Rally and Press Conference to preserve 2 Columbus Circle

[Hellskitchen]

RALLY TO PRESERVE 2 COLUMBUS CIRCLE AS AN ART MUSEUM ON THE WESTSIDE
Committee For Environmentally Sound Development (212) 877-4394

Sunday, 11 a.m. December 20, 1998
At West 58th Street and Broadway
In front of the edifice

Participating:
Elected Officials, Artists, Architects, and Preservationists

Committee For Environmentally Sound Development (212) 877-4394
Press Advisory           Contact: Olive Freud  
December 17, 1998        (212) 877-4394

2 Columbus Circle - Huntington Hartford Museum

A rally and press conference to preserve 2 Columbus Circle will be held on Sunday, December 20,
1998 at 11 a. m with Councilmember Tom Duane, Councilmember Ronnie Eldridge, U.S. Representative
Jerrold Nadler, U. S. Representative Carolyn Maloney, State Senator Franz Leichter, State Senator
Catherine Abate, Assembly Member Richard Gottfried, and Assembly Member Scott Stringer.

This unique Edward Durrell Stone structure with Middle Eastern details was originally intended to
house the Huntington Hartford Gallery.  The Westside wants the building to be preserved for its
original purpose as an art museum. An Art Museum would be a welcome addition to the Lincoln Center
Cultural Corridor. We urge that the Mayor choose the Dahesh Museum as the next owner of this
architectural keepsake.

Not only is the art world backing the Dahesh, but also environmentalists concerned with
overdevelopment at Columbus Circle deplore the addition of the proposed Trump Hotel at this site.

======================================================

Will the West Side's most unusual building be preserved as a museum or razed for another Trump
hotel?

THE ART OR THE DEAL
From the Manhattan Spirit, Dec. 3, 1998
By Monica Rivituso

There's no denying it, the 10-story concrete structure that stands as the southern anchor to
Columbus Circle has had its share of criticism. Then again, the building at 2 Columbus Circle,
with its sleek, white Vermont marble skin, concave facade and engraved edges, is also referred to
as a "gem" by preservationists, museum curators and elected officials.

What the city thinks of the building has yet to be revealed, but ultimately, it's this
administration's vote that counts.

For about six months, 2 Columbus Circle has been sitting vacant. Two years ago, the city and the
Economic Development Corporation (EDC) put out a request for proposals for the site. Since then,
the city has been pondering the building's fate. A decision is expected soon, as the city has
reportedly whittled the choices down to two: The Trump Organization and the Dahesh Museum.

The proposals couldn't be more different: Trump wants to raze the structure and build a hotel,
while the Dahesh wants to move into it and make it a museum. There are strong emotions running
throughout the question of what should be done with 2 Columbus Circle. One thing is certain, the
decision could potentially change the shape of the gateway to the Upper West Side.

Two Columbus Circle was designed by renowned architect Edward Durell Stone and built in the early
1960s for Huntington Hartford, a wealthy businessman. His vision? The Huntington Hartford Gallery
of Modern Art. Today, people remember this museum as an offbeat institution that featured exhibits
other museums wouldn't show. The city came into ownership of the building after the Gulf and
Western company gave it to New York in the mid '70s. But the future of the building, which, until
recently, was home to the city's Department of Cultural Affairs, remains to be seen.

"No decision has been made yet," EDC spokesperson Janel Patterson said, declining to comment
further. "It's the policy of the EDC not to discuss pending decisions."

Patterson did say that proposals were being evaluated on more than their financial aspects. The
EDC is examining how the site would be developed in each proposal, including the impact on the
neighborhood. "It's more complicated than dollars and cents," she said, refusing to divulge the
prices each party was willing to pay for the site.

Donald Trump, who hopes to demolish the building and build a luxury hotel directly across the
circle from Trump International Hotel and Tower, not unsurprisingly thinks his proposal best suits
the site and the city.

"I know that as a hotel we have many more jobs to offer and much higher taxes to offer the city,"
Trump told the Spirit.

The proposed hotel would rise no taller than the building's current height, according to Trump,
who refuted the widespread notion that it would be a 30-story structure. He added that his project
would be a "beautiful, aesthetic" job, even though he admits the site is restrained.

The building sits on a tiny island, bordered by Eighth Avenue, Broadway, Columbus Circle and 58th
Street. And, according to information from the archives of the architect Stone, no two dimensions
of the site are alike. Although the lot can't handle the type of towering structure Trump is known
for, he still describes the location as a "gem."

vBut critics of his plan say that another luxury hotel, let alone another Trump hotel, would be
overkill at Columbus Circle.

Predictably, Trump disagrees. "The other site [Trump International Hotel and Tower] has become the
most successful hotel in the country," Trump said. "It's rated No. 1 in New York and I think
they'll play off each other."

But not if the Dahesh Museum gets the nod from the city. The museum, which collects European
academic art from the 19th and early 20th centuries, is now squeezed into a cramped, second-floor
gallery of a midtown building on Fifth Avenue. Not only isn't there enough office space, there's
no room for educational programs or even the museum's permanent collection. Of the 3,000 works of
art that the museum owns, none are currently on display, according to Dahesh Director David
Farmer.

Citing a confidentiality agreement that was signed when the museum submitted its proposal to the
city, Farmer wouldn't elaborate on the bid price or plans. He confirmed that the museum met with
city officials two weeks ago to make its case again for the site and that officials were careful
about setting a specific time as to when a decision would be made.

"We're proposing to take it [2 Columbus Circle] back to its original use," he said, adding that
auditorium space in the building could be a community resource for groups.

Farmer is also a fan of the building itself. "It really kind of fits right in and it works with
the circle," he says. "For instance, it has a curved facade that echoes the circle, which none of
the other buildings have."

James Draper, a curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, says 2 Columbus Circle is a "light
moment in architecture," and would like to see the building reconnected with it's original purpose
as a museum. There's also a question of how Columbus Circle would look if the building were razed.

"I think it would look gloomy without it," he said.

Two Columbus Circle was one of the earliest reactions to the high, modernist structures being
built out of steel and glass at the time, according to accounts. In a way, the backlash against
such constructions has had a renewed vigor on the West Side, as various projects have been
sprouting up one of them Trump's 16-building development on the Hudson River. For many
preservationists, 2 Columbus Circle holds the same significance now as it did when it was built.

"Environmentally, we're choking here with too much development. It's infuriating, the developers
who are let loose," said Olive Freud, vice president of the West Side group, Committee for
Environmentally Sound Development. She notes that 2 Columbus Circle was built as a museum and now
there's an opportunity to have a world-class museum move in. "The only ones who want to tear it
down are Trump and [Mayor Rudolph] Giuliani."

The Mayor's office did not return calls for comment.

Despite one developer's plans to raze 2 Columbus Circle, many say there's been a groundswell of
support to save the structure. "The building has a lot of friends," Farmer said.

Indeed, Freud's group favors supporting the Dahesh's bid for 2 Columbus Circle, and is adamantly
opposed to Trump's plan for the site. "It's really criminal to destroy a beautiful piece of
architecture," Freud said. "The city has done it before Penn Station for one."

Freud isn't the only admirer of the building. In a letter to the mayor dated Nov. 20, seven
elected officials urged the building not be demolished. "We would like to see the building at this
site preserved. Many believe it should be landmarked. We also feel the building should house a
worthy cultural institution, as it was originally intended to do," the letter stated.

Councilwoman Ronnie Eldridge, who supports preserving 2 Columbus Circle, expressed frustration
that numerous requests for meetings with city officials regarding the building have gone
unanswered. Too much in this administration is done in secret, according to Eldridge. "And this is
certainly one of the earliest and longest examples of that," she said. "You get worn down after a
while."

Assemblyman Richard Gottfried also supports preserving 2 Columbus Circle. "I think the first issue
is to preserve the building and second, once it's preserved, use it as a cultural institution," he
said. "I think it's really inappropriate the secrecy that has covered this whole business."

City Councilman Tom Duane, who is the state Senator-elect for the district that the building is
in, sent his own letter to city officials. "As the city struggles to come up with a solution to
traffic problems at Columbus Circle, and as the mammoth Coliseum Project moves forward, I believe
that it is of the utmost importance that we do not continue to overburden the infrastructure of
this area," Duane wrote.

"My hope is that the city will recognize the need for a use at Columbus Circle, which has minimal
impact on traffic infrastructure and which adds to the mix of cultural institutions in the area,"
Duane told the Spirit.

Despite the hopes of West Side officials and residents, there's a pessimistic assumption
throughout the community that Trump will get the site. Furthermore, a rumor is swirling that the
city will award it to the developer as a consolation for his losing the bid on the massive
Coliseum project. However, no one is able to point to any concrete evidence to support this
speculation. Needless to say, Trump disagrees with it.

"I don't think so at all. This [2 Columbus Circle] is something that I have always liked," Trump
said. "In a strange way, I like this site even more."