Pensioners' Plaza

I still can't decide whether to file this item in my "Pension Fund Power" folder, or the newly created "Haley Barbour & Andres Duany".

55-water-street-no-text.JPG In any case, there is a tidbit buried in a New York Times story today about a revitalized urban plaza in NYC (illustrated here) that sounds like something of an architectural gem. Who are the aesthete urbanists behind the design? The Retirement Systems of Alabama.

You may know Alabama's pension fund, and its director, David Bronner, as the investors who snatched up a controlling interest in US Airways in 2003. The pension fund wound up writing off its $240 million investment; Bronner ceded control of the airline a few weeks ago when it merged with America West.

That venture didn't turn out so well. But while Bronner was running an airline, he also was spearheading an architectural competition. It seems that somewhere in the eclectic portfolio of Alabama's pensioners sits 55 Water Street, a skyscraper in downtown NYC. The pension fund has invested millions into improving the one-acre public plaza outside its building.

According to the Times, the old plaza had been "plagued by Spartan design, poor planning and indifferent maintenance." The new park improves public access from the street, and features an amphitheater, lawn (artificial turf strikes again!), and a boardwalk with East River views. Sounds lovely. The grand opening is tonight.

Illustration: 55 Water Street