Frieze Building Letter to Observer and response

Yesterday, I sent the following letter to the Editor at the Observer.

Dear Editor:

I have to let you know just how appalled I was to see the October Observer cover.

To see the eviscerated remains of the historic and wonderful Frieze Building where usually one finds soft-focus views of an idyllic Ann Arbor we can only wish Ann Arbor were, was shocking enough. A photo in a feature, I can imagine. For someone to sit and paint this scene, like a medical illustrator working off a cadaver, and then, for someone to put it on the Observer’s cover for all to see, I strive, in my best mindset, to interpret as a protest against the taking down of the Frieze Building. From a more cynical point of view, it’s just tasteless. Perhaps you can tell me which was intended.

The October cover easily reminds one of the famous photograph of the infamous, domed building, the pathetic shell, intentionally left at ground zero in Hiroshima, as a monument to man’s destructive nature. Perhaps Ann Arbor should leave the last of the Frieze Building in its current state as a monument to the relentless, styleless, even mindless development of Ann Arbor in the form of yet more brick-and-glass monoliths and taller and taller flat-faced, soulless buildings.

Sincerely,
Alan Pagliere

Here’s the response from John Hilton. Not bad. Thanks to him. I still wish the commentary nature of the cover had been a bit more explicit. It would have obviated the need for my rant.

Hi Alan,

The artist, Richard Campanelli, was pained by the loss of the Frieze Building, and moved to capture what little remained. He didn’t consult us in advance, but when he brought the finished piece in, I thought it perfectly captured an important moment in the city’s history–it’s real history, not some soft-focus idyllic view.

We’ve done this a couple of times before, with John Copley’s watercolor of the demolition of the old Broadway Bridge, and Jon LaRose’s drawing of the university’s Old Main hospital coming down. I see doing this as part of our job as observers–but I am sorry that it caused you distress.

thanks
John

ps the U actually does plan to preserve that shell–the Carnegie Library that once stood alongside Ann Arbor High–but not as a standalone ruin. They’re going to incorporate the facade into their North Quad complex.

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