There has been a lot of controversary surrounding the Harriet Himmel Theater at City Place in West Palm Beach, Florida over the past few years. This is an historic structure, built in 1926, which was originally a Methodist Church. It was converted to an event space and theater in 2000 and became the centerpiece of CityPlace, a mixed-use development that opened in 2000. However, last year, the owners of CityPlace announced a $20 million renovation of the building, and their first step was to tear down its grand stairway, located at the entrance. Which drove historic preservationists here crazy. And driving past the structure this summer, I see that it is now going to house an Italian restaurant called Eataly, which evidently started in Italy, expanded to Manhattan, and is now putting locations across the country. CityPlace owners say the building, seen in the photograph above, will be preserved and improved, but I wonder what those preservationists think about turning that historic structure into an Italian restaurant? Will the building really be saved, or is it just another case of "having to destroy the village in order to save it," as one general was famously quoted during the Vietnam War. Time will tell.
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