Apple Reportedly Looking to Open Flagship Store at Washington, DC's Carnegie Library

[vpndev]

I must be the only one disgusted by the premise of a retail store in a national historic building

Apple has a good track record of working with sensitive spaces. Would you prefer the Spy Museum?
[doublepost=1474546901][/doublepost]

I'd like to see this happen too.....I've not been to the others, but accessibility at Pent City and Tysons is simply nightmarish. Especially Tysons....hopefully this one would be easier to access for DC residents. If I lived in DC, the last thing I'd want to do is deal with 395 to get to the Pent City location.


Edit: Accessibility of the DC stores makes me come up with excuses to go to Baltimore to hit up the Towson location.
[doublepost=1474543700][/doublepost]

The easiest Apple store to access by car is the one at Montgomery Mall. It's currently closed for renovation and a long-overdue expansion. It's right next to the interstate (I-270 spur at Democracy Blvd) and parking is easy. It'll be open again in a month or so, I believe. At about three times its old size.

 

[squirrelist]

I wonder, how noisy and messy it will be if there is an Apple Store in a library.

That's just the name of the building. It ceased function as a library in the 1970s.

 

[Iconoclysm]

I must be the only one disgusted by the premise of a retail store in a national historic building

As someone who has lived in DC for 12 years, this one is not so "historic" anyway. That particular building is part of the yearly "Post Hunt" in DC. Apple's presence in the Federal enterprise is huge, it has no real way to show off technology aside from renting a convention space just for that...the same people going here will be walking out of other "historic" buildings to get there. It's really not a big deal.
[doublepost=1474551200][/doublepost]

Apple has a good track record of working with sensitive spaces. Would you prefer the Spy Museum?
[doublepost=1474546901][/doublepost]

The easiest Apple store to access by car is the one at Montgomery Mall. It's currently closed for renovation and a long-overdue expansion. It's right next to the interstate (I-270 spur at Democracy Blvd) and parking is easy. It'll be open again in a month or so, I believe. At about three times its old size.

I think the easiest is Bethesda Row, Montgomery Mall is a pain in the butt.
[doublepost=1474551258][/doublepost]

The Georgetown Store is the only Apple Store in D.C., which I guess does make it the closest.

Technically, wouldn't Pentagon City be the closest?

 

[squirrelist]

Nope, me too! I love Apple, but this is just plain wrong...

A building of such profile, significance, and location could house a branch of the Smithsonian, a museum/celebration of some national/historic event/cause/movement/personality (brainstorming at 2am, the Founding Fathers?, Andrew Carnegie?)

Washington DC is full of historical buildings. But the city doesn't exist just as a tourist destination for school trips. It's also an actual city where people live and work. DC puts an enormous amount of effort into preserving historical structures while giving them modern uses. Apple's minimalist aesthetic really allows the historical detail to shine through, so I think that this is an excellent use. And this store will be the an excellent location, adjacent to a huge population center and commercial district, and the first Apple Store in the District that's near Metro.

 

[Iconoclysm]

I think Andrew Carnegie would be smiling at this idea..... I hope it comes to fruition! The only Apple store actually in DC now is the Georgetown one, which has issues in terms of parking, etc. In the suburbs we have: (Maryland) Bethesda Row, Montgomery Mall, Annapolis, Towson, Columbia..... In Virginia, we have Tysons (The first Apple retail store on the East Coast!), Clarendon, Pentagon City, Fair Oaks, Reston, Potomac Town Center...... So, yes, it would be really great to have a big flagship Apple Store in the heart of Our Nation's Capitol!

Microsoft has their LCA building in the heart of DC at 6th and K NW, and the purpose of that building is to have people close to congress to lobby them. If anyone wants to get upset about a tech company in DC, I would start with places like that.
[doublepost=1474551557][/doublepost]

Nope, me too! I love Apple, but this is just plain wrong...

A building of such profile, significance, and location could house a branch of the Smithsonian, a museum/celebration of some national/historic event/cause/movement/personality (brainstorming at 2am, the Founding Fathers?, Andrew Carnegie?)

Carnegie, the impactful visionaire, left a unique and lasting legacy to culture, access to knowledge and equality of opportunity, not commercialism and profit.

Must everything be branded and have a $ "value"??? I sincerely hope Apple retract their proposal, and as sure as hell hope the historical preservation panel rejects it and any commercial interests!

The Smithsonian is privately owned and it makes no sense for them to buy a building this far from the others. Others which could use a renovation before building a new one anyway. Also, this building is dwarfed by the other Smithsonian buildings, even the original Smithsonian building is bigger. Carnegie has plenty of other places dedicated to him...
[doublepost=1474551621][/doublepost]

Washington DC is full of historical buildings. But the city doesn't exist just as a tourist destination for school trips. It's also an actual city where people live and work. DC puts an enormous amount of effort into preserving historical structures while giving them modern uses. Apple's minimalist aesthetic really allows the historical detail to shine through, so I think that this is an excellent use. And this store will be the an excellent location, adjacent to a huge population center and commercial district, and the first Apple Store in the District that's near Metro.

Exactly, that's something non DCers don't seem to get about the city. When EVERYTHING is historic, where is it safe to build anything?

 

[Rocketman]

Carnegie, the impactful visionaire, left a unique and lasting legacy to culture, access to knowledge and equality of opportunity, not commercialism and profit.

One of the buildings at Pomona College is the Carnegie building. Quite ornate. However it is in a private college campus, not a public one.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/C...11c89a3a20456!8m2!3d34.0981354!4d-117.7152698

 

[machpost]

I think this is a pretty good location since it's reasonably close to several different neighborhoods that are growing rapidly, it's across the street from the Convention Center and just a couple blocks from a Metro station.

But for a long time I've been wondering why they never tried to put a flagship store in Union Station. It's likely the busiest single place in all of DC, in terms of foot traffic, and it has the built-in historic architecture that Apple seems to like. Maybe they couldn't get a large enough space in the building.

 

[Born Again]

Versus it being vacant and costing taxpayer's $ vs getting revenue out of it? It's a freaking building not sacred land. No one is talking about razing it or changing its nature. The building isn't going anywhere, it will just be put to use. What is so horrible about that?

It's not unique for historic buildings to be repurposed from their original use to save them from the wrecking ball or deterioration. Not every historic building can or should be turned into a musuem, and in DC, there already is a museum for just about everything.

Why not affordable housing then. Just weird that there will be an apple logo on a gov't building.

 

[Jakexb]

Apple has shown they know how to have a great store living in harmony with an architecturally significant building. I was VERY SKEPTICAL when I heard about the Grand Central Apple store, but having seen it in person, they did a perfect, subtle job. Much more thoughtful and classy than even the fancy restaurant that had occupied the space prior.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

Why not affordable housing then. Just weird that there will be an apple logo on a gov't building.

Too small for housing. Typically affordable housing these days is built alongside market priced housing. Governments use affordable housing as an incentive to builders to get bonus density or other zoning perks. The ratio is usually 20:80 or 30:70.

As for it being weird having an corporate logo on a gov't building -- corp logos appear on lots of gov't owned propoerty. For proxmity's sake go down a few blocks from Carnigie Library to Union Station. The whole place is filled with corporate logos like Starbucks and Bojangles. Union Station is also a historic building.

 

[Danoc]

There's an Apple Store in the Louvre. It's hard to get more historic than that.

Not really in the Louvre itself but underneath where is a little shopping mall.

 

[CrystalQuest76]

I must be the only one disgusted by the premise of a retail store in a national historic building

You are not alone in your feeling. However, its probably better to have a store in this space generating rent that will cover the costs of operating and continuing to preserve the building without costing the tax payers additional money. As noted above, Apple's architects and contractors have a proven track record of preserving the integrity of historic buildings.

 

[longofest]

I'd kind of like Apple to take over the old post office pavilion from its current lessee and use that as their flagship store, but that's doubtful. This will work instead.

 

[Clix Pix]

Y'know, I was thinking along those same lines earlier today...... The Old Post Office Pavilion would have been an ideal situation for an Apple store! Oh, well.....too late now! -- Or at least for the time being.....

 

[Mactendo]

I must be the only one disgusted by the premise of a retail store in a national historic building

Me too, but these days there're stores even in historic church buildings so what we can expect from such society... although a nice book store maybe could be a fit for that library building if no museum or library can survive there.

There's an Apple Store in the Louvre. It's hard to get more historic than that.

The fact of an Apple store being opened in Louvre doesn't mean it's a good idea.

 

[JTsuau]

Too small for housing. Typically affordable housing these days is built alongside market priced housing. Governments use affordable housing as an incentive to builders to get bonus density or other zoning perks. The ratio is usually 20:80 or 30:70.

As for it being weird having an corporate logo on a gov't building -- corp logos appear on lots of gov't owned propoerty. For proxmity's sake go down a few blocks from Carnigie Library to Union Station. The whole place is filled with corporate logos like Starbucks and Bojangles. Union Station is also a historic building.