s too complicated. What’s complex about taking an existing building and using it, with some of its structure and ornamentation intact, for a new purpose? In my hometown of Phillipsburg, NJ, the Sanco Dye Works, another industrial building from the early 20th century, is being converted to retail and office us. The old Dixon Pencil Factory in Jersey City, now upscale housing, is a handsome presence in the once deteriorating downtown. These buildings are witnesses to a city’s industrial past that coexist with contemporary buildings and give depth and beauty to the passing scene. On an economic note, it is a given that such conversion projects usually raise rather than lower the real estate value of the area.
Rita Mann’s claim that “high artistic value” and “architectural significance” are a product of whim I silly. I wonder if those who saved Carnegie Hall and Grand Central Station from the wrecking ball would hold such a stance. These magnificent landmarks would be gone forever if public-spirited people like Isaac Stern and Jackie Kennedy Onassis had not spearheaded the effort to save them.
I believe that just as older people have much to contribute, older buildings do also, and it’s important that we do not destroy buildings just because they are deemed unworthy. I think it is extremely important that historic preservation play a role in the planning of the future of Union City. As part of that silent majority mentioned in the letter, I do not want the Simon Silk Mill to wind up like Roosevelt Stadium, fit only for demolition rather than preservation.
Judith I. Stone