With too little objective consideration, the Midtown "revitalization" project is rolling forward, riding an apparent desire for an urban-scape facelift on this downtown location.

Putting aside aesthetics, there are issues of energy. Minus the Seneca Building (which wasn't mentioned), the other properties total about 1.2 million square feet of floor space. Using an average for the embodied energy of modern buildings, this 1.2 million square feet probably took the energy-content (and emissions-equivalent) of about 10 million gallons of gasoline to construct. "Embodied energy" includes all energy inputs, starting with that required to make ingredients like steel girders.

So the "revitalization" is set to demolish all of this and put up more buildings. Beyond consuming another big chunk of energy and producing the associated emissions, what will this do for downtown? By the way, how are they going to pull off the proposed demolitions without harming the underlying parking lot?

From financial projections, it looks like renovation costs would be about half that of rebuilding. Why not go with this less money and energy-intensive route? Paetec could pick locations and specify renovations. Other locations could stay idle (and unheated) until further interest and renovations happen.

As a relevant personal observation, I have worked in many different office-building scenarios with little if any apparent work or well-being affect. If employees want aesthetics, let them get outside (or go to the Plaza) for a walk.

As a related note on insanity, a big chunk of the renovation cost would be to remove asbestos. It turns out asbestos is pretty ubiquitous in the environment, but put it inside buildings where people might spend time scratching and sniffing the fireproofing or

insulation, and then you have a real danger (and quite a racket to make money).

Finally on the aesthetics front, I think the Plaza is great for its location, atmosphere, and reasonable size. I go there weekly and enjoy a number of shops. I also think many people will lament its demise.

TED CHRISTOPHER, BRIGHTON