From: Larraine MCNAMARA MCGRAW Sent: Monday, July 11, 2022 3:02 PM To: Elmer, Linda Subject: Fwd: Your July 6th letter, Hackett Development; an Architect's view Hi, Linda, I will be reading this email from Neil Today. Please put it in the record? Thanks. Larraine BLACK LIVES MATTER Larraine McNamara-McGraw 2633 N Hackett Ave Milwaukee, WI 53211 414-899-0883 U.S. = US Begin forwarded message: From: Larraine Mac Date: July 11, 2022 at 12:33:41 PM CDT To: NEIL THOMPSON Cc: Phil Blenski , Kay Wosewick , Deb Bylan Subject: Re: Your July 6th letter, Hackett Development; an Architect's view Neil, Thank you so much! You have added wind to my sails. The fix seems to be in. But, maybe we can do something. I look forward to meeting you in person. I love the Stonehenge. Best, Larraine On Jul 11, 2022, at 12:07 PM, NEIL THOMPSON wrote: For some unknown reason, my email to you below bounced even though it was your correct email ID. I hope that you receive this one. Best, Neil (301) 335-4515 Begin forwarded message: From: NEIL THOMPSON Subject: Your July 6th letter, Hackett Development; an Architect's view Date: July 10, 2022 at 9:37:12 PM CDT To: Imacmac@mac.com Cc: janet Thot Thompson Dear Larraine, I took great pleasure reading your excellent July 6th letter to the Historic Preservation Commission. My wife and I live in the Stonehenge Condominiums on the southeast corner of Park & Hackett, and have been monitoring the meetings & discussions regarding the proposed development on St Mark's land with interest. As a retired architect involved with well-known projects nationally & internationally, I've been considering the environmental (defined broadly) impacts of design & construction for my entire working life. I'm 83 now, and my thoughts don't come out as clearly as they used to, but they're still valid, and I wonder how I can most effectively speak to the issues we're dealing with. You are spot-on that the process is flawed, as it is everywhere, and it's worth fighting for what we know to be best for everyone, not just for those holding power. I started out working for Louis Kahn in the Masters of Architecture program at UPenn in 1963, spending more time in his office working on projects than attending class. He was a great inspiration to me throughout my life, working constantly to find what was best for humanity, not concerned at all with profit. It's an extremely rare gift to learn from someone who has that view of his role in the world. So that was my start. I worked with him on the Salk Institute (La Jolla, California), then took a teaching position at the University of Oregon before Kahn asked me to represent him in Dacca, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) on the construction of the Capital project. While there, I gave a tour of the Capital to the director of the US Information Agency, which led to a job as the agency's first architect to lead their program developing information and cultural centers in countries around the world. Over a few years, traveling to more than 40 countries, I designed, working with major american architects, libraries open to the public to enhance foreign relations worldwide and share a positive view of America's purpose around the world. Sharing and connecting cultures in a mutually respectful and fruitful way was the goal, so involving the best architects we could to create a beautiful environment was a vital part of the process. In 1969, after Congress dissolved the USIA and reorganized its functions under the State Department, I was hired by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission to implement the requirements of the newly-passed National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) as the agency's only architect. While there, we prepared environmental statements for the proposed Montague Nuclear Power Station (1977) and the Green County Nuclear Power plant (1979). Both applications for licenses for these billion-dollar investments were denied under NEPA based solely on their aesthetic impact. So it's not inevitable to me, as many of our neighbors think, that this project will go forward, because I've been part of a team that stopped much bigger projects. With this development, my question is: 'is this the best we can do?'. We've got one shot to get this right and make a significant contribution to the community. For something that will require a zoning change, shouldn't we use our power as a community to demand the best use for the community, with a proper timeframe to review the proposal and, perhaps, allow time for alternative proposals? I look forward to your response. I just heard today that there is a meeting tomorrow at 3pm regarding all this, I'm not sure where. Please give me a call, I'd love to help however I can. (301) 335-4515. Sincerely, W. Neil Thompson 2664 N Hackett Ave. Milwaukee, WI 53211 Larraine McNamara-McGraw 2633 N. Hackett Ave. Milwaukee, WI U.S. +1 414-899-0883