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| The Enfield School Apartments are described as a model of adaptive reuse . |
The
Enfield Apartments building in North Carolina, constructed in 1948, originally
served the community as a school. Through adaptive re-use it continues to serve
the community and highlight the commitment to sustainability and community consecutiveness.[1] Where in any Prince George's County plans is
there even the faintest discussion about the possibility of potentially maybe
considering such a forward looking option on the part of our political elite?
In 1998
Darlington, Wisconsin, looked forward and after obtaining a $500,000 Community
Development Block Grant (CDBG) converted a 1930 historic two-story Middle
School complete with classrooms, a gym, and a locker facility into a
multifunctional community building. The town used the concept of adaptive
re-use to remodel the building into a multifunctional facility that included a
city hall, police department office, county offices, a senior center, a fitness
center, and a daycare center. The project undertaken by Srand Associates received
the Wisconsin Association of Consulting Engineers Achievement Award for
Engineering Excellence.[2]
On the
other hand, Prince George's County, Maryland, led by small group of narrowly
defined stakeholders, has no plans to consider adaptive re-use for any project
because the narrow idea of economic development in the county has little
bearing on sustainability and cutting edge "green" thinking, Rather,
Prince George's County has adopted the idea of either completely destroying
green spaces because it is cheaper to bulldoze "open" land in the near
term regardless of long term loss or pull down inconvenient "elder" spaces
because someone assumed it would be cheaper that rehabbing existing structures.
Adaptive
reuse of designated historic buildings is recycling on a grand 21st century scale. A trope of the environmental movement states,
"The greenest building is one already built." Extending the useful
life of materials and equipment back in an existing facility means using fewer
resources than constructing a new facility and preserving a connection with the
past which demonstrably serves to connect communities. While upscale, high
income neighborhoods are trying to figure out how to thrive in a world with diminishing
resources, Prince George's County's elite few have gone back to a time when resources were
considered infinite and gaining the most for the fewest was the normal course
of political life. The county is busy paving its way to prosperity obvious to
the new dynamics of a world increasingly looking to re-use what it has.
The
County elite seem to have no idea that existing buildings can be made energy
efficient through the use of "good ventilation, durable materials, and
spatial relationships. An additional advantage is that because an older buildings already exists, there is no reason
to use additional energy to create new building materials. According to the National Institute of
Building Sciences , "Minor modifications can be made to adapt existing
buildings to compatible new uses. Systems can be upgraded to meet modern
building requirements and codes. This not only makes good economic sense, but
preserves our legacy and is an inherently sustainable practice."[3]
[1] From
school to home. by Della Rose, 2011. Roanoke Rapids Daily Herald http://www.rrdailyherald.com/news/article_be8ae0bc-39d8-5bfb-8d2f-b624056b7e08.html
[2] Stand
Associates. http://www.strand.com/projects/building-and-facilities/adaptive-reuse-of-old-school-building-darlington-wi/
608-251-4843
fax: 608-251-8655
marketing@strand.com
hr@strand.com
[3] National
Institute of Building Sciences. http://www.wbdg.org/design/historic_pres.php
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