The situation is looking less dire but more confusing down at 112 Prince Street, where Camper Shoes announced plans earlier this year to build an up-to-five-story commercial headquarters that would effectively block out artist Richard Haas' trump l'oeil mural at the corner of Prince and Greene Streets. The Villager reports that the developer no longer plans to obscure the whole mural, but will build a two- or three-story structure instead. Victory for the Haas-heads? Not exactly. Haas himself thinks a three-story building would ruin the mural: "'If you're going to have two stories' above the original first floor...'I think you've compromised it too much.'"
Because the building falls within the Soho Cast-Iron Historic District, the Landmarks Preservation Commission also gets to offer its opinion. But no one seems quite sure what LPC is issuing an opinion on, because it's unclear when construction could start or what the developer can actually afford to build. Adding to the mess (sorta), the owner of 112 Prince put in a request in October for the city to wash the graffiti tags off the mural, but the cleaning would also erase part of the mural itself. The mayor's office has the building on the list to be scrubbed, but while everyone is busy trying to untangle the situation, the city plans to wait for the landlord's confirmation before moving ahead with the clean up.
· Soho Mural Movement [Villager]
· Soho's Faux Facade Threatened By New Building 'Obliteration' [Curbed]
Loading comments...