I could not believe my eyes as they beheld the new library facades in the recent Cape Gazette article. At first I thought the A view was a retro 50s with elements of the Jetsons design for a new elementary school or a very large McDonalds, and as for the B design, it looks like part of an airport concourse or the viewing box at a stadium or horse track.
I was amazed that in a town where the ordinary homeowner cannot make even a small change to the façade of his home in the historic district without strict oversight from our Historic Preservation Commission, that something as non- Lewes as these designs, are out of their purview. A few token cedar shakes does not a Lewes structure make.
Maybe if either of these designs were on a lot outside of town proper they would be okay, but even then they would not harmonize with much around here. I never thought I’d say this, but the strip malls on Route1 have better esthetic looks.
It mystifies me as how these designs fit in with Adams/Railroad Avenue, Stango Park and old library building area. One would have thought the same brick/cedar shake colonial with Victorian accent style would have complemented the space better. Even an actual early Deco (circa1912) or Victorian railroad station look would have more in keeping with the area.
The Lewes of my childhood has worked hard to make itself a quaint, beautiful, little destination that harkens back to a simpler time and then for someone to round a corner on Adams Street after admiring the Pink House and sit in the park and look up and be jarred into some bad view of the future is somehow odd or very sad depending on your point of view.
HPC help us all!
Patricia Kaminsky
Lewes
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