A comprehensive Master Plan must respect, and respond to, the architecture of the past. Among Meriden’s most cherished resources are its older buildings – buildings that were designed and built at a time when the level of craftsmanship was superb, and the quality of materials and detailing was very high. These buildings were built at a time when the human scale to architecture was very comfortable, and the sense of a pedestrian environment was at its strongest.

Many of Meriden’s historic buildings are still viable and they should be preserved and maintained.

Other historic buildings in Meriden have deteriorated over time. Still others have been renovated to respond to modernist design trends, which unfortunately masked their historical character. Other buildings, such as the Hub development have been designed without respect to the needs of a human scale, urban environment.

Wherever economically feasible, historic buildings must be renovated to bring back their original character, refitted with modern technology, and developed for contemporary uses. Where adequate urban style buildings no longer exist, for example the “Hub” site, new buildings will be required to fill those voids. These buildings, however, must respond directly to the styles of the past. The human scale and proportion that made traditional communities a model for living and working in the past must be reestablished for the community of the future.

The architecture of Meriden is the result of a logical continuum of design ideas ranging from Classical, Georgian, Victorian and other historic styles. New buildings must be designed with a reverence to this process of developing design ideas from generation to generation. Designing large blocks of space responding only to the latest trends in architecture would result in an urban fabric inconsistent with natural downtown development. Materials, site amenities, style, lighting and related features should be proposed with a thorough understanding of Meriden’s history, its architecture and its community planning.

Mixing uses within individual structures will also add meaning to buildings that are developed in response to the urban model. Multi-story buildings allow for vertical proportions in facades, which are one of the most common characteristics of historic architecture, and represents to the viewer a human proportion and scale. Real activity on the upper levels of buildings adds substance to what otherwise would be a false front to a facility. 

The material on this page is reproduced from "Meriden City Center Initiative - A Comprehensive Plan for Revitalization" prepared by BL Companies, released 07/24/2002. All rights reserved.

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