WestView Letter June 2014: Dear Editor,

Dear Editor,

This past March the Historic Districts Council held what it plans to be an annual event, a Design Awards program which focused on contemporary alterations of old buildings and historic neighborhoods. Each of the winning projects demonstrated in its own way that current needs for modern construction could be met while allowing for a sensitivity to context that ultimately enhances both old and new. The award winners included the restoration of Brooklyn’s Robert Moses era McCarren Pool and Bathhouse, the insertion of modern structures on the South Street Seaport’s historic Front Street, and the Weeksville Heritage Center, a new museum building adjacent to and respectful of a 19^th century African American freedman’s community. I mention this awards program because it sets a standard for new construction in old places by bringing attention to exemplary instances where this has been done. The Gansevoort site offers a challenge to create just such an example of neighborhood enhancement through creative design appropriate to the context.

Martica Sawin