I buy into the proposition that great public architecture helps to make great communities. No matter how many beautifully designed homes are scattered throughout a town or city, no matter that there are historic gems tucked into the commercial blocks, it is the public buildings that define the community’s sense of style and architectural awareness.
The scale of these buildings and their presence as a focal point in the affairs of the residents, cause them to create a sense of place. If dramatic, or even especially visually pleasing, these public structures become the symbol of where they have been placed.
The soaring chambers of the Sydney Opera House “floating” in the city’s harbor, the open metal work of the Eiffel Tower cutting the Paris skyline and the Art Deco spire of New York’s Chrysler Building pointing skyward require no words to identify the locale – they are the “there” of their respective locations.
Closer to home, here on the Eastern Shore, we have two new architectural gems that will come to define and identify the communities where they are located. This quantum improvement in architectural awareness and style has occurred due to the vision and hard work of a handful of residents, along with a touch of good fortune and a bundle of money.
In Fairhope the new city library fills half a block on the former site of a pecan warehouse. The old, rotting metal and wood frame building – possibly historic, but certainly devoid of any architectural significance – has been replaced by a Spanish Revival stucco building that echoes the style of the old city hall, but on a far grander scale
The father of the project, Dr. Hollis Wiseman provided vision, initiative and fund-raising skills, while Mac Walcott of Walcott Adams Verneuille Architects designed the building and supervised its construction. The end product is a fitting symbol of the unique community of Fairhope. It is practical – providing a library that will meet the city’s needs for many decades to come. And it is a landmark architecturally – far overshadowing any other building in the city, including the utilitarian, ‘60s-style ex-shopping center that serves as the city hall.
Just up the Bay in Daphne, construction is underway on their new city hall. The project is described as an expansion, but when complete, virtually none of the original mid-Twentieth Century-minimalist building will be visible to anyone – not even those who know where to look.
Although a bigger, upgraded city hall had been in planning for years, an influx of new visitors, residents and businesses – many of them after Katrina – created a windfall in lodging and city sales tax receipts and in the collection of utilities fees. This new-found wealth – good fortune for Daphne – provided the opportunity to commit to starting the project.
Even better, there was real interest in building something exceptional. A symbol of the city – not just a place to house workers and to hold meetings. What came out of this commitment to quality is an Italianate design by Gatlin Hudson Architects.
The renderings depict a massive two-story building that covers almost a city block. The adaptation of this classic style is both attractive and appropriate, given that Daphne’s first settlers were farmers and tradesmen from Italy.
In keeping with the chosen style, there are arches, an off-center clock tower, light-colored stucco and a red tile roof. Once complete, this “expanded” city hall will house all of the city offices and departments. In addition it will provide a striking centerpiece for the planned revitalization of the Old Daphne Downtown.
While these two buildings will become the symbols of their respective cities – or so I claim – they also can be expected to affect architectural designs of subsequent public buildings. Functional design and exciting, or at least visually pleasing, architecture is important in maintaining these Eastern Shore communities as the highly desired, up-scale locations that they have become.
The bar has been raised and no longer will design and construction by these local governments be evaluated on a dollars-per-square-foot basis – or so I hope. These two new buildings provide evidence that architectural quality has been accepted as a major consideration in the design of public buildings here on the Eastern Shore – or so we all should hope.
Contact Pete Gleszer at jubilee@lagniappemobile.com.
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