Arriving to work every day, watching the next new office tower go up, always reminds me of the places that had to go so they could build. Gigantic cranes dot the skyline everywhere, and I often wonder what cool, funky places have been lost. This one especially sticks in my mind, because I remember as a small child always seeing their ad on television. This funny old man juggling, and their catchy tune "Come to Chevy City, check with Peck before you buyyyy...". It was only a car dealership, but their long running ad, long history, and the habit of everyone in the area to use this funky, stand-out building as a landmark while giving directions, makes it especially sad, I think. It's been gone almost a year now, but I thought I'd share some pictures of the place, and the Washington Post article from their final days. This picture I found online, from their early days.
Disappearing Landmarks.
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The Post Article....
A Sign of Times Past Bows Out in Ballston As Car Dealer Closes
Builder Buys Vintage Chevy Showroom
By Leef Smith
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, May 4, 2006; VA16
Drive through the busy Arlington intersection and you can't help but notice the towering glass windows and the giant, geometric roofline that seems to hover like a suspension bridge.
There's the odd sensation that time is standing still. At least until the traffic light changes.
For decades, the Bob Peck Chevrolet dealership and its unusual architecture at Glebe Road and Wilson Boulevard have served as a county landmark, both as a beacon for drivers trying to navigate across the county and as an emblem of the past.
But that's exactly what it is now: the past.
On Saturday, the dealership closed it doors to make way for offices, retail space and townhouses being proposed for the site by the JBG Cos.
JBG purchased the 100,000-square-foot property in January for $26 million, making owner Don Peck -- the son of Bob Peck -- an offer he said he and other shareholders couldn't refuse in the face of dwindling sales and rising real estate values.
"I didn't think they could possibly offer enough to make it worthwhile, but they did," said Don Peck, 60, who took over management of the company in the 1980s and has fielded calls from interested developers ever since.
Seldom do car dealerships and their sprawling parking lots have such a positive impact on the landscape, but this one, planners say, was different. Different enough that JBG has said it will consider incorporating the building's architecture into the design of its development. JBG still needs a host of county approvals to go forward with the project.
"It is such a landmark for the area," said Dean Cinkala, JBG's partner in charge of the project. "We recognize that, and I think it's fair to say we'll work hard with the community and the county planning staff to see how we can carry forward that important history."
In 2003, Bob Peck Chevrolet was included in a feature on the Arlington County Cultural Affairs Division Web site titled "uncommon places," which sought to celebrate the funky fringes of the county before they vanish.
"Even if you didn't know what was inside [the dealership], the building was from a time when there was expression in architecture," said Mary Briggs, head of the Cultural Affairs Division's cultural development unit. "It was postwar. We were going places. It was the space age. It was probably one of the last relics in Arlington that was that distinctive."
Like its founder.
Bob Peck was 25 in 1939 when he and a partner, Lawrence Kenyon, opened Arlington's first Chevrolet dealership.
Peck was ambitious. He was savvy. And his timing couldn't have been worse.
Two years after they opened the showroom -- then on Wilson Boulevard in Clarendon -- Chevrolet suspended production of its vehicles to help make armaments for World War II.
"They did whatever it took to get by until the war was over," Don Peck said.
They would not only survive, but thrive. Bob Peck took over the business in the 1950s, and in 1964 he moved it to 800 N. Glebe Rd., hiring architect Anthony Musolleno to erect a round showroom with a distinctive geometric design.
In its heyday, the dealership sold 2,700 vehicles a year. But sales aside, the property became one of most visible landmarks in the county. It was pictured in U.S. News and World Report in the 1960s as an example of unusual architecture. Later, its image would be used by a Soviet news agency as an example of "filthy capitalism during the Cold War," Peck recalled.
It was 1967 when Bob Peck became one of the area's first car dealers to appear in his own television commercials. To capture viewers' attention, Peck decided to juggle lacrosse balls. He was already well known in Arlington, having served as chairman of both the County Board and the School Board in the 1950s. The stunt made him widely recognized.
The car dealer often found that celebrity boggling.
Don Peck said that once while at National Airport his father asked a ticket agent if a gentleman standing in the waiting area might be Joe DiMaggio.
"I don't know," replied the ticket agent. "But aren't you Bob Peck?"
Bob Peck died in 1998 at age 84.
Last week, just two days before the shutdown of Bob Peck Chevrolet, the mood was subdued inside the dealership. A big "going-out-of-business sale" sign hung on the front window, and salesmen listened to Muzak, waiting for customers to buy the last of the dealership's fleet.
Don Peck said that he has no heir to take over the business and that, really, retirement isn't such a bad idea. Sales have slipped over the years. Last year, his crew sold 300 cars, half of what it sold in 1994. Peck said the dealership has traditionally made about a 2 percent profit on sales, in line with the national average, and it hardly seemed enough to justify holding on to the wildly valuable property, he said.
"The land got to be too valuable," he said, noting that other dealers have moved out of Arlington in the last decade, succumbing to the same market forces.
Still, Peck is sad to see the business close and say goodbye to loyal customers, even if it will mean more time to play golf with his wife.
"It's a big mistake!" moaned customer Archie Delalian, 72, who knew Peck's father, remembering a time when the road in front of the dealership was gravel, not asphalt. Over the years, Delalian has purchased numerous cars at the dealership, both for himself and for family members. He owns three Chevys purchased from the lot. "A lot of customers don't know what they're going to do now," he said. "I'm sure going to miss this place."
A Sign of Times Past Bows Out in Ballston As Car Dealer Closes
Builder Buys Vintage Chevy Showroom
By Leef Smith
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, May 4, 2006; VA16
Drive through the busy Arlington intersection and you can't help but notice the towering glass windows and the giant, geometric roofline that seems to hover like a suspension bridge.
There's the odd sensation that time is standing still. At least until the traffic light changes.
For decades, the Bob Peck Chevrolet dealership and its unusual architecture at Glebe Road and Wilson Boulevard have served as a county landmark, both as a beacon for drivers trying to navigate across the county and as an emblem of the past.
But that's exactly what it is now: the past.
On Saturday, the dealership closed it doors to make way for offices, retail space and townhouses being proposed for the site by the JBG Cos.
JBG purchased the 100,000-square-foot property in January for $26 million, making owner Don Peck -- the son of Bob Peck -- an offer he said he and other shareholders couldn't refuse in the face of dwindling sales and rising real estate values.
"I didn't think they could possibly offer enough to make it worthwhile, but they did," said Don Peck, 60, who took over management of the company in the 1980s and has fielded calls from interested developers ever since.
Seldom do car dealerships and their sprawling parking lots have such a positive impact on the landscape, but this one, planners say, was different. Different enough that JBG has said it will consider incorporating the building's architecture into the design of its development. JBG still needs a host of county approvals to go forward with the project.
"It is such a landmark for the area," said Dean Cinkala, JBG's partner in charge of the project. "We recognize that, and I think it's fair to say we'll work hard with the community and the county planning staff to see how we can carry forward that important history."
In 2003, Bob Peck Chevrolet was included in a feature on the Arlington County Cultural Affairs Division Web site titled "uncommon places," which sought to celebrate the funky fringes of the county before they vanish.
"Even if you didn't know what was inside [the dealership], the building was from a time when there was expression in architecture," said Mary Briggs, head of the Cultural Affairs Division's cultural development unit. "It was postwar. We were going places. It was the space age. It was probably one of the last relics in Arlington that was that distinctive."
Like its founder.
Bob Peck was 25 in 1939 when he and a partner, Lawrence Kenyon, opened Arlington's first Chevrolet dealership.
Peck was ambitious. He was savvy. And his timing couldn't have been worse.
Two years after they opened the showroom -- then on Wilson Boulevard in Clarendon -- Chevrolet suspended production of its vehicles to help make armaments for World War II.
"They did whatever it took to get by until the war was over," Don Peck said.
They would not only survive, but thrive. Bob Peck took over the business in the 1950s, and in 1964 he moved it to 800 N. Glebe Rd., hiring architect Anthony Musolleno to erect a round showroom with a distinctive geometric design.
In its heyday, the dealership sold 2,700 vehicles a year. But sales aside, the property became one of most visible landmarks in the county. It was pictured in U.S. News and World Report in the 1960s as an example of unusual architecture. Later, its image would be used by a Soviet news agency as an example of "filthy capitalism during the Cold War," Peck recalled.
It was 1967 when Bob Peck became one of the area's first car dealers to appear in his own television commercials. To capture viewers' attention, Peck decided to juggle lacrosse balls. He was already well known in Arlington, having served as chairman of both the County Board and the School Board in the 1950s. The stunt made him widely recognized.
The car dealer often found that celebrity boggling.
Don Peck said that once while at National Airport his father asked a ticket agent if a gentleman standing in the waiting area might be Joe DiMaggio.
"I don't know," replied the ticket agent. "But aren't you Bob Peck?"
Bob Peck died in 1998 at age 84.
Last week, just two days before the shutdown of Bob Peck Chevrolet, the mood was subdued inside the dealership. A big "going-out-of-business sale" sign hung on the front window, and salesmen listened to Muzak, waiting for customers to buy the last of the dealership's fleet.
Don Peck said that he has no heir to take over the business and that, really, retirement isn't such a bad idea. Sales have slipped over the years. Last year, his crew sold 300 cars, half of what it sold in 1994. Peck said the dealership has traditionally made about a 2 percent profit on sales, in line with the national average, and it hardly seemed enough to justify holding on to the wildly valuable property, he said.
"The land got to be too valuable," he said, noting that other dealers have moved out of Arlington in the last decade, succumbing to the same market forces.
Still, Peck is sad to see the business close and say goodbye to loyal customers, even if it will mean more time to play golf with his wife.
"It's a big mistake!" moaned customer Archie Delalian, 72, who knew Peck's father, remembering a time when the road in front of the dealership was gravel, not asphalt. Over the years, Delalian has purchased numerous cars at the dealership, both for himself and for family members. He owns three Chevys purchased from the lot. "A lot of customers don't know what they're going to do now," he said. "I'm sure going to miss this place."
58limited
Well-known member
"Progress" sucks
58limited
Well-known member
Too bad a historical society wasn't able to save it. Examples of that architecture are getting more rare.
exploder3211
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 24, 2006
- Messages
- 1,664
I think grams bought her Chevy II there.. I know she bought it in Arlington
OH THAT SUCKS!!!!
I drive by that dealership all the time! The neat architecure of that building was always a bright spot in my commute through the sprawling, boring streets of northern Virginia. After fighting my way through road-raged mainics and seas of sameness I would stop at that traffic signal there and gaze upon the space-age design of that building, and it would just change my attitude right there. After surviving that long, I thought it was there to stay...guess not
I drive by that dealership all the time! The neat architecure of that building was always a bright spot in my commute through the sprawling, boring streets of northern Virginia. After fighting my way through road-raged mainics and seas of sameness I would stop at that traffic signal there and gaze upon the space-age design of that building, and it would just change my attitude right there. After surviving that long, I thought it was there to stay...guess not
westytoploader
Well-known member
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- Sep 4, 2004
- Messages
- 4,485
They're tearing that beautiful mid-century building DOWN?
What is the world coming to these days, I want to know! How ridiculous. All that for a damn office park.
What is the world coming to these days, I want to know! How ridiculous. All that for a damn office park.
Sad . . . very sad . . .
that is a beautiful building, especially with that nice red Corvair convertible sitting next to the Malibu convertibe. Even with a bunch of oversized trucks in front it is still so cool. Most likely whatever replaces it will be just another generic complex . . .
that is a beautiful building, especially with that nice red Corvair convertible sitting next to the Malibu convertibe. Even with a bunch of oversized trucks in front it is still so cool. Most likely whatever replaces it will be just another generic complex . . .
Very ironic...
As I read this thread, the song "Racing in the Streets" was playing on Sirius radio. A very slow, mellow song with Bruce singing with only piano accompayment. I was picturing all the great musclecars and hot rods that graced the floor of that showroom over the years. As the song wound to a close, I could just imagine the man walking out of the shop that one last time, flipping the switch to darken all those bright neon and fluroescent signs for the last time.
I got a sixty-nine Chevy with a 396
Fuelie heads and a Hurst on the floor
She's waiting tonight down in the parking lot
Outside the Seven-Eleven store
Me and my partner Sonny built her straight out of scratch
And he rides with me from town to town
We only run for the money got no strings attached
We shut `em up and then we shut `em down
Tonight, tonight the strip's just right
I wanna blow `em off in my first heat
Summer's here and the time is right
For goin' racin' in the street
We take all the action we can meet
And we cover all the northeast state
When the strip shuts down we run `em in the street
From the fire roads to the interstate
Some guys they just give up living
And start dying little by little, piece by piece
Some guys come home from work and wash up
And go racin' in the street
Tonight, tonight the strip's just right
I wanna blow `em all out of their seats
Calling out around the world, we're going racin' in the street
I met her on the strip three years ago
In a Camaro with this dude from L.A.
I blew that Camaro off my back and drove that little girl away
But now there's wrinkles around my baby's eyes
And she cries herself to sleep at night
When I come home the house is dark
She sighs "Baby did you make it all right"
She sits on the porch of her daddy's house
But all her pretty dreams are torn
She stares off alone into the night
With the eyes of one who hates for just being born
For all the shut down strangers and hot rod angels
Rumbling through this promised land
Tonight my baby and me we're gonna ride to the sea
And wash these sins off our hands
Tonight tonight the highway's bright
Out of our way mister you best keep
`Cause summer's here and the time is right
For goin' racin' in the street
As I read this thread, the song "Racing in the Streets" was playing on Sirius radio. A very slow, mellow song with Bruce singing with only piano accompayment. I was picturing all the great musclecars and hot rods that graced the floor of that showroom over the years. As the song wound to a close, I could just imagine the man walking out of the shop that one last time, flipping the switch to darken all those bright neon and fluroescent signs for the last time.
I got a sixty-nine Chevy with a 396
Fuelie heads and a Hurst on the floor
She's waiting tonight down in the parking lot
Outside the Seven-Eleven store
Me and my partner Sonny built her straight out of scratch
And he rides with me from town to town
We only run for the money got no strings attached
We shut `em up and then we shut `em down
Tonight, tonight the strip's just right
I wanna blow `em off in my first heat
Summer's here and the time is right
For goin' racin' in the street
We take all the action we can meet
And we cover all the northeast state
When the strip shuts down we run `em in the street
From the fire roads to the interstate
Some guys they just give up living
And start dying little by little, piece by piece
Some guys come home from work and wash up
And go racin' in the street
Tonight, tonight the strip's just right
I wanna blow `em all out of their seats
Calling out around the world, we're going racin' in the street
I met her on the strip three years ago
In a Camaro with this dude from L.A.
I blew that Camaro off my back and drove that little girl away
But now there's wrinkles around my baby's eyes
And she cries herself to sleep at night
When I come home the house is dark
She sighs "Baby did you make it all right"
She sits on the porch of her daddy's house
But all her pretty dreams are torn
She stares off alone into the night
With the eyes of one who hates for just being born
For all the shut down strangers and hot rod angels
Rumbling through this promised land
Tonight my baby and me we're gonna ride to the sea
And wash these sins off our hands
Tonight tonight the highway's bright
Out of our way mister you best keep
`Cause summer's here and the time is right
For goin' racin' in the street
When I saw the first pictures of that building on this thread-I remembered that one!Didn't go by it a lot-but the few times-brought back memories of when I lived in the DC area for 20yrs.
Midcentury architecture continues to go unappreciated and it seems most preservationist groups would rather concentrate on saving buildings from the 30's or older. I suppose with so many more older architectural gems in the eastern half of the country that are endangered, the preservationists already have their hands full. Here in California where car culture was once king, I'm sad to say the situation isn't much better. In my home town we had Courtesy Chevrolet on a prominent corner for decades. A towering white neon on dark blue background bowtie sign visible for many miles held up by three huge tiered tubular metal columns. I used to gaze out at it from the windows of my 2nd floor high school classrooms on rainy days when it would be lit. Sequentially the neon would light the bowtie outline, then Courtesy, then Cherolet, stay fully lit for a bit, then go dark and repeat. Not far from it was the red neon Western Appliance sign skewered with three spikes of varying heights that had orbs on top with strobes that flashed out in the darkness. That sign and business is still there but the strobes are missing, and it was also visible from the same classrooms. The chevy sign violated the current sign ordinance or the dealer would have taken it down the street to their new location. A compromise was reached. The shopping center that went in on the Courtesy site is called Santana Row--a contrived downtown/Rodeo Drive kind of scene where you can buy $100 underwear--I'm sure it's got a web site. They re-used the bowtie sign and it continues to be something of a landmark but it's just not the same. You'd think the boomers would be a little more interested in saving some of the landmarks they grew up with, but they're too busy making deals on cell phones behind the wheel to be bothered. At least around here that's how it seems. A real shame. On a more positive note, the city helped a giant orange relocate instead of being pushed over. It's a hot dog drive-in and it's right out of Route 66, but it hardly has the impact of the big space age masterpieces of the 50's and 60's. Where is Allen Hess when you need him?
We had an old theatre in downtown Seattle that had the most amazing marquee I have ever seen anyplace: It was a big cylinder, and across the top of the cylinder the name of the theatre (Coliseum) was spelled out in freestanding letters outlined in neon. The letters were on a track that rotated across the top of the cylinder. Arising out of the center of the cylinder was a smaller cylinder that had various entertainment symbols (musical notes, pianos, etc) outlined in neon on it, and at the very top was an Oscar statue (although the oscar people made them take that down in the 80's, because the theatre was no longer "appropriate" for their symbol.
When it became a Bananna Republic in the 90's, the city made them clean up the outside of the building, and preseve the proscenium and balcony, but they got rid of the marquee because it wasn't original to the building, which was built around 1915. I tried calling everyone: the landmarks office, the zoning office, the mayor's office - even the corporate office of the Gap, but no luck. The Seattle "Good Taste Police" - who are like a bunch of Jan Brady's to the big Marsha that is San Francisco - couldn't see the merit in anything so "tacky"
When it became a Bananna Republic in the 90's, the city made them clean up the outside of the building, and preseve the proscenium and balcony, but they got rid of the marquee because it wasn't original to the building, which was built around 1915. I tried calling everyone: the landmarks office, the zoning office, the mayor's office - even the corporate office of the Gap, but no luck. The Seattle "Good Taste Police" - who are like a bunch of Jan Brady's to the big Marsha that is San Francisco - couldn't see the merit in anything so "tacky"
Dan, at least Seattle is its own place with its own identity. Too bad they think they need to keep up with their well-endowed neighbor to the south. Where I live in San Jose, we are and always will be in the shadow of SF. No matter what the civic groups and redevelopment agency try to do to give this town some personality or "there" there, it usually falls flat. They are amateurs and are trying way too hard to make this town something it's not and will never be, but because SF is so nearby they apparently feel compelled. The reality is that they need to be looking to LA for inspiration, with projects like the Disney concert hall, for example, since they've pretty much destroyed most of the historical buildings here that could have provided some personality and an attractive downtown shopping district. They've left themselves no choice but to go daring and modern, and part of that plan should also give a nod to the midcentury suburban-insipred architecture that still remains around town. Currently there is a big push to prevent Lowe's from tearing down a beautiful and lavishly outfitted (for its day) 50's building that originally housed IBM and where the first flying disk drive was developed. The fact that the city is actually listening to preservationists on this one is a great step in the right direction.
Ralph
Ralph
