Preservation Round-Up: Building Disneyland Edition
By David Garber on January 23rd, 2012
Sleeping Beauty’s castle, c. 1955. (Photo: Flickr user Tom Simpson)
Construction of Disneyland – Retronaut
This great photo set from Flickr user Tom Simpson shows what Disneyland looked like in 1955 while still under construction. Less costumed characters, more scaffolding.
Bridging the Gap Between Historic Preservation and Sustainability - Eco-Structure
“In the not-too-distant past, the impetus for historic preservation was simple: Prevent old buildings from being torn down so that future generations could experience them. Preservationists were accused of keeping buildings frozen in time, and their mission was often misconstrued as being at odds with that of the budding green-building movement, which championed new and energy-saving technologies. This isn’t the case today.”
Purple? Pink? Yellow? Painting your old house. – Old House Web
“You’ve polished those old hardwood floors, painstakingly restored the original windows and scoured antique shops for the perfect furnishings. Your old house might be as historically accurate as you can make it on the inside, but what about the outside?”
[Editor's note: Can't say we agree with the statement that "in many cases even historic commissions are giving the enthusiastic go-ahead for vinyl siding use," the rest of the article is a good resource.]
Uncanny Valley: The Real Reason There Are No Skyscrapers in the Middle of Manhattan – The New York Observer
“It has long been believed that New Yorkers could thank God for their unusual agglomeration of buildings (or, for those on the Upper West Side not believing in His good work, eons of geological development). It turns out that Manhattan has a bedrock unusually suited to the construction of very tall buildings, in many cases just a few meters below the surface. But that solid land drops away in the gooey middle of the island, long limiting the heights of buildings in the city.”
Historic churches near Cleveland Clinic campus at center of debate over preservation, land-banking – Cleveland.com
“The Euclid Avenue Church of God and the Church of the Transfiguration sit empty on Cleveland’s former Millionaires’ Row, remnants of a heyday when mansions marched east from downtown. Their congregations have fled. And historic preservationists fear that both churches will disappear, swallowed up by the Cleveland Clinic’s appetite for land.”
Group wants to survey Pittsylvania’s old tobacco barns - Richmond Times-Dispatch
“Tobacco barns are probably the most prominent symbol of the process of growing, curing and harvesting tobacco. Information on the barns will be compiled and used to eventually seek their inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Landmarks Register.”
5 Questions with Joe Siry on Frank Lloyd Wright’s Religious Architecture - Wesleyan University
“We ask 5 Questions of Joseph Siry, chair and professor of art and art history. Professor Siry teaches classes about modern and American architectural and urban history. His book, Beth Sholom Synagogue: Frank Lloyd Wright and Modern Religious Architecture, was published by the University of Chicago Press in December 2011.”
David Garber is the blog editor at the National Trust for Historic Preservation. He wonders when Disneyland will itself become a historic landmark.
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