Gettysburg Visitor Center:
Too Old to Be Chic; Too Young to Be Revered

by Dion Neutra, AIA

Reprinted with permission from AIArchitecture, February 1998

To be considered worthy of preservation, it seems, a building must have been built prior to the mid-20th-century mark, or, at least, so say most agencies charged with this determination, like the National Trust for Historic Preservation and many state preservation organizations. This leaves a great number of worthy buildings vulnerable to destruction simply because they are too young at the moment they are threatened.

	Visit Christine Madrid's reCyclorama site at the University of Virginia, which also makes the case for preserving this architectural treasure.

The state of our own practice, which started in 1926 in Los Angeles, illustrates the problem. Most of the significant works produced by my father, Richard Neutra, in his partnership with Robert Alexander of the 1950s, and later by the father-son firm of Richard and Dion Neutra have suffered injurious alterations, demolition, and other undignified treatment. The same is true of the work of other modernists, for example, as has been reported in the recent press.

The Gettysburg Visitor Center and Cyclorama Building, by master architect Richard Neutra, is in danger of becoming the next "disappearing icon" from the firm's dwindling body of work. Architects can join a letter-writing campaign to help preserve it.

An article in last June's [1997] issue of Preservation News sparked my current focus on these matters yet again. In it was reported the threat of demolition by the National Park Service (NPS) of two Mission 66 visitor centers, one by Romaldo Giurgola, FAIA (see June, page 12), the other by the Neutra firm. Both represent mature works by AIA Gold Medalists. Because of an initial outcry by the AIA and other interested parties, the matter seemed to have been referred to a study that is due in 2000. A recent piece in the January Preservation News, however, indicates the Gettysburg Visitor Center has been given accelerated treatment, with impending demolition seemingly accepted by all with nary a mention of any historic value to the aging center or intent to preserve it. In the words of the NPS at the conclusion of a 60-page report: "The Gettysburg Visitor Center and Cyclorama Building, though the work of a master architect, cannot be considered to be an exceptionally significant example of Neutra's work and therefore is not eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places."

The implication at that point in time was that the NPS, blaming inadequate maintenance and operation budgets, gave itself permission to off this building in favor of a new, privately built speculative visitor's center with accompanying commercial strip mall and motels, etc., blighting at least seven acres of pristine and hallowed Civil War verdure. To justify this position, the park service badmouths the existing facilities as outmoded and unsuitable.

Disappearing Icons

If an agency of our national government has this little regard for a piece of our national heritage, who would assume this mandate? What other owner is more likely to look with reverence at a piece of worthy architecture? While it is true that there are about eight other examples of our work in the eastern part of this country, most are private residences subject to the whims of their current owners, and some have already suffered major remodels. While three are in the hands of public organizations, who knows the extent of their commitment to the integrity of their "Neutra icons"?

This past July, we witnessed the loss through demolition of our fine arts building at Cal State University at Northridge, the victim of the earthquake and politics. The quake claimed two other Neutra structures. In 1972, the famed steel residence for Josef von Sternberg, not far away, was bulldozed because it was in the middle of a tract needed for spec houses. Hundreds of units of military housing at Lemoore, Calif., are being considered for demolition because of intractable foundation problems. The only Neutra House remaining in Texas, at Brownsville, stands empty and graffiti covered, vulnerable for loss. This last example is even over 50 years old, but no one has stepped forward with the $500,000 needed to rescue and restore it.

The Richard and Dion Neutra VDL Research House at Silverlake, though owned by Cal Poly University at Pomona, is likewise threatened due to lack of funding, even on the eve of being declared a historic monument by the City of Los Angeles. This honor, unfortunately carries no budget with it for preservation; that is left to others.

Preservation Component?

Coming back to the Gettysburg situation, if, indeed, there is no way to derail the public-private proposal, how about a preservation component in the contract to commit the developer to work with the NPS to find adaptive reuses for the existing building and a budget to maintain it, in concert with new facilities to be built off site?

I deplore the current state of affairs in our country of no national commitment to preservation of worthy examples of the latter half of the 20th century at a time when so many are disappearing in front of our very eyes!

I'm just now cooperating with L.A.'s Museum of Contemporary Art, which has started work on a massive review exhibition entitled "At the End of the Century: One Hundred Years of Architecture." How many of the examples will it feature that will have to be labeled "Lost through demolition" or "Remodeled beyond recognition"?

I call for allocation of funding on a national level to restore and preserve worthy examples of architecture less than 50 years old!

Dion Neutra is principal of Richard and Dion Neutra, Architects and Associates, the Los Angeles firm founded by Richard Neutra in the early 1920s. He has continued the practice since the death of his father in 1970. He can be reached at 2440 Neutra Place, Los Angeles, CA 90039-3141; phone/fax (323) 666-1806, e-mail dion@neutra.org.

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