NO ONE HAS EVER LOVED A GARAGE:

Architecture and Railroads: A Tribute (Paul M. Weyrich, October 7, 2008, Orthodoxy Today)

Last Sunday my son Peter and I were guests of Amtrak, the Union Station Redevelopment Corporation and others in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Union Station in Washington, D.C. The millions who use Union Station see a magnificent edifice reflecting the day when the railroads were royalty in America. President Theodore Roosevelt commissioned Union Station in 1904. In 1908 it opened. As its glorious history was discussed at the event, I could not help but think back a few decades when Union Station was close to being torn down. It was saved thanks to Secretary of Transportation (now North Carolina Senator) Elizabeth Dole.

Many expected Secretary Dole, serving in the Reagan Administration, to relegate this magnificent building to the wrecking ball. In fact, General Counsel of the Senate Steering Committee Mike Hammond arranged for her to do so if she so chose. Instead she constituted the Union Station Redevelopment Corporation as an early public-private partnership. The organization restored Union Station to its previous glory. [...]

The saving of Union Station marked a major change in the public’s attitude towards the preservation of classic American architecture. How many magnificent classic buildings were torn down in the 50s, 60s and 70s to be replaced by ugly steel and glass buildings which lacked character and soul? When one thinks of railroading one thinks of the great and grand Penn Station in New York City, which was torn down to make way for the cold, ugly Madison Square Garden. Fortunately it now appears that a new Penn Station, built from the actual interior of the Old Farley Post Office Building, may come back into being after all. The Farley Post Office was similar in design to the thoughtlessly razed Penn Station building.

I don’t always agree with Great Britain’s Prince Charles, but when it comes to architecture he is spot on. He has made it clear that he believes classical architecture is a tribute to God Almighty. I could not agree more. I hesitate to suggest to whom the ugly modern buildings are a tribute.

Henry Ford.

Posted by Orrin Judd at October 8, 2008 10:59 AM