Dear Editor: Your article of the Martha Institute on July 23, 2000, said “Recreating the past … can never be the equivalent of what came before it.” I believe, neither should it be. Around 1858, the German Church, on Sixth and Garden Street, built the Martha Institute, and they have not been consulted. The purpose of the building was not to build an architectural classic, but to educate our children. Our purpose now should be to create a modern school, that would integrate the arts with modern technology. The building should not be an architectural classic of the old school, but a design that can furnish our children with an education that would be an educational classic, integrating the arts with modern technology. The Institute served as a normal school, and the Hoboken High School. When it was the high school, it was necessary to construct a large heavy fire escape, which was not constructed upon posts, and the weight of the fire escape, attached to the north wall of the building, caused the wall and the building to go askew, which is why the building had to be torn down. Hoboken has the talent in our public schools, in our private citizens and in Stevens Institute, to make the best use of modern tehcnology. I believe that they would help Suela Newman develop a modern curriculum, which would integrate technology with art in the new building, that would be the envy of the world. In the negotiation, I believe that representation from the Community Church, the building of the Martha Institute should also be present. Let’s go Hoboken! Otto Hottendorf