A demolition contractor continues to make progress at the future site of the St. Elmo Apartments along Fairmont and St. Elmo Avenues in downtown Bethesda. Destroyed now are the former homes of Vuk and Chef Tony's along St. Elmo Avenue near the Bainbridge Bethesda apartment tower. Interestingly, the destruction of a wall from the former Bethesda TV & Appliance Co., Inc. on Fairmont has revealed windows and a hidden corridor at Bistro Provence.
Takes away one's breath, seeing through to another block and beyond. Imagine: open space.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the photos.
ReplyDeleteI find your use of the term “destroyed” very odd. Destroyed to me implies an act of violence, where the term “demolished” implies careful removal for a positive outcome. Semantics, yes, but the former term seems to intend to sensationalize the removal of a building as somehow a bad thing.
Regarding the newly exposed sidewall windows, it seems like a building code violation. When a new building is constructed adjacent to an existing one with openings, the contractor is required to infill the existing openings with appropriate fireproof material, unless the two buildings were owned by the same party, when connected and met the applicable construction codes.
By the way, a similar art-modern brick tower like St Elmo, was submitted to the Downtown Bethesda Design Advisory Panel for review at 4901 Battery Lane. It seems like lots of more of this neo-traditional architecture style is in the works for downtown Bethesda, including Hampden House, 8001 Wisconsin, St. Elmo and 4901 Battery Lane.