The Hudson Square salt shack wasn't the only interesting new piece of downtown infrastructure approved by the obscure Public Design Commission this week. The Villager reports that the new High Line maintenance-and-operations building also got the go-ahead. This is the four-story building going up right next to the new Whitney Museum at the elevated park's Gansevoort Street starting point, featuring all sorts of bells and whistles like a High Line info booth, elevator up to the park, public restrooms and maybe even a restaurant beneath the rails. Of course the main purpose of the building is to house the park's support staff, and it'll do that, too.
The M & O building is being designed by Beyer Blinder Belle in consultation with Renzo Piano's peeps (who are doing the Whitney), and the Villager mentions a lot of steel, glass and exposed girders, a "modern version of the historic warehouses" in the neighborhood. At street level, the building will be masonry with big garage doors to accommodate Parks Department vehicles that need to get up to the High Line. Construction is scheduled to begin next year once the plans are finalized, and finish up in 2013. Now that the modern gardeners are on track, let's get this modern art thing going, eh?
· Stylish maintenance building coming down the track by the Whitney Museum [The Villager]
· Renzo Piano and the High Line Duet for the Maintenance Men [Curbed]
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