I had the chance to spend a chilly week in New England recently and there is no way I would exchange B'game for a return to my native region, but one aspect of Yankee thinking is superior to our California sensibilities--historic preservation. With all of the historic structures in New England--churches, covered bridges, town commons, residences and commercial buildings--one might think Yankees would value them each a little less. But that is not the case. I had a chance to visit two different restored historic theaters and America's Oldest Restaurant and each venue treasured its history.
The Colonial Theater in Pittsfield, Mass and the Mahaiwe Theater in Great Barrington, Mass made me a little sad. Neither of these towns are economic powerhouses nor is Berkshire County where they are located. Yet each venue has a board that rallied to save them from The Claw over the last 15 years. As you can see, the Mahaiwe is now gorgeous.
Contrast that with B'game where the Encore Theater on California Dr. was demolished for just-another-bland-retail-outlet. Same with the Fox Theater on the Avenue. It makes me sad. Here's the old Encore.
At least we have the folks like Tom Gray and the B'game Historical Society around to save the photos of what we have lost.
I have fond childhood memories of the old Fox theater on Burlingame Ave.
And let's not forget what Apple did to the old Bank of America building!
Posted by: Joanne | March 21, 2014 at 03:04 PM
Apple are arseholes for what they did. Tearing that building down was unnecessary and when they are dead an gone we will be left with another ugly little glass box instead of a classic well built building with character. Jobs may have been smart but he was also an arse.
Posted by: hillsider | March 22, 2014 at 12:37 AM
I give great credit to Liz McManus, Greystone West and the Burlingame administration for working so hard to maintain the design and integrity of the Burlingame high school theater when it was totally remodeled. It would have been so easy to just gut it and put in all new "stuff"--but they didn't do that and the theater is beautiful.
Posted by: Linda Lees Dwyer | March 22, 2014 at 10:36 PM
Here is what Linda is talking about:
http://www.burlingamevoice.com/2012/04/bhs-renovation-something-old-new.html#comments
Posted by: Joe | March 23, 2014 at 10:33 PM