December 19, 2007
MLK Library 'Possible' Bloomingdale's Location
The Examiner ran a story on Monday about Bloomingdale's recent round of talks with the city regarding opening a new store in downtown D.C. Along with the recently approved development at the Old Convention Center site, sources in the Fenty administration told Michael Neibauer that the talks have included the controversial Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library at 9th and G Streets NW as a "possible option" for the store.
The library, as you'll recall, has been targeted for closure for the last couple of years, as its in need of major renovations and felt to be an eyesore by some. Former D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams had proposed building a new library in the Old Convention Center development just a few blocks away, but the D.C. Council tabled that proposal and the building, which was designed by famed modernist architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, has since been declared a historic landmark.
Over at grammar.police, longtime MLK Jr. Memorial Library preservation advocate Kriston Capps argues that this idea seems unlikely.
Given that the proposed new library was intended to be a token aspect of an essentially commercial development at the Old Convention Center site, I find it far more credible that talks between Bloomingale's and the Fenty administration have focused on and will continue to focus on the prospect of the Old Convention Center site itself. Why would Bloomingdale's want to court negative press associated with replacing the Martin Luther King, Jr. Library—whose eviction from the Mies building has not (to date) drawn sufficient support from the community, despite aggressive promotion by Mayor Williams and significant developer interest? Why would Bloomingdale's want to take on the cost of renovation for the Mies facility when it could build a new store in a commercial center a few blocks away? Why also would Mayor Fenty choose to stake out a plan to draw a new Bloomingdale's into the city rather than to build a new library for the city (or whatever he perceives to be the solution to whatever he perceives to be the problem with the old library)? And if the whole problem is that the Mies building is so offensively ugly and unmanageable, what's Bloomingdale's see in it?Capps is probably right, not only because Bloomingdale's would be pretty stupid to try to turn the Mies building into a department store, but also because Bloomingdale's has been "interested" in a new D.C. store for the better part of a decade and has never followed through. It's a bad idea, but it's a bad idea that's pretty unlikely to come to pass.
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tempest in a teacup...
I hate that building! It's simply an unofficial homeless center filled with unhelpful employees. The only good thing in that building is the Washingtoniana section.
I love that building with all my heart. And although growing up in Chicago I know that Mies buildings make fantastic public spaces -- District Residents have so much hate for it. And don't seem to know what to do with anything that doesn't look like Socialist neoclassicism -- I'd be happy if it went to someone that WOULD take care of it. But Bloomies? Perhaps a Barney's (a real one, not one of those fake CO-OP store) or some high concept boutique. Or a couple of them. I suppose it good be a Bloomingdale Home store, since we don't have one of those and Federated seems to like to put them in unique locations (cf. the Masonic temple version in Chicago).
do we need a bloomingdale's? i never noticed we don't have one until now actually. can't folks just put more love into that library?
wait, what happened to nordstrom's? i thought that was the store that was being courted by the city to move downtown (granted, i never go shopping, and couldn't afford to at either of those places, so why should i care?)
BTW - first glance at the headline had this bloomingdalian thinking "the city is moving the main library to bloomingdale? where in the hell do we have room for it? :)
Actually, I find the employees there to be very helpful. Any time I've asked for help, they've taken the time to look things up or walk around with me to look for a book.
There are a lot of homeless in and around, but that goes for a lot of libraries.
I heard a rumor that the old convention center site is slated to become (among other things) the most exclusive shopping area in DC. If this is true I can't imagine any retail store (like Bloomies) would even consider going into the MLK building.
But Bloomies did just open right across Western Ave NW in Chevy Chase/friendship Heights... plus they are already out at White Flint and Tyson's (which isn't DC proper...) and they aren't too fond of stores too close together unless they share a different concept (like in NYC where SoHo is only trendy, smaller clothes while 59/Lex is the whole enchalada...). The building would be great for them, as is the location with the Macy's flagship store just blocks away, and the old Woodies Building filling up with retail, etc...and the new plans for the Old Convention Center... plus isn't Nordstrom looking at Georgetown Park Mall as a possible location?
It is ironic and fitting that the highest achievements and archive of our civilization now serve as a neglected background to slumber, fried chicken eating, small business accounting, and minor sexual activity, all of which I have seen in the past few months upstairs at MLK.
Why is it such a bad idea? Anything is better than that ugly homeless shelter of a library. That area needs more distributed retail options, and it would be very close to the new retail up the street at the old convention center. This is the kind of development that downtown needs, especially right next to a metro stop.
Can't they just dismantle that fugly nightmare and move it to Benning Heights where it belongs? All you van der Rohe fans would be welcome to visit and get shot execution style.
wow monkeyerotica- you make me hate you more and more...
Well, it's not as bad as when G Street was a "pedestrian friendly" Hubert Humphrey Plaza and public urinal. Most of the pee stink is gone. This thing cost $18 million? Is there any way to get our money back? What's the going price for a slightly urine-stained public library? I'm sure some billionaire poof would be willing to pay top dollar for their very own Mies van der Rohe and, barring that, towing it out to sea and using it as a surface-to-surface missile target.
Hey, another Chicago transplant here who wishes DC appreciated some modern architecture and not just Victorian/classic Greek stuff. DC1974 is right that Mies van der Rohe's buildings can be great public spaces, but of course there has to be some maintenance, and updating. If Bloomingdale could care for it, it would be their most "distinctive" buildings in the world!
Liked the Mies van der Rohe better than the deep dish (...oh, snap!) but must say he works better on a taller scale. The height restrictions make the MLK library look like some fuggly midget. Whereas, it works with the NeoClassical.
Major renovations have been neglected for years so it'll prob'ly take some bigbucks corp to come in and redo it proper. That being said, it's prob'ly not going to ever happen anyway, SO, let's not get our collective unders in a bundle.
Just because this building was designed by Mies doesn't mean it's worth saving. It's worth saving if it's a quality example of his work, and unfortunately, the MLK library is rather uninspiring. I lived in Chicago for several years and yes, his greatest works are indeed masterpieces. But the MLK library sadly just doesn't seem to rest well in its space. It just looks uncomfortable on its blocks.
And thank the lord that big department stores are considering opening up shop downtown. Georgetown really is unable to function as DC's main shopping district with its narrow sidewalks. I'd much prefer to have some NYC/Chicago-style big department stores downtown, like there used to be apparently before suburbia came along.
Oh yes, and put both Nordstrom and Bloomingdales near or in the old convention center redevelopment. When that site is completed, it's really going to provide even more energy to the area, with its courtyard and very urban, modern design.
with its austere design resembling the mutant offspring of the 2001 monolith and a diseased toad expiring in a pool of its own waste, MLK would make an excellent flagship Apple Store.
really, what's the point of an HQ library in that neighborhood? i'm sure the Penn Quarter crowd might use it if it had wifi, a cafe in the lobby, and didnt smell like pee, but they really ought to sell it and put the money towards bookmobiles or fixing the satellite libraries. i mean, WTF is up with the MLK bathrooms? did they get them second-hand from a Calcutta firesale? that's where toilets go to die.
monkey, you win for comment of the year. that had me on my a**.
"second-hand from a Calcutta firesale" aw man!!
also, i agree wholeheartedly. those bathrooms are nast.
i'm sure the Penn Quarter crowd might use it if it had wifi, a cafe in the lobby, and didnt smell like pee, but they really ought to sell it and put the money towards bookmobiles or fixing the satellite libraries.
MLK is the second-closest library to my house, so when the (woefully-undersized, but clean) Southwest branch was closed for repairs, I went to MLK to take advantage of the free WiFi, which was first-rate.
But, yeah, it does smell like a homeless shelter. I'm sure it'd be more popular without that attraction, whether or not it'd be possible to get a biscotti in the lobby.
See, what MLK should do is have some kinda public/private partnership where a local used book chain like Second Story sets up shop in the groundfloor lobby (with a local chain coffee joint providing refreshments) and the other floors are the library. That way, you'd be encouraging local small businesses downtown, you'd have regularly-swabbed crappers, and you'd could push the homeless upstairs where the ventilation is better. It's not a problem, it's an opportunity!
Brilliant