Word: gardenful
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...know whether the Fire Marshal will insist that a wide fire-engine access lane be cut through the garden. He also may require fire exits leading directly into the garden, since the existing drawings now show that the only egress is through tunnels to the main building. These questions cannot be answered until construction drawings are completed...
Disturbance to the garden will extend far beyond the footprint of the building as shown on the elegant concept drawings. Furthermore, underground buildings are notoriously high maintenance. We have only to observe the "state-of-the-art" Sackler Museum here in Washington, whose handsome Enid Haupt garden is constantly being dug up to repair leaks to the roof. There are other numerous examples of failed underground buildings...
...threats to the garden subject to such an undertaking are enormous and unpredictable. It is interesting to note that while it is unlikely a proposal to tear down a wing of the house would ever be considered, gardens are seen as more dispensable...
Finally, I believe that Mildred W. Bliss had the belief when she handed over, and richly endowed, Dumbarton Oaks to Harvard that it would be a trustworthy steward of her beloved garden. Who is to say how she would weigh potential damage and changes to her garden against the needs and interests of scholarly research? I, for one, think she would consider it a betrayal of her trust in Harvard...
...ironic that an institution that was established in part for the study of garden scholarship and as the repository of Bliss' unique collection of rare horticultural and historic garden books should be involved in the possible destruction of one of the country's finest gardens...