TAKOMA PARK – Residents living on the DC side of Takoma Park have flooded Montgomery County’s Historic Preservation Board with letters demanding the immediate demolition of Victory Towers, a 12-story senior living facility on the Maryland side, for being out of scale for their neighborhood.
“Don’t get me wrong, I like old people,” wrote Miles Parker of Cedar Street NW. “But this massive structure creates too big of a shadow when walking through the tree lined streets of Takoma Park.”
Built in 1971 as an affordable housing facility for seniors, the 12-story building went relatively unnoticed for over 50 years, until Maryland residents began writing endless complaints to the DC Historic Commission over the height of a proposed 7-story structure with affordable housing at the Takoma Metro station. Now DC residents are claiming the high rise building in Maryland is an eyesore for them.
“The immediate neighborhood is full of houses no taller than two stories, so they should be forced to at least remove the top ten floors,” wrote Margaret Moore of 5th Street NW. “And they should even consider adding free, long-term parking for those who want to eat across the street at Roscoe’s.”
Firing back, longtime Takoma Park, Maryland resident and self-described architecture enthusiast Percy Lane wrote a sharp rebuttal explaining why 7-story buildings are “too tall” for the Takoma Park historic district while 12-story buildings are not: “It’s just not the same thing. It’s different.”
