The LPC sent us this run down of what happened at yesterday’s LPC hearing regarding the proposed “McBrownstone” at 27 Cranberry Street:
Seven people testified at the public hearing, most opposed.
The Commission took no formal vote on the plan, but sent it back to the drawing board. Commission Chairman Robert B. Tierney said “It’s time for a major rethinking.”
Nine commissioners were there, two were absent.
Here’s what others said:
Commissioner Michael Devonshire:
“It’s a remarkable building that has no place on this block,” he said. “I’m not looking for something folksy and vernacular. I think that the scale is much too grand for this particular context.
Commissioner Frederick Bland
He said the block is very different from other blocks in the Heights and the block has an unusually large number of frame houses from the Federal period. “It’s a very special, fragile, small scale street”
“I think it’s wholly inappropriate on this block and in this setting,” he said. “It just breaks with its immediate context in too dramatic a way. It’s muscular in every way and I hate to say this but it’s almost like a McMansion is wedging its way into this enclave in the Heights.
He added, “It feels like an institutional building.
Commissioner Elizabeth Ryan
Said the height, scale and depth is wrong for the block
“My colleague says it’s muscular, I say it’s aggressive.”
She also took exception to the building’s proportion of glass to stone, aka “void to solid ratio,” and questioned the use of brownstone on the block.
Commissioner Diana Chapin
“I actually find this quite an attractive building,” but said the massing and scale are too large for the block.
Comments are closed.