[wburg]

Economic reasons is one of the most important reasons for historic preservation, Grimnebulin--they certainly aren't mutually exclusive. The MARRS building is a historic building--Washington doesn't have to have slept someplace to make it historic. It's not a landmark, nor is it something that is going to get on the National Register. But it qualifies as a historic building, within its own context.

Yes, I liked the building, but I certainly don't get worked up about the demo of every old building, or you'd see posts like this a lot more often. If the procedure for the demolition had been more transparent, or at least more thorough, I'd actually be okay with it. Maybe not overjoyed like you cats, but at least accepting of it. Truth is, the building wasn't in very good shape and probably wouldn't have been useful for much in the way of adaptive reuse. Properly run through the system, he could probably convince even me (if it were my decision, which it wasn't) to knock it down and build something else. But this one smells. Even if his goals are admirable (and I'm not too sure about that) I question his methods.

Heller didn't do what he had to do. He did what he wanted to do. He found an out-of-town consultant who was willing to write the kind of report he wanted, rather than one that was fair and thorough. He's pretty much the city's golden boy right now, he could walk in and ask to demo the Memorial Auditorium and get the permit approved over-the-counter.