[Aylesford Place] Fwd: Lexington Deserves Better

[Ben Self]

For those that aren't on the ProgressLex list, I thought you might be interested in the following petition. 

Please take a moment to sign it, and then forward on to your friends.

Thanks,
-Ben


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Ben Self
b...@benself.com
Cell: (859) 536-3239

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Dan Rowland, ProgressLex <con...@progresslex.org>
Date: Tue, May 11, 2010 at 2:03 PM
Subject: Lexington Deserves Better
To: ben...@gmail.com

Dear Friend - Click here to sign our petition demanding that CVS reconsider its design for downtown Lexington. Lexington has long suffered at the hands of developers who don’t value or respect the way a downtown should look and feel. In the most recent example, CVS has proposed building a suburban CVS at the entrance to our downtown, between Main and Vine. This site is one of the most crucial in downtown Lexington. The buildings at this intersection set the tone for most visitors entering Main Street and downtown Lexington. A suburban CVS has no place in our downtown. CVS should deliver a store appropriate for an urban location. We know they can do it — they do it in most major metropolitan areas — and when pressured, they also do it in smaller cities. We need to apply that pressure, now — before a design is finalized. It is because of this that ProgressLex has launched Lexington Deserves Better, a petition aimed to urge our city leaders and Mayor to demand that CVS not build a suburban CVS in our downtown. To join us, sign the petition here. The current CVS design doesn't live up to Lexington's aesthetic. It fails to make the dignified presentation that is demanded by the site. The building's location is where traffic from the east is introduced to the downtown district. The site functions like a portal to downtown, and it should have a building with appropriate visual gravity, as indicated by the Downtown Master Plan. The current design reflects a far greater effort to stamp the building with the CVS brand than to respect and respond to the downtown context. The synthetic stucco arches, for example, have no architectural integrity, make no reference to any architectural idea or form, yet they are dominant elements. Simply put, the arches are CVS signage, without the letters. This may be acceptable in the more vulgar environment of a strip mall, but not in a downtown environment where a higher degree of dignity is expected. One can see in the photo of the CVS building in North Carolina that this kind of pervasive, obnoxious branding is not necessary, and that the building is vastly improved by its exclusion. Join us today in demanding that CVS reconsider its current design.   With your help, together, we can re-shape the look of our downtown.  After all, if we don’t care enough to do something about it, why should the developers? In solidarity, Dan Rowland Chair, ProgressLex PS - Once you sign the petition, don't forget to forward this email to all of your friends and family.  The more people who sign the petition and are aware of this issue, the bigger chance of success we all have.  Thanks! Unsubscribe ben...@gmail.com from this list | Forward to a friend

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