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A Facelift For The Old Man
By Martha Poole on Tuesday, May 5, 2009.
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Since New Hampshire’s unofficial mascot, The Old Man of the Mountain, collapsed in 2003, the state’s residents have wondered how to fill the void. While public consensus has largely been in favor of allowing the Old Man to rest in pieces, New Jersey architect Francis Treves has created a model for resurrecting the structure. Boston Globe reporter Brian MacQuarrie describes the design:
Channeling more of ‘Star Wars’ than stonework, the 45-foot-tall structure - a New Age face transplant, if you will - would feature 250 suspended glass panels, an interior skywalk, and even a waterfall created from diverted rainwater.
Not exactly what the townspeople of Franconia had in mind. Plans for a modest rock structure to be assembled at the base of the mountain have already been approved. Despite the inevitable opposition from traditional and frugal Yankees, Treves’s award-winning design has attracted attention. Some North Country dwellers admit they are willing to mull it over. Businesses in neighboring towns have endured a decline in sales ever since the Old Man crumbled. Such a spectacular structure could prove well-worth the investment. Who knows, maybe it’ll even look good.
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Mr. Treves has a good time promoting himself......The Old Man Commission held a national contest for a winning sculpture/memorial....His scheme did not meet the specifications and was not considered...It is too environmentally impactful, too dangerous on an unstable cliff and way too expensive....... I believe what the Legacy Fund has come up with is a fitting memorial and can be viewed by visiting: oldmanofthemountainlegacyfund.org
With all due respect to Mr. Hamilton
1)He claims that I submitted my proposal to the contest for tribute sculpture along Profile Lake which occured from March 15th of 2006 and ended on on Feb. 7 2007. I did not because their competition was not to redefine the icon up on Cannon Mountain but to provide tribute to its past below.
2)He claims that I have a good time promoting myself. I submitted my proposal to the Committee in various forms from Dec. 2004 to 2006 and never had the courtesy of formal review or correspondence.
3)He claims that the environment is fragile so is the edge of Profile Lake. There was similar concern when interstate 93 was built. This doesn't preclude that a new monument could be built with equal if not greater respect, and access, to nature and the environment.
4)Mountain stabilization is the domain of geotechnical engineers to define problems and propose solutions. If there has been no design fesibility study done based on a given design idea, there can be no basis for the claim that the mountain cannot support a replacement.
5)He claims that it would be too closly. There has been no cost assesments of the design, assesment of lost tourism review by DRED, and no proforma or marketing study done to determine its basis to bring revenue into the state so his claim is not justified. Speculation and fear of cost is no less relivent than speculation on long term revenue and profit the State of NH might generate.
6)The following course of events should be considered:
a)Bring to conclusion or change the political agenda by setting a time limit to raise funds for the tribute walk on the ground below Cannon Mountain.
b)Establish a new political agenda to fund the necessary investigations to determine if a replacement monument and redefinition of the icon up on Cannon Mountain can be done.
c)Abandon both efforts and investigate adopting a new State Symbol.