OBA Building at 6 and F designed by German architect Albert Goehner

At 600 F Street, NW, stood the OBA (Oriental Building Association) Federal Savings & Loan Association that was founded in 1861 as a "German" bank; the building, now closed, was designed by Albert Goehner.

Goehner also designed the landmark-designated building at 423–425 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, which originally built in 1902 as the Kingman, the name later was changed to the President Monroe Apartment Building.

OBA remains the oldest savings and loan association in the nation and in 2003 moved a few blocks to 700 7th Street NW. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.

As part of a larger fraternal organization, the association allowed individuals and small businesses in this German dominated neighborhood to pool resources and offer credit. The OBA exemplifies the historical importance of the District's immigrant self-help organizations and business relationships.

I began photographing the OBA Building in late summer 2004, focusing more on the Banana Republic billboard displays pasted to the west side of the building, facing the MCI Center. And, if my photographic memory and collection is correct, it was in November 2004 that the renovation process began. See my Time Changes project which was launched in February 2005 that depicts a photo taken on Veterans Day, 11 November 2004, of the OBA Building at the beginning stages of its redevelopment.

Christopher Janney's "Horn Section" ... weaves a path through Hyattsville history

During my day trip last April to the Hyattsville Arts District I happened upon "Hyattsville Horn Section: An Urban Musical Instrument", an interactive performance sculpture, designed and created by Christopher Janney.

Located on the grassy area at the corner of Farragut and Rhode Island Avenue in front of the County Service Building in the City of Hyattsville, anchoring the Hyattsville end of the Gateway Arts District corridor, the Hyattsville Horn Section: An Urban Musical Instrument creates a "sonic portrait" of Prince George's County.

Composed of 5 colorful independent 9ft horn instrument forms spaced so people can walk among them, a map of the County is embedded in the instruments. A series of "hand plates", when touched, illuminates and the instruments play a sound or group of sounds from a "sound bank" -- representative of a combination of environmental, historical and melodic sounds significant to the County and its impact on the region.

A County-specific riddle is engraved on a stainless steel plaque at the center of the sculpture. When the riddle is deciphered and "hand plates" are touched in the correct pattern, the instruments will play a saxophone "short" in reply. The sculpture is lit from dusk to dawn.

Installed in the Spring 2004 and dedicated 23 June 2005, interactive performance sculpture is lit from dusk to dawn.

Mr. Janney combines more than 20 years of background in architecture and jazz music to create performance sculpture. A M.S. in Environmental Art from MIT, B.A. in Architecture and Visual Arts from Princeton University and having studied at the Dalcroze School of Music in New York - his interactive, musical and colorful works can be seen in public places ranging from public libraries, the Miami International Airport, and in the New York City Subway.

Visit his website at www.janney.com. Click photo to view my Hyattsville Horn Section: An Urban Musical Instrument by Christopher Janney photoset. See photo at Hyattsville MD at Yahoo-Travel.