If buildings remain unoccupied long enough, then they become tourist attractions. Long before any buildings that were erected more recently than the pyramids become tourist attractions, however, they have to come to the attention of the Hysterical Society.If the members of the Hysterical Society reach a consensus that a building has any slightest quality of diachronic significance, then they begin shouting, "DON'T TEAR DOWN THAT BUILDING!!!" as often as possible. Various processes are put into play, along with certain legal maneuverings, and eventually the unoccupied building gets to remain unoccupied a whole heckuva lot longer than if it had failed to be anything but ordinary.
Personally, I believe that the building originally called "The Worcester Center Galleria" is of great historical significance. It stands out as a uniquely important example of a curious architectural era known as "urban renewal" that swept across Western Civilization for a very brief time. These structures of urban renewal, once so numerous and plentiful, are disappearing fast! The Worcester Center Galleria may well be one of a very few remaining that can yet be saved!It may well be that the long-awaited wrecking ball is being held back for just this reason. After all, the "big square" project hasn't shown any slightest signs of actually beginning yet. It's been an awfully long time since it was first hatched in someone's mind, hasn't it? Children have since been born who've had enough time to learn how to talk, use the toilet, and look forward to going to school.
Maybe if the Galleria is saved, those children will someday have a chance to tour this fine piece of architecture and learn about urban renewal. What a tourist magnet that would be, eh?
2 comments:
Worcester's first and most egregious urban renewal blunder was to sell the trolleys to some banana republic back in the 1950s. It's been downhill ever since.
My grandfather used to tell me that there was a fortune in copper and brass buried under the streets of Worcester (trolley rail couplings and fixtures).
The destruction of the trolley system is mapped out here. See the last paragraph under "Elements."
The bigger mystery for me, though, is who Jules Childer really is...
That name goes way back to a one episode channel 13 cable show that I did for Nick Cowenhoven, back before the invention of Wormtown. It was entitled "Jules Childer: Kitchen Mechanic."
Jeff
Post a Comment