Quote:
Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
Was the Reagan Center for International Trade, which I understand is the largest civilian federal building anywhere (or maybe built in the last 50 years or something), a suitable monument?
No. The problem is that the folks trying to honor him do it blindly and unthinkingly.
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I'm a little slow to answer this, but what the hell.
I think the Ronal Reagan building is the perfect monument to the man. While it is huge in terms of square footage, most of that is taken up by display halls and wide, echoing corridors in the public portion of the building. There is a huge food court with dozens of food vendors. There are shops and a theater.
The actual offices that the government workers exist in are tiny, cramped and poorly lit. At least the couple of times I was there (a few years ago) none of the many white doors along the stunningly plain white meandering hallways had any sort of lable - either nameplates or even office numbers. A friend (who is even less of a fan of Reagan than I) described it as like walking around in Reagan's brain.
Add to that the Reagan building's reputation as the place where sub-agencies go to die (getting moved to the Reagan building was considered clear warning that your budget was about to be completely eliminated among the State Department folks I used to know working there), and it's a fitting tribute.
What always bugged me is naming not just an airport after him, but the most highly regulated airport in the country. And one that happened to already be named after a perfectly good president.
