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Good books, old friends

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By Kara Kvasnicka

Tuesday, November 29, -0001

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Most coffee table books seek to be little more than eye candy. This one has a serious political agenda.

Its passionately composed text and spectacular photography reveal the variety of factors that threaten the survival of some of our greatest architectural treasures. In so doing, it blatantly beseeches our support for the World Monuments Fund, the organization which established the World Monuments Watch in 1995.

Colin Amery, a British writer and architectural consultant, and Brian Curran Jr., director of the Fund's projects in Great Britain, supply most of the evidence of neglect in this collaboration of concerned preservationists.

John Berendt, author of the atmospheric gem Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, provides an insightful foreword identifying the strong emotional bonds many of us have with historic buildings.

The maps and illustrations are credited to several sources.

Basic background information about the Fund and its Watch is given in a preface by Bonnie Burnham, fund president, and Marilyn Perry, fund chairperson.

A "private nonprofit international preservation organization" based in New York City since 1965, the Fund uses the Watch as a weapon, if you will, to increase awareness of imperiled landmarks it hopes to save.

So far it has identified 234 sites as being at risk, "ranging from ancient ruins and fragile landscapes to celebrated monuments and works of modern architecture." As indicated in the title, only 100 of these sites are described in the book.

The authors strategically play upon our sympathies from their opening pages by dedicating the book to the memory of monuments which have already vanished. Capitalizing on the public outrage that accompanied their destruction by the Taliban last year, they specifically name the Giant Buddhas of Bamiyan in Afghanistan in their inscription.

"Intolerance, war and politics," the authors warn, "can be as much the enemies of humanity's inheritance as natural disasters and the passage of time. Nothing is sacred and we must be vigilant."

A photograph of one of the lost Buddhas is placed just below this rallying cry. Remember, only through the photographic medium can we ever see these unparalleled sculptures again.

Organized by the continent on which they are located, at least one page is devoted to each of the listed sites. The stunning pictures alone will be enough to prompt most readers to start planning trips to see these magnificent cultural marvels before it is too late.

The authors' brief but absorbing commentaries on each give readers' even more incentive to pack their bags. In addition to a basic history of all 100 places, the authors share thought-provoking explanations as to why their futures hang in the balance and updates on efforts being made to rescue them.

Ironically, tourism itself is to blame for putting many of the sites in jeopardy. Preservation groups vigorously oppose development that would allow greater numbers of people to visit the ancient city of Machu Picchu, Peru's most popular landmark. A proposed cable car line that would allow tourists' easier access to the ruins might also "critically degrade" their "integrity and authenticity."

Those of us who have witnessed the varying degrees of success groups have had in preserving our local architectural heritage are not likely to be surprised by any of the inclusions in the Watch. We know full well it is not safe to assume anything will last forever, not even the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul or the Adobe Missions of New Mexico.

The authors adamantly assure us that designations on this list are meant to be temporary, that attempts are being made to restore many of the sites to their former splendor. Unfortunately, the price tags on those restoration processes can be exceedingly cost prohibitive.

A fortune has already been raised to reconstruct the Baroque majesty of the Belvedere Gardens in Vienna, Austria. Yet, "several million" more "Austrian schillings" are still needed.

Travel is also expensive, making this beautifully illustrated book, despite its own budget-breaking price, an invaluable alternative for those of us who can only dream of seeing in person all the locations it covers.

I think I would at least like to get to Prague's Historic Center and Lancaster County, Pa. before they completely lose their historic character to growth and expansion. If their "knights in shining armor" come through, I also want to see the buildings of Ellis Island as they were seen by my immigrant ancestors.

Meanwhile, I will just be happy to have the privilege of working in a local historic building.

For those of you who may be unfamiliar with my new stomping grounds, Goodrich's library is located in its two-block long downtown business district.

The village is comprised of several lovingly maintained historic buildings. And, like the majority of the buildings on either side of its main street, the library has a quaint red-brick exterior.

Interior features include high ceilings, long narrow windows with wide decorative moldings and "cottage cozy" oak shelves and furniture.

I feel right at home there among the ghosts of people who attended the Saturday night dances and silent movie screenings held during its former incarnation as the town hall.

I love unlocking the door each day and instantly experiencing, as Berendt calls it in his forward to Vanishing Histories, that "palpable connection with the past." This delicate link, Berendt reminds us, is irrevocably broken whenever new, look-alike buildings are constructed to replace their time-worn, but somehow irreplaceable, predecessors.

Much as I enjoyed my former position as children's librarian at the McFarlen Library in Grand Blanc, I simply could not resist this opportunity to manage a library in which the books on its shelves contain only half the stories it has to tell.

Kara Kvasnicka, a former East Village Magazine news editor, has been the magazine's contributing editor and research consultant since 1989. She is the librarian at the Genesee District Library's Goodrich Branch.

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