REAL ESTATE DIGEST OF WASHINGTON DC
TUESDAY, APRIL 01, 2008
Armenian Museum to Renovate & Build Near White House
At the close of last week, the Historic Preservation Review Board gave
unanimous approval to a concept design for the new Armenian Genocide
Museum of America, which will take up its residence at the former
Federal-American National Bank at 615 14th Street, NW. DC-based Martinez
& Johnson Architecture designed the restoration and addition to the
limestone-clad historic bank, designated as a landmark on both the DC
and National Register.
The Armenian Genocide Museum of America will fully restore the ‘elevated
bank’, a term used for banks that house their main hall on the second
floor, both inside and out, to its former Neoclassical glory. Exterior
workwill include the removal of a superimposed facade that Hahn Shoe
Store, the longtime occupant of the street-level space, had constructed
long ago, as well as a general restoration of the building’s "vault-like
exterior design," as described by HPRB.
Along with exterior upgrades, AGMA will restore the historic two-story
banking hall, along with many other non-historic areas such as the
former boardroom on the building’s top level. According to Rouben
Adalian, Director of the Armenian National Institute, the fact that the
building is being turned into a museum will actually enhance the
historical restoration process because so much focus is being devoted to
the building’s aesthetics.
With the intent of avoiding unnecessary stress to the historic
travertine stairs from 14th street up to the central door and to
accommodate the crowds it will surely attract, AGMA will construct a
modern glass tower on an neighboring vacant lot to the east of the
future-museum. The new building, which will be equal in height to the
former bank, will serve to circulate the public through the exhibit,
housing stairs, elevators, public amenities and generally serve as a
public entrance. Said Adalian: "It will be a modern glass tower that
will complement the historic building and a lot of care and attention is
being given to make sure that it is a proper fit."
"The reason the museum board has been inclined toward a glass tower,
something that lets in a lot of light, has a symbolic meaning, to the
extent that genocide is a horrible story to recount. The old building,
which is a very closed structure with dark interior spaces, seems to be
a fitting setting for telling a dark story. And the glass tower stands
in a contrast to that in order to let in light on the subject matter, to
invite the public to come and visit and to learn from this terrible
event and about the value of human rights."
The museum will be devoted to the Armenian culture, and as an
educational exhibit of the genocide of over a million ethnic Armenians
(plus some Greeks for good measure) by the Ottomans, starting in 1915; a
fact still hotly contested by the Turkish Republic.