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<DIV>Yeah - Gerald King - you said it so well. I agree</DIV>
<DIV>wholeheartedly - and I think if this idea was done</DIV>
<DIV>a long time ago ----------------</DIV>
<DIV>we would have been finished a long time ago </DIV>
<DIV>without all the agony & crap we have gone thru.</DIV>
<DIV>And our town would still have all the charm & </DIV>
<DIV>appeal that brought so many of us to THIS town</DIV>
<DIV>and we don't want to lose it.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>If Hyattsville can have all that charm & appeal</DIV>
<DIV>in new development that fits right in with their</DIV>
<DIV>historic nature -THEN WHY CANT RIVERDALE??</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>We have MORE HISTORY - DARN GOOD HISTORY -</DIV>
<DIV>than Hyattsville has, than Montpelier has or any other</DIV>
<DIV>historic home in this area -----and OUR MANSION</DIV>
<DIV>DESERVES A HISTORIC DISTRICT THAT DOES IT</DIV>
<DIV>PROUD. Our Mansion is a VERY important Historical</DIV>
<DIV>Mansion.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Every resident & new comer to this town should know</DIV>
<DIV>the details of the history of the town as well as the </DIV>
<DIV>mansion to promote education & pride in Riverdale.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>And if you ask any resident to give a talk on why</DIV>
<DIV>our town/mansion is SOOOO great - they will look at</DIV>
<DIV>you and say Whhhaaaatttt?????? Duh!!!!!!</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Outside the Historic District, meaning Kenilworth Ave</DIV>
<DIV>can design whatever they want that fits that community</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>BUT OUR HISTORIC DISTRICT should not only reflect</DIV>
<DIV>OUR appreciation of our Mansion but should COMPLEMENT</DIV>
<DIV>our mansion and show our utmost RESPECT for its </DIV>
<DIV>surroundings & our PRIDE IN OUR HISTORY..</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>If WE cannot show pride & respect for our Mansion</DIV>
<DIV>& Historic District - who else will ??-- moving into this </DIV>
<DIV>town or even driving by our town. Mt. Vernon, Lee </DIV>
<DIV>Mansion, etc survives throughout the ages BECAUSE</DIV>
<DIV>ITS RESIDENTS/CITIZENS FIGHT FOR THAT </DIV>
<DIV>atmosphere, architecture, love of its great history</DIV>
<DIV>and want to SHARE it with everybody and SHOUT</DIV>
<DIV>IT FROM THE HIGHEST HILLSIDE.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>COME ON PEOPLE, LEARN WHY WE ARE SO</DIV>
<DIV>PRIVILEGED AND SHOUT IT FROM THE HIGHEST</DIV>
<DIV>HILLTOP - HOLD YOUR GUNS TO MAKE THE </DIV>
<DIV>ATMOSPHERE/ ARCHITECTURE/ TRIMMINGS IN</DIV>
<DIV>THIS MANSION/HISTORIC DISTRICT WORTH A</DIV>
<DIV>sightseeing public visit and/or new resident proud to</DIV>
<DIV>be here.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Thanks for letting me stand on my soap box.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Emily</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV>In a message dated 7/16/2008 8:38:08 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
Gerald@geraldking.com writes:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><FONT
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>This is
a second try. I have eliminated the original message from <BR>Heather fearing
that it made my email too large for TownTalk. This <BR>message was originally
sent at 3:51 pm.<BR><BR>Heather Blanchard wrote:<BR>{I can't help but think
that the end goal would be to restore the Rte. 1 <BR>corridor into a walkable
community, similar to the approach <BR>Hyattsville's downtown. There would be
mixed use, incorporation of <BR>community needs and consistent
aesthetics.}<BR>What a quaint little thought. Walkable, mixed use, consistent
<BR>aesthetics-these have been the fantasy thoughts of the good people of
<BR>Riverdale Park. Too bad they are not the dominant thoughts of the
<BR>pragmatists, developers and and power brokers in this town and
county <BR>who see gold in this strip of the nations oldest highways. We
were <BR>told, the corner was too valuable to allow old buildings and a
landmark <BR>mural to stand in the way of building a brand new franchise
<BR>business-Exhart Drugs. They (Exhart) were the only ones willing and
<BR>capable to pay the absentee owners who wanted more for their properties
<BR>than any small businesses could afford. The deal had to include several
<BR>other (old) buildings that might be considered (aesthetically
<BR>consistent). Money talks and the demolition of all but one of the
<BR>buildings was done surprisingly quick. Then came the never ending
<BR>struggle between big bucks business, power giddy governments, and the
<BR>good people of Riverdale Park. Financial problems knocked out
Exhart <BR>and led to "The Field of Rubble" The financial value of this
large <BR>buildingless property can only be developed by deep pockets with
<BR>political pull. The good people of Riverdale and historic
<BR>conservationists posed problems for the deep pockets. Walkable, mixed
<BR>use, and consistent aesthetics are not conducive to financial sharpies
<BR>who seem to put maximum profit over citizen,s desires. This is not
<BR>unusual and I do not mean to imply that all the investors and developers
<BR>are mean spirited, cold hearted crooks. They are practical business
<BR>people who usually feel they are doing good.<BR>My fantasy (suggestion) is
to break up the property into separate lots <BR>(originally the there were
four separate lots). Then limited purchases <BR>to small entrepreneurs. Assist
these purchasers in financing the <BR>building of small one or two story
structures whose facade would be <BR>aesthetically consistent with our late
nineteenth-early twentieth <BR>century style. Save and restore the one
remaining building in the <BR>original land purchase. It has some fine lines
and good brick work. I <BR>know the old argument that its an eye sore
and not worth saving. They <BR>use that to eliminate historic buildings and
replace them with Rite Aid <BR>cookeycutter brickwork.<BR>Finally, I think the
town owes a reward to the owner of the Calvert <BR>House who is the only one
who has invested in a trellis in front of his <BR>business. I said "invested"
because it cost him plenty to make the area <BR>aesthetically inviting
and maybe even a little 'walkable'. We need more <BR>business men of this
nature.<BR>That's my rant. Once that fantasy is complete, we can turn our
attention <BR>to the other side of the street.<BR>Gerald
King<BR><BR>_______________________________________________<BR>TownTalk
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only<BR>http://riverdale-park.org/mailman/listinfo/towntalk<BR><BR>For more
information about Riverdale Park, visit
http://www.ci.riverdale-park.md.us<BR></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">Get the scoop on last night's hottest shows and the live music scene in your area - <A title="http://www.tourtracker.com?NCID=aolmus00050000000112" href="http://www.tourtracker.com?NCID=aolmus00050000000112" target="_blank">Check out TourTracker.com</A>!</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>