Singing Praises To The Steamship Authority's New Ticketing Building In Woods Hole

To the editor: Press reports have generally sung the praises of the Steamship Authority's (SSA) new ticketing building in Woods Hole, including its remarkable spaciousness and improved bathrooms. The reports emphasize the views from inside the ticketing building of the magnificent vistas that lie beyond, at least when there are no boats in the slips.

Unfortunately, some of the press have given little attention to the years of countless meaningful complaints about a design that is completely inconsistent with the local environment. It's the massive size and height blocks multiple magnificent vistas offered to all who will enter Woods Hole - the view from the top of the Water Street bridge at Crane St., from the Woods Hole Library, from Pie in the Sky, and other locations in Woods Hole village. The article fails to note that the views could have been maintained by relocating the building or making it smaller.

Despite SSA's justifications, few of its excuses for the building's size and location hold up to scrutiny. For example, its location makes pedestrian and vehicle transit across this site complex and dangerous, and requires the continuous presence of SSA personnel to direct traffic. In addition, the building's design wastes enormous space with a needlessly large ticketing section, given that tickets are increasingly purchased electronically. The entire building has a needlessly high ceiling, despite only about 30 percent of the building being dedicated to the inside waiting area, while the majority of the space is used for corridors, bathrooms, and administrative activities. The latter could have been minimized by moving them to the SSA Falmouth facilities or the newly rebuilt utility building in Woods Hole.

I have concluded that the only rationale for this building was to satisfy the SSA administration's and architectural firm BIA.studio's egos.

Damien Kuffler
Woods Hole