As a neutral comment on tall buildings in fayre Fayetteville, Arkansas, here is a suggestion: Head to the downtown Square and walk around the Bank of America building. It’s a half-block, all the way between Center and Mountain streets, facing East Avenue and stopping at an alley in back. The BofA is gone, and the building is being converted to condominiums above and retail below, I believe.
The deal here is to sense the difference in height. All the buildings on the Square are mostly three conventional stories tall; a few are two. So is, or was, the BofA: It was two tall floors, but height-wise comparable to nearby three-stories. Buildings along the Dickson High Street (High Street is Brit for the commercial blocks of a long road) are one or two stories, but a few are three.
The BofA’s new people are adding two stories so it will be comparable to a five-story, block-long building. The framing of the addition has been up, and most of the exterior walls are close to being finished. Compare the feel, light and even acoustics there to the other three sides of the Square.
It may or may not be a bad thing; mine here is a neutral call to make one’s own observations. People who care about the shape and look and style of fayre Fayetteville ought to mosey downtown, then visualize or project what you feel there to the sites of proposed improvements elsewhere. -30-
