Republicans are embracing Democrats, and vice versa. Independents are hugging rank and file members of all political parties. Liberals and Conservatives are hooking up. Most amazing: city Democrats are even united as one!
What miracle could have brought this unheard-of spectacle about, you ask? The answer: the universal reaction (or better yet: revulsion) to the recently-released design for the updated City Center convention facility in the city’s downtown commercial district.
Looking like the textbook modernist school of architecture train wreck that it is, certain city officials perfected the “I really haven’t a clue” routine during the photo-op unveiling last week. While the civic design community has rejected this particular style as nothing more than an embarrassing historical mistake that gave the profession a black eye sure to last for generations, Saratoga’s leadership apparently thinks it to be a good idea to drop 1970’s urban renewal glass and steel into the city’s historic Victorian downtown landscape. Good thinking, folks.
The best regional comparison to this fiasco might be the Troy Atrium project – the two buildings look frighteningly similar. The City Council might be well-advised to take a road trip to the Collar City to discover just how well that particular project worked out. And then figure out a way to stop this disaster before the announced ‘late spring’ groundbreaking.
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RM
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