Barat House, 1961Now, a longtime museum employee, Paul Sewick, announced this morning he has quit his job as an accounts receivable specialist as a means of protesting the building's demolition.
Concrete, brick, cinderblock, steel, and glass
Robert Harter Snyder
American, 1918-1985
This unique midcentury modern building was commissioned by the League of Catholic Women as a psychiatric clinic for young women. Its functions evolved over time, but it was occupied for more than 50 years until being purchased by the DIA in order to be demolished to create 65 new parking spaces.
Museum Purchase
Lack of parking continues to be a critical issue for the museum, and will become more so next year during the run of Star Wars. A recent survey shows that lack of parking is among the top three most significant reasons why residents of the three counties don’t visit the DIA more often.You can read Szewczyk's post here.
We hope that converting the property to a surface lot is a temporary solution while we continue to explore future-forward development for both the underground garage and the existing surface lot on John R. We would like to consider a plan that supports the “town square” concept, in which we can have sufficient visitor parking on John R while also a creating pedestrian-friendly public space that better connects the DIA with the Science Center, the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History and CCS.
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