Excellence in government architechture torn down by government less than a month after it opens

This is depressing. Border crossings these days are already stressful enough, so I was really jazzed when I read about the one at the Canada/U.S. crossing between Cornwall, Ont. and Massena, N.Y. It’s named the Three Nations Crossing in honour of the Mohawks who also live there. You may have heard about their recent occupation of the Canadian side of the crossing, closing it temporarily.

Anyway, the new American port of entry was heralded as a new era in government design — functional but also architecturally worthwhile. One of the key design elements was the giant yellow sign, half-hidden, that spells out United States.

Now, less than a month after completion, the sign is being dismantled. Apparently, the government now feels that the big yellow sign is perhaps too bright, and could make border officers a target. This according to a story in the New York Times that’s worth reading just for this line:

The move is a depressing, if not wholly unpredictable, example of how the lingering trauma of 9/11 can make it difficult for government bureaucracies to make rational decisions.

Hear hear. Remember right after 9/11, when you were told “if you don’t do this or that, then the terrorists have won”? This is exactly the type of stuff that hands a victory to the forces of terror (overwrought intensity intentional).

I know that hardened borders and security paranoia have happened in the past, and I’m confident that in the future, openness and a welcoming attitude will return to the world. But I worry that it will be a generational thing.