The Savoy
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Here it is. The Savoy. It still stands, and remains in operation, but the architecture and history that once surrounded it is only now accessible in a library or an archive.
Once you’re under the Savoy sign, take a left. We’ll follow the sidewalk up the hill along Central Street.
That the Savoy stood the test of time while so many other buildings around it succumbed to the whims of the market can probably be chocked up to plain old luck. Which isn’t to say there weren’t interested parties, some in favor of demolition and others in favor of preservation. We can’t ignore the struggle. But if there’s anything to be learned from the endless constructions and destruction of American cities, it’s that the whole thing is arbitrary, done without much thought for the future or the costs.
It’s a peculiar impulse, this erasure of our own heritage and aesthetic legacy. Peculiarly American. It’s almost as if, as soon as we’ve built something and deemed it satisfactory, we decide it ought to be torn down again in favor of something potentially even more satisfactory. No assurances or guarantees mind you. Just boundless hope. Curious optimism. Daft and dreamy. Is that the American way?
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