GordonUnleashed

Those Decatur Nazis

March 14th, 2008 by Steve

I’m not talking about the anti-smoking Nazis or the tax increase Nazis, either. From the AP:

DECATUR, Ala. (AP) — From the ground, the Wesley Acres Methodist retirement home looks like any other building. But fly over in an airplane, and the outline is unmistakable: It’s one big swastika.

Prompted by complaints from a Jewish activist, the agency that owns the government-funded building is planning to alter its shape to disguise the Nazi symbol. The move comes just a few years after a $1 million design modification meant to quiet similar complaints from a U.S. senator.

“The difficulty is there are a limited number of options for fixing a building that has been there for some time,” said Mike Giles, counsel for the Methodist Homes Corp. of Alabama and Northwest Florida. “We have to come up with a way to fix an appearance that we want solved and not hurt our residents.”

Wesley Acres provides government-subsidized housing for 117 low-income people ages 62 and above. Most have no reason to suspect their hallways take on a sinister shape.

The one-story building, designed in the mid-1970s and completed in 1980, underwent a $1 million alteration in 2001 with funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development following complaints by Democratic Sen. Howell Heflin, who has since died. But the addition of two wings did little to hide the offensive shape, and in some ways accentuates it.

Above, you’ll see the satellite view of the building from Google Maps.

H/T to Nick Gillespie.

Posted in Just for Fun, It's a Southern Thang

One Response to “Those Decatur Nazis”

1. Peter wrote on 03/16/08 at 3:02 pm :

   Haha–another example of government efficiency at work.

   http://www.gopcatholics.blogspot.com

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