May 2009
by Jerry A. McCoy
May is here and time again for communities across the nation to celebrate National Preservation Month. The theme for this year's campaign, organized by the National Trust for Historic Preservation to raise awareness about the power historic preservation plays in protecting the uniqueness and heritage of communities, is "This Place Matters."
Because of the lack of historic preservation in downtown Silver Spring, I'm compelled to alter this theme to "This Place Mattered" due to the continued destruction of our community's earliest buildings as part of ongoing "revitalization."
Last year the National Trust invited the public to submit photographs of folks posed in front of a location meaningful to them in their community while holding a "This Place Matters" sign. I immediately submitted a photo of myself in front of Roadhouse Oldies, a longtime Silver Spring business located at 958 Thayer Avenue. This business was housed in a structure whose rare 1946 façade was designed by the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Corp., the only example of this type of prefabricated commercial architecture in Silver Spring and most likely in all of Montgomery County.
by Jerry A. McCoy
May is here and time again for communities across the nation to celebrate National Preservation Month. The theme for this year's campaign, organized by the National Trust for Historic Preservation to raise awareness about the power historic preservation plays in protecting the uniqueness and heritage of communities, is "This Place Matters."
Because of the lack of historic preservation in downtown Silver Spring, I'm compelled to alter this theme to "This Place Mattered" due to the continued destruction of our community's earliest buildings as part of ongoing "revitalization."
Jerry A. McCoy proclaiming in 2008 that the 1946 Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co. designed Roadhouse Oldies facade matters. Unfortunately it didn't matter to enough people. The building was razed in 2009. Photo by Nan E. McCoy.
Last year the National Trust invited the public to submit photographs of folks posed in front of a location meaningful to them in their community while holding a "This Place Matters" sign. I immediately submitted a photo of myself in front of Roadhouse Oldies, a longtime Silver Spring business located at 958 Thayer Avenue. This business was housed in a structure whose rare 1946 façade was designed by the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Corp., the only example of this type of prefabricated commercial architecture in Silver Spring and most likely in all of Montgomery County.
I knew the building was slated for demolition and I not only wanted to raise awareness of the importance of the structure but of the 34-year old business it occupied, a landmark record store whose very survival in the era of MP3 downloads was amazing. The Silver Spring Historical Society crafted a plan to preserve the 12' wide x 14' high x 2.5' deep metal and glass façade by having it disassembled and placed in storage to eventually be reconstructed as a permanent display in Silver Spring's replacement library, planned for the corner of Wayne Avenue and Fenton Street.
Despite devoting my June and July 2008 Then and Again columns to the SSHS's preservation efforts of this structure, along with meeting Montgomery County Library officials to garner support, said support never materialized and the building was demolished last month. Roadhouse Oldies owner Alan Lee donated to SSHS the large metal sign that graced the front of the building while property owner Bob Hillerson generously engaged two of his employees who efficiently removed from the façade scores of metal moldings and strips and the building's original front door. The only section that could not be saved was the façade's expanse of glass blocks, although two examples were recovered. Photographer Chip Py documented the building's façade.
All of these donated pieces are now is storage. Perhaps someday/somewhere a re-creation of this important façade can be installed, thus preserving not only a unique architectural design but the history of record albums (Roadhouse Oldies is now located one block from its original location at 914 Silver Spring Avenue).
While the historical society was trying to save this façade, another project plan was taking place around the corner at 8222-26 Georgia Avenue. Constructed in 1922 this two-story brick structure was originally occupied by James H. Cissel's Silver Spring Building Supply Company on the ground floor and E. Brooke Lee's North Washington Realty Co. located on the second floor. These two Silver Spring "pioneers" collaborated to envision, build, and sell both commercial and residential structures, with no less than eight neighboring subdivisions financed and constructed by them during the 1920s.
What really made this structure, dubbed by SSHS as the "Cissel-Lee Building," unique and stand out from its neighbors was the incredible retention and preservation of its original architectural design elements. Most prominent was the building's slate shed roof (the only one in downtown Silver Spring) as well as its original three-over-one double-hung wood sash windows, installed on both the ground and second floors. This building was virtually unaltered on the exterior. As the oldest building on the west side of Georgia Avenue, this landmark building was symbolic of the earliest history and growth of downtown Silver Spring and its adjacent neighborhoods.
In 2005 the SSHS contacted the owner of the then vacant building to inform him about the history and importance of this property and to encourage the full exterior restoration of the building. After a couple of enthusiastic meetings the society felt very confident that the historical integrity of the building would be respected. Subsequently on numerous monthly walking tours that I conduct of historic Georgia Avenue I would point out the structure and express our pride and admiration that the building was going to be restored. Boy, were we wrong.
What can only be described as a "wreckovation" of the building instead of a renovation began six weeks ago. First removed and trashed were the building's original wood sash windows...the "eyes" of any historic building. A pleading call to the owner's representative to halt the desecration was not returned. Then workmen in a cherry picker started tearing off the 87 year-old slate mansard roof supported by wooden bracing that projected from the building's Georgia Avenue and Ripley Street facades. Finally more than half of the Georgia Avenue brick façade was torn down. The building's historicity was completely destroyed.
I became so upset and angry at the unnecessary destruction of this historic building's architectural integrity and the outright wastefulness of trashing these building materials that I filmed the demolition and placed the footage on-line at www.tinyurl.com/dbhxtd.
This cautionary tale will now become a part of my talk on future walking tours when groups stop at the corner of Georgia and Ripley. This intersection was also the location of another historic building, the ca. 1935 flagship Little Tavern hamburger shop, demolished by owner Pyramid Atlantic in 2003.
Along with the loss of these historic buildings add the 1998 demolition of the 1927 Maryland National Guard's Silver Spring Armory on Wayne Avenue, despite being "protected" by virtue of being listed on Montgomery County's Master Plan for Historic Preservation; the 2003 demolition of the 1950 Blair Station post office on Newell Street, eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places; the 2009 decision by our Montgomery County government to allow the total demolition of the north parcel of the 1937-38 Falkland Chase Apartments on East-West Highway, featuring 182 Colonial-Revival style garden apartments situated on nine rolling acres of mature trees bisected by a stream bed valley park that is eligible for National Register listing; and the imminently endangered 1958 International style Perpetual Building Association at 8700 Georgia Avenue, the best example of Mid Century commercial architecture in Silver Spring. All of this history either lost or endangered during the span of a decade. What community landmarks will we lose in the next ten years?
I urge you to "speak" up and share with others the places in Silver Spring, or anywhere else in the United States, that matter to you. Currently only five Silver Spring locations are featured on the National Trust's "This Place Matters" web site, viewable at www.flickr.com/groups/thisplacematters.
Certainly there are other places in Silver Spring that matter to folks besides the currently listed Roadhouse Oldies, Nolte Field, Kefa Café, Tastee Diner, and Forest Glen Seminary? PLEASE contribute your images to "This Place Matters" by joining the "This Place Matters" group on Flickr. You can download your free official "This Place Matters" sign at www.tinyurl.com/cxqav4 . If you do not want to join Flickr then email your photograph to me along with a few sentences detailing why the place matters to you and I will gladly add it to the site .
Despite devoting my June and July 2008 Then and Again columns to the SSHS's preservation efforts of this structure, along with meeting Montgomery County Library officials to garner support, said support never materialized and the building was demolished last month. Roadhouse Oldies owner Alan Lee donated to SSHS the large metal sign that graced the front of the building while property owner Bob Hillerson generously engaged two of his employees who efficiently removed from the façade scores of metal moldings and strips and the building's original front door. The only section that could not be saved was the façade's expanse of glass blocks, although two examples were recovered. Photographer Chip Py documented the building's façade.
All of these donated pieces are now is storage. Perhaps someday/somewhere a re-creation of this important façade can be installed, thus preserving not only a unique architectural design but the history of record albums (Roadhouse Oldies is now located one block from its original location at 914 Silver Spring Avenue).
While the historical society was trying to save this façade, another project plan was taking place around the corner at 8222-26 Georgia Avenue. Constructed in 1922 this two-story brick structure was originally occupied by James H. Cissel's Silver Spring Building Supply Company on the ground floor and E. Brooke Lee's North Washington Realty Co. located on the second floor. These two Silver Spring "pioneers" collaborated to envision, build, and sell both commercial and residential structures, with no less than eight neighboring subdivisions financed and constructed by them during the 1920s.
Jerry A. McCoy explains the historical importance of the architecturally intact 1922 "Cissel-Lee Building" to a group of visitors during a 2008 walking tour of historic "Main Street" Georgia Avenue. Photo by Marcie Stickle.
What really made this structure, dubbed by SSHS as the "Cissel-Lee Building," unique and stand out from its neighbors was the incredible retention and preservation of its original architectural design elements. Most prominent was the building's slate shed roof (the only one in downtown Silver Spring) as well as its original three-over-one double-hung wood sash windows, installed on both the ground and second floors. This building was virtually unaltered on the exterior. As the oldest building on the west side of Georgia Avenue, this landmark building was symbolic of the earliest history and growth of downtown Silver Spring and its adjacent neighborhoods.
In 2005 the SSHS contacted the owner of the then vacant building to inform him about the history and importance of this property and to encourage the full exterior restoration of the building. After a couple of enthusiastic meetings the society felt very confident that the historical integrity of the building would be respected. Subsequently on numerous monthly walking tours that I conduct of historic Georgia Avenue I would point out the structure and express our pride and admiration that the building was going to be restored. Boy, were we wrong.
The 1922 "Cissel-Lee Building" as it appeared on May 6, 2009 after its original windows, slate shed roof, and partial front elevation were destroyed. Photo by Jerry A. McCoy.
What can only be described as a "wreckovation" of the building instead of a renovation began six weeks ago. First removed and trashed were the building's original wood sash windows...the "eyes" of any historic building. A pleading call to the owner's representative to halt the desecration was not returned. Then workmen in a cherry picker started tearing off the 87 year-old slate mansard roof supported by wooden bracing that projected from the building's Georgia Avenue and Ripley Street facades. Finally more than half of the Georgia Avenue brick façade was torn down. The building's historicity was completely destroyed.
I became so upset and angry at the unnecessary destruction of this historic building's architectural integrity and the outright wastefulness of trashing these building materials that I filmed the demolition and placed the footage on-line at www.tinyurl.com/dbhxtd.
This cautionary tale will now become a part of my talk on future walking tours when groups stop at the corner of Georgia and Ripley. This intersection was also the location of another historic building, the ca. 1935 flagship Little Tavern hamburger shop, demolished by owner Pyramid Atlantic in 2003.
The circa 1935 Little Tavern hamburger shop as it appeared in 2002. The owner opposed historic designation and it was razed in 2003. The site remains empty to this day. Photo by Jerry A. McCoy.
Along with the loss of these historic buildings add the 1998 demolition of the 1927 Maryland National Guard's Silver Spring Armory on Wayne Avenue, despite being "protected" by virtue of being listed on Montgomery County's Master Plan for Historic Preservation; the 2003 demolition of the 1950 Blair Station post office on Newell Street, eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places; the 2009 decision by our Montgomery County government to allow the total demolition of the north parcel of the 1937-38 Falkland Chase Apartments on East-West Highway, featuring 182 Colonial-Revival style garden apartments situated on nine rolling acres of mature trees bisected by a stream bed valley park that is eligible for National Register listing; and the imminently endangered 1958 International style Perpetual Building Association at 8700 Georgia Avenue, the best example of Mid Century commercial architecture in Silver Spring. All of this history either lost or endangered during the span of a decade. What community landmarks will we lose in the next ten years?
A summer dance party held at the Silver Spring Armory in 1998. Despite historic designation, the structure was razed by the Montgomery County government later that year. Today the site is occupied by the Wayne Avenue parking garage. Photo by Jerry A. McCoy.
The 1950 Blair Station post office served as the test site in 1957 of "TRANSORMA," the 1st semi-automatic mail sorting machine successfully tested in the U.S. It was razed in 2003 despite efforts to incorporate the facade into a condominium project. Photo by Jerry A. McCoy.
The granite-clad 5-story 1958 Perpetual Building Association, designed by renowned Washington, DC architect Robert O. Scholz, is scheduled to be replaced by a 14-story condominium. Photo by Jerry A. McCoy.
These old growth trees will be cut down, the valley stream bed filled in, and surrounding 182 units of the 1937-38 Falkland Chase Apts. razed by approval of the Montgomery County government for construction of 1,020 rental units, grocery store, and parking lot. Photo by Jerry A. McCoy.
I urge you to "speak" up and share with others the places in Silver Spring, or anywhere else in the United States, that matter to you. Currently only five Silver Spring locations are featured on the National Trust's "This Place Matters" web site, viewable at www.flickr.com/groups/thisplacematters.
Certainly there are other places in Silver Spring that matter to folks besides the currently listed Roadhouse Oldies, Nolte Field, Kefa Café, Tastee Diner, and Forest Glen Seminary? PLEASE contribute your images to "This Place Matters" by joining the "This Place Matters" group on Flickr. You can download your free official "This Place Matters" sign at www.tinyurl.com/cxqav4 . If you do not want to join Flickr then email your photograph to me along with a few sentences detailing why the place matters to you and I will gladly add it to the site .
Leave a comment