It's about preserving her legacy

July 10, 2009

SEBASTIAN SMEE’S piece about the demolition of the carriage house on the grounds of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (“Gardner Museum tears down structure at heart of dispute,’’ Metro, July 7) leaves the misleading impression that the museum is unaware and unconcerned about preserving Gardner’s legacy. In fact, the museum trustees and I have had her desire to provide a tranquil setting in which to view her incomparable art collection foremost in our minds during the planning of the new building. The museum’s addition will improve the visitor experience and reduce strain on the museum itself from a volume of visitor traffic Gardner could not have foreseen. Fortunately, we are guided in this effort by her will, a document I am intimately familiar with, which specifies her wishes in great detail - and never mentions the carriage house.

While it is difficult to lose anything that dates to Gardner’s lifetime, I am confident that, were she alive today, she would endorse this small sacrifice for the greater good of protecting her extraordinary gift to the public.

ANNE HAWLEY
Director
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Boston

WHAT IS the point of having the Boston Landmarks Commission and the Massachusetts Historical Commission if they are going to sign off on such demolitions as that of the “Altamura’’ carriage house (“Gardner Museum tears down structure at heart of dispute’’)? Are they watchdogs for our heritage? Or lapdogs for the well-connected? And to the trustees and director of the Gardner Museum: Was the razing best for preserving the spirit of Isabella Stewart Gardner? The museum’s refusal even to allow the Globe to reprint photos of the carriage house dating from Gardner’s day speaks of yet more of their arrogance.

It is good to be the king. But even kings have obligations: showing restraint and good stewardship of resources entrusted to them and setting an example for the rest of us further down the social register.

The loss of the carriage house appears to me, a man who makes his living as a cabdriver and clerk at a neighborhood convenience store, as unvarnished arrogance.

Steven Lindsey
Keene, N.H.
The writer is a Democratic representative in the New Hampshire House.