A silver lining

Much ado has been made of Hannaford's plans to build a new supermarket on the site of the old Cony High School. I myself opposed the plan, and voted it down when I was given an opportunity to do so. I feel it violates the spirit of the trust given to Augusta by Mr. Cony over a hundred years ago.

However, I am ever optimistic about the traffic hell that will soon ensue at the East Side Rotary, after reading this today...

Hannaford Bros. Co. said Wednesday it will be the first to build a supermarket meeting a building industry group's highest environmental standard.

The store will be so green that plants will be grown on part of its roof to add insulation and control stormwater. It will be built on the former site of Cony High School in Augusta.

[...]

By pursuing the platinum designation, the company commits to a design including features such as solar photovoltaic panels, geothermal heating and cooling, high efficiency refrigeration, energy efficient lighting and an advanced recycling program, not to mention the vegetation-topped roof.

You can read the rest here. All in all, I still think the whole thing reeks. But this is indeed a very nice silver lining. I look forward to seeing a Hannaford with a grass roof, should be neat.