Press: Nice picture. Pape and his sedum roof.

By HENRY J. WATERS III, Publisher, Columbia Daily Tribune
Published Monday, April 14, 2008

Columbia has its first green roof. Stephanie Lyons and Brian Pape are remodeling the old Diggs Packing plant into artists’ studios and loft apartments. Atop the roof, sedum is growing.

Architect Pape has designed all the green elements he can come up with into the building, but surely the most intriguing is the live plants on the roof.

For a fleeting moment, a floral roof was considered for the new city hall downtown. The scope and political fragility of the idea rather quickly relegated it back into the wings, but many of our hearts lifted a bit over the very prospect. In our minds we heard the gentle whinny of tame goats as they mowed away.

Of course this elation lasted only long enough for reality and political good sense to prevail. Not because we knew a green, growing roof would fail but because in such a high-profile public place, and with no proof of success, the public and its designated officialdom simply could not take the chance, particularly with the goats.

No such restraints visit on the Fay Street Lofts and Warehouse Studios, a private project without goats. If Lyons and Pape are willing to take the risk, the rest of us will look on happily, immune from danger.

Pape says interest already is high for the not-yet-completed space. Let’s hope the intrigued parties turn into paying tenants. And we all want to see how the sedum crop does.