$10M salt shed faces community opposition

Salt shed

The latest design concept for a $10 Million Salt Shed On Canal Street in Soho was presented to Community Board 2’s Landmarks Committee yesterday. The Public Design Commission had sent the Richard Dattner & Associates design team back and forth over a three-year period, trying to “achieve an iconic, sculptural form…a geometric aesthetic with reference to crystalline structures,” according to Curbed. Architect Mike Friedlander began his presentation last night by noting that the sanitation department was working with a world-renown concrete specialist, since City Hall had told the designers that they were seeking an “object rather than a building” to meet the requirements of the Department of Sanitation.

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The community board pointed out that the salt shed would cost more than all of the nine other salt sheds combined, which are now under construction in various locations around the city. Some board members spoke about the dangers of unloading corrosive, air-borne salt to neighboring buildings, while others voiced their concerns about the architectural disconnect between the old historic brick structures on Washington Street, the new glass buildings by Philip Johnson and the proposed all-concrete salt shed. The Public Design Commission is scheduled to vote on the latest design at its Oct. 25 meeting. [Curbed]