City Responds to Safeway Station Concerns
— by Jeffrey Wisniewski — 12 June 2009 — 3 comments below »
The City and developer have responded to the concerns of the “Safeway Station” in a four-page memo, including the following clarification (to the architect’s previous muffled explanation)…
The architect was inspired by the Waterfront Warehouse design motif and
traditional European train sheds. Traditional European train sheds had high
arching spans made of glass and iron. The transparent and industrial nature of
these sheds, celebrated, rather than masked, the trains and the movement of
people. This transparency is critical to the success of an unstaffed station as
stipulated in the Capitol Corridor requirements. The architect looked to the
Initiative for inspiration related to materials in context with the historic nature of
the site and incorporated the “Waterfront Warehouse” architectural style, which is
the style for “Bayfront Boulevard Main Street.” The Waterfront Warehouse style,
as noted in the Initiative, includes brick or brick veneer, cast stone or metal
details; balconies and galleries of an industrial character; and shed roof and metal
awnings. The material choices and structural form are reminiscent of the historic
nature of Hercules as a manufacturing town.
The most important unanswered question, glaringly left out of the memo,
IS WHY NO PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT IN THE STATION DESIGN?
In fact all the time, effort, and response the citizens of Hercules gave the city during the Szabo big-box series of meetings in early 2008 (in addition to every meeting prior) have been ignored. This memo reinforces the City’s lack of public involvement with the process. Details of the design (such as the one’s invented after the fact, shown above) fall secondary to this.
…And what of the fubugly clock tower?
There are still many questions to be answered. For example,what was the process used in hiring an architect whose style is the antithesis of the original philosophy and design agreed upon by the community? Why did the city take such a divergent path? What else don’t we know? How much money has Szbo earned for the designs submitted so far? Is there a personal connection with Szbo and the city manager or any members of the city council? There remains is a serious lack of transparency which needs to be addressed. The design can be altered, but can the City process be fixed?