Pavilion Mansion Demolition
In case you hadn't heard (and do care), the older mansion part of the Pavilion at Church and Prospect appears to be on its way to demolition. It's sad to see such a prominent structure lost but all in the name of progress I guess. The recent HPC meeting didn't go so well for the owners in terms of PR but I suspect they'll still get their way. It's interesting that they cite their lack of maintenance and their use of a residential location for a health facility as primary reasons the structure needs to go. The planned replacement sounds like it will be totally out of character with the rest of the neighborhood. On the one hand, I recognize their ownership of the property should give them freedom to do with it as they see fit and others should have to buy them out if they want control over it. On the other hand, I recognize that choosing to be in a community means accepting the responsibility to get along with your neighbors and that zoning and historic preservation laws exist to protect neighboring property owners from blight and reduced value.
What do you think? Good riddance? Sad to see but oh well? Let's do something to stop this? Who cares?
The old Pavilion --- the
The old Pavilion --- the Harris mansion -- is among THE most historic structures in Champaign-Urbana. Period. Its demolition is a tragedy. Even cobbled on as it is now, it is a beautiful building full of marvelous history, including one of the most daring crimes in C-U history.
On the subject of
On the subject of preservation, the reality is that it always comes down to $$ and priorities. I'm happy when an historic structure of some sort is able to be saved & maintained, but I personally would not be able (or perhaps willing) to sacrifice for it. (eating is a somewhat higher priority)
As for "I recognize their ownership of the property should give them freedom to do with it as they see fit" I say only half-facetiously that with all the ordinances we pay our local governments 24/7 to come up with, they sure DO come up with them. I'm not sure there's much freedom to do ANYthing with our property---at least legally! (do we all get a city permit everytime we pound a nail to repair, say, a shingle?)
So, ideal sentiments aside, I generally have to admit to "sad to see-but, oh well..."
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