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| | | Losing Meads Row | | June 22, 2009 | | | | The Historic Preservation Review Board frequently gets criticized for protecting properties that do not deserve protection. Unfortunately, however, it recently turned down a request to protect a series of nearly century-old buildings on H Street NE that should be preserved. This decision could harm efforts to revive what once was one of the District’s major shopping districts.
Meads Row, from 1305 to 1311 H St., may not be the world’s most beautiful examples of pre-World War I architecture, but the properties are extremely important to the area’s historic fabric. It’s not the least bit surprising that the Atlas Performing Arts Center and a group of restaurants are now their immediate neighbors.
We agree with Northeast Capitol Hill advisory neighborhood commissioner David Holmes. He said that the buildings are “based on the historic architecture of the area, and the loss of any of that fabric” would be disastrous “to the business model of H Street.”
Because of the board’s poor decision, the buildings will probably be demolished and the land used for a parking lot. We think the result will seriously hurt the effort to bring H Street back to its former glory. We hope the board will take another look and reconsider. | | | | | Log in to comment on this article |
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