Last Night's CPB 8 Meeting - Trust Kahn or Kahn Go Home?

Nothing much got settled at last night's Community Planning Board 8 Roosevelt Island Committee meeting on Southpoint Park and the proposed Louis Kahn/FDR memorial. It was an opportunity for the proponents and opponents of the project to express their positions to members of the Community Board which is a very good thing. For the most part, the Community Board members were not aware of the issues or history of the project but were very interested in learning which is also a good thing. None of the other item agendas such as the future of Coler- Goldwater hospital or Roosevelt Island transportation issues were discussed since the entire 2 plus hours were spent on the Kahn project.

What is clear from last night event is that this is about the Louis Kahn Memorial not a Franklin Delano Roosevelt memorial.

Advocates of the project made the following points:

1. detailed what a great President FDR was,
   
2. how the Kahn design is an architectural masterpiece,
   
3. claimed that Roosevelt Island residents and users of Southpoint Park have no greater say over the ultimate fate of the Park than the rest of the world and
   
4. those who oppose the Kahn design do not understand it and are not qualified to judge it unless they are architects.

In the words of one advocate for the design "Trust Kahn".

Opponents of the Kahn design:

1. admire FDR as much as anyone but do not think the Kahn design honors FDR but rather honors Kahn,
   
2. do not want the current views destroyed by the Kahn design (the proponents deny this will occur),
   
3. want a real waterfront park to play and relax in not a solemn memorial more suited for the National Mall in Washington DC
4. state that Roosevelt Island residents and users of Southpoint Park do have a greater say in the outcome since we will have to live with the ultimate decision on the fate of Southpoint Park on a daily basis unlike others who may visit once in their life and funds earmarked from Roosevelt Island are being used to pay for the park.
5. object to the claim that only architects can judge the Kahn design as an example of elitist snobbery at it's very worst.
   

Roosevelt Island 360 has an excellent summary of the evening as well as some additional images of the Kahn design.


There will be a Roosevelt Island Town Hall meeting on this sometime is February or March.

Image of Louis Kahn from Design 20.