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Master architect comes to county to save Comsat

About 40 people turn out for three-day charrette aimed at preserving noted building; developer says they were invited late to event

Wednesday, June 7, 2006

World-renowned architect Cesar Pelli came to Montgomery County Monday to join the effort to save the Comsat building in Clarksburg.

‘‘My buildings are like my children,” he said. ‘‘I have tried to love them each for different reasons. ... Looking back on that period of my life, of all the buildings that were executed this is the best.”

Pelli said he was free in 1965 to be adventurous in designing the building because the client was anxious to get the building built and all they had was a six-week window for design before construction began. There was no time for back and forth with the client and changes.

That is why the design has a certain freshness, he said.

‘‘I have aged, but not the building,” said Pelli, 79. ‘‘As an architect I can say it’s a very important building, a beautiful building, a building that has served as the model for many other buildings by architects.”

Two local Pelli projects were based on the Comsat design — a house in Bethesda and Regan National Airport, he said.

Architectural historians consider the Comsat building off Interstate 270 the first high technology building, with its glass and aluminum exterior organized around a central spine. Two University of Maryland professors nominated the building for inclusion in the state’s historic registry and the county Historic Preservation Commission agreed, but the county Planning Board did not.

The question is now up to the County Council, which makes the final decision on the historic registry, but so far the council has declined to consider the matter.

Berwyn, Pa.-based LCOR bought Comsat and its 230-acre campus nine years ago and plans to demolish the building and build a mixed-use residential, office and retail development on the property. The county has reserved a piece of the property for a transit station for the Corridor Cities Transitway.

LCOR has fought attempts to declare the building historic, fearing that would prevent it from developing the property.

‘‘It is the easy, thoughtless way for the developer — tear it down and have a clean slate,” Pelli said.

This weekend Montgomery College architecture students worked with residents of Clarksburg, preservations and community activists to come up with plans for developing the site while preserving the building. Pelli’s associate Victor Agran led the charrette until Pelli arrived Monday.

Montgomery Preservation Inc. sponsored the three-day session.

A charrette is a gathering of architects to solve a problem, said architecture student Rachel Hazes of Bethesda.

‘‘It’s really exciting to be part of it and you come out with these viable solutions,” she said.

The nearly 40 participants came up with three ideas for the property. In accordance with the Clarksburg Master Plan, they have between 500 to 600 homes in a mix of apartments, townhouses and detached single-family houses and 3.2 to 3.7 million square feet of commercial space. They talked of building a community for a mixture of ages and incomes.

‘‘I am most impressed with the enthusiasm and the support — this is true grass roots,” Pelli said. ‘‘People came up with new ideas.”

Parts of the Comsat building could be used for offices, the rest as a transit station, museum or community center, they said.

Later additions to the building can be removed, Pelli said.

‘‘What is important is four wings with main corridor,” he said. ‘‘I believe there is enough land left, it can be a very successful development.”

LCOR did not participate in the charrette.

‘‘We only heard of it one week ago,” said LCOR Vice President Mike Smith.

Montgomery Preservation Inc. sent an invitation to LCOR’s corporate office, not the local office where Smith works, so the invitation arrived late.

‘‘We took this as a sign people don’t want us involved in this effort,” he said.

The charrette was not designed to be impartial because its goal is to preserve the building, Smith said.

‘‘The Comsat building is not a landmark, not historic,” he said.

LCOR has studied the property and has a wealth of information on its wetlands, topography, and road and school requirements that could have been shared, he said.

‘‘They missed the opportunity to involve us. We own the land and we are good stewards of the land,” Smith said.

Smith called Pelli’s office last week and spoke to Agran.

‘‘We’re not looking to develop this battle with LCOR,” Agran said.

‘‘If it is done in a cooperative fashion, then a lot can be accomplished,” Pelli said.

Working together they should be able to develop the property in an economically viable way, Agran said.

‘‘I look forward to working with Mr. Pelli,” Smith said.