Letter
Dear Mr. Rombach:
During its meeting of 21 April 2005, the Commission reviewed and disapproved the proposed locations of new signs for the Renwick Museum, located at 1661 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW and the National Postal Museum, located at 2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE. While the sign program appears to be relatively effective, the museums under discussion exist in very different contexts from those on the mall. The number and location of the proposed signs clutter the urban landscape and create unnecessary redundancy of information. In addition, the first priority of signs for a museum should be to draw visitors into the building rather than to provide locational information about other attractions throughout the city.
The Commission encourages the Smithsonian to resubmit a revised proposal significantly reducing the number and types of signs for both locations and carefully considering the placement of any proposed signs. As always, the staff is available to assist you.
Sincerely,
/s/Thomas Luebke, AIA
Secretary
Harry Rombach, R.A.
Associate Director for Facilities Master Planning
Office of Facilities Planning & Resources
Smithsonian Institution
750 9th Street, NW
PO Box 37012
Washington, DC 20013-7012