There is a lot of symbolism in a gas station under a church. I've seen buildings in worse shape demolished. The generality in the previous sentence was an intentional understatement. Some more humor: Praise Mercedes and pass the gas pump? ;)
I should have figured Rosslyn's odd church/filling station combo would eventually be covered on here. Fun fact: After my future wife and I moved to Rosslyn years ago, we were looking for a church to get married in and decided AGAINST the Arlington Temple, the simple reason being we didn't want to commit the aesthetic crime of marrying above a gas station. We instead joined Clarendon Methodist, which is, facade-wise, a more traditional church. (Which we've since left due to moving further out into NoVA and the church's non-traditional, enthusiastic embrace of identitarian wokeness.) But, like any good middle-aged father, I lament Arlington Temple's incoming redesign, wishing it could remain that neat little oddity among highrises we very occasionally drive by and can point out to my kids. We don't live in Rosslyn anymore, we never attended that church, and the Methodist church itself undergoing a worldwide schism over gay marriage, but I'd rather the unique landmark remain. Who can stop progress, though? So count this as just another aging gripe against the enemy of all that's particular and familiar: change.
Arlnow referred to it as "Our Lady of Exxon", but in my family, we always called it the Gas'n'God.
There is a lot of symbolism in a gas station under a church. I've seen buildings in worse shape demolished. The generality in the previous sentence was an intentional understatement. Some more humor: Praise Mercedes and pass the gas pump? ;)
Mercedes was named after Mercedes Jellinek, the daughter of Emil Jellinek, who sold Daimlers cars https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merc%C3%A9d%C3%A8s_Jellinek
Lol this is like something out of Cyberpunk. And I love it!
I should have figured Rosslyn's odd church/filling station combo would eventually be covered on here. Fun fact: After my future wife and I moved to Rosslyn years ago, we were looking for a church to get married in and decided AGAINST the Arlington Temple, the simple reason being we didn't want to commit the aesthetic crime of marrying above a gas station. We instead joined Clarendon Methodist, which is, facade-wise, a more traditional church. (Which we've since left due to moving further out into NoVA and the church's non-traditional, enthusiastic embrace of identitarian wokeness.) But, like any good middle-aged father, I lament Arlington Temple's incoming redesign, wishing it could remain that neat little oddity among highrises we very occasionally drive by and can point out to my kids. We don't live in Rosslyn anymore, we never attended that church, and the Methodist church itself undergoing a worldwide schism over gay marriage, but I'd rather the unique landmark remain. Who can stop progress, though? So count this as just another aging gripe against the enemy of all that's particular and familiar: change.
There is a reason DC has no skyline, the same reason Paris has no skyline (the city proper)