Saying Goodbye: Main Street Arena Architect Reflects on its Demolition

Local restoration architect Henry J. Browne, now in his 80s, has been stopping in for coffee at the restaurant at the Omni Hotel this past week, not necessarily for the coffee, but for the view it provides of the building across the way that he designed over 20 years ago, and which is about to disappear.

"It's sad," says Browne, standing out in front of the Omni earlier this week, joined by his friend, Roger Voisinet, a real estate developer and local investor in the Main Street Arena, who also famously helped bring the UVA men’s hockey club to the arena. "This is only second time I've lost a building of mine. Both buildings were landmarks, but I've been fortunate. Many architects have lost many more buildings than that."

After a few minutes with Browne, it's suddenly clear how difficult it must be, for both the architect and those who actually constructed the building, to await its destruction, especially when the building is in perfectly good health and has become a local landmark.

"I …