100 South Mill Avenue

From the Vent in today’s Tribune:

“What in God’s name is that hideous glass contraption stuck on the side of Hayden flour mill (Tribune, Tuesday)? It doesn’t match at all. It looks ridiculous.”

Which, in turn, is a reference to this story: Historic Tempe mill will see glass addition

It doesn’t match? That’s the point! Serious historic preservationists want additions and changes to exisiting structures to be clearly distinguishable so that future generations can sort out what was done and when it was done to a given building.

Avenue Communities deserves applause for having the ambition to take on a risky investment–that is, to try to make a site that is challenging to build upon for many reasons economically viable. The geology of the site, the archaeological remains and the constraints of preserving and working around the historic structures make it vaery hard to get a return on the lrge investment this project will require. The plan must be striking and create a unique attraction for this to have any prospects of making money.

Without the Avenue proposal we could all face the prospects of gazing at a dilapidated eyesore for another decade. A hulk that would represent a financial black hole for Tempe, and all the while sidelining land that could be generating tax revenue for the City coffers.

Finally, thanks to the Avenue proposal, archaeological research on the site has already yielded much new information about the history of Tempe. A display at Monti’s has showcased some of these findings on a rotating basis. (You can find it in the Mural Room.)

So, bring on the glass box. The ideas as published in the papers look great–now let’s see some action.