The three main concerns are preserving the historic sanctity of this national shrine, accessibility and the redevelopment of about two dozen abandoned buildings on the southern half of the small island that is a Natural Park. The bridge was erected for the restoration work in the 1980's on the island to prepare for the reopening of the main immigration center building as a museum. Last year more than 1.5 million people visited the island. Many of the New York opponents to the bridge and to New Jersey gaining control of much of the island raise the specter of crass commercialization that would besmirch the historic nature of the island. Such concerns sound good, but since no specific proposals for redevelopment of the dilapidated buildings and land in question have been advanced by New Jersey they are premature and there is plenty of design room to accommodate a sensitive, contextual solution.
Ruins have a rich fascination, conjuring ironies and fantasies, achievements and failures.
Logic here would have suggested that the main center should have been left in ruins and the abandoned, lesser buildings utilized in a creative and constructive manner that might include restoration of their facades. Indeed, the memories of those who did not pass through Ellis Island quickly but had to stay longer, in the hospital, for example, may be much more resonant. The four-towered main building is very handsome. What has been done there has been done in good taste even if some might quibble over some of the exhibits. I remember visiting Lyndhurst, the former Jay Gould estate in Tarrytown, N.Y., that is now one of the properties of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.