989 replies to this topic

[waccamatt]

803metlife, on Dec 21 2005, 02:16 PM, said:

maybe one day s.c. will see that the flag hurts us more than it helps us. Im tired of going out of state and when asked where i'm from the first thing people say is the state with the confederate flag on the state house!!! Even states with a more racist history down us for this!! This flag make our state seem pretty backwards. Like were still in the 1800's.

I thought we were still in the 1800's. What year is it now?

[sonofaque86]

Ummm..Just thought this was interesting...Somebody was on mayorcoble.com and they were stating how they heard of a 30+ story tower going up in Columbia...They said they overheard a conversation...Here
Don't know if its reliable, but interesting I'm hearing talk

[TheSuperPope]

It continues on to say 42 stories on Main Street. Even if the floors are only 10' with a 2' ventilation and spacing between... we're looking at 504'. wow... I just hope its not a box building and has some architecture in it.

[waccamatt]

TheSuperPope, on Dec 22 2005, 11:55 PM, said:

It continues on to say 42 stories on Main Street. Even if the floors are only 10' with a 2' ventilation and spacing between... we're looking at 504'. wow... I just hope its not a box building and has some architecture in it.

It was an "overheard conversation" and the city was discouraging it? That's absurd.

[TheSuperPope]

Its nice to hope though... sigh

[803metlife]

waccamatt, on Dec 23 2005, 12:47 AM, said:

It was an "overheard conversation" and the city was discouraging it? That's absurd.

If the city discourages that, then the city is defintely not trying to be a regional player in the new south movement. It has to be more than that.... I doubt the city would turn something like this down. Especially how hard everyone came down on the city for not progressing.

[The_sandlapper]

That would be great if it happened. Columbia could stand to have a 40 story tower in the skyline, another milestone if anything. I'd be curious to see why this developer is looking into mid sized city markets?

[krazeeboi]

Hmmm...we could speculate on this one all day long. At any rate, I think one reason why this developer may be looking into Columbia is because, as was stated, the city has a pretty high-occupancy rate in the CBD, downtown residential is on the verge of a pretty big upswing, and I think the market is starting to become oversaturated in cities like Charlotte and Jacksonville, with lots of proposals for high-rise condo buildings. So why not start looking at cities that look promising as far as "the next level" is concerned and invest there?

[The_sandlapper]

Makes sense.

[Spartan]

I wonder if the "Doug" that posted there is our DougL?

This is indeed intriguing. I wonder why teh city would not be infavor of such a thing. He could have been frustrated at the process of getting his project started. Perhaps its the location, rather than the city. Maybe he is trying to tear down some historic building or maybe the city won't buy out the property first. Speculation is indeed infinite here. I suspect that the city would be in favor of this. I hope we hear more on this soon.

Also, what is thie blog thing? how can we be sure that is actually Bob Coble posting there?

[emerging.me]

Spartan, on Dec 26 2005, 07:29 PM, said:

I wonder if the "Doug" that posted there is our DougL?

This is indeed intriguing. I wonder why teh city would not be infavor of such a thing. He could have been frustrated at the process of getting his project started. Perhaps its the location, rather than the city. Maybe he is trying to tear down some historic building or maybe the city won't buy out the property first. Speculation is indeed infinite here. I suspect that the city would be in favor of this. I hope we hear more on this soon.

Also, what is thie blog thing? how can we be sure that is actually Bob Coble posting there?

I believe it was the message board on the mayor's official website, so I'm guessing people know him by his username. I'm glad to see that he's posting there -- because he certainly never writes back to emails I've sent. Maybe I'll try there. Good stuff.

[CorgiMatt]

TheSuperPope, on Dec 22 2005, 11:55 PM, said:

It continues on to say 42 stories on Main Street. Even if the floors are only 10' with a 2' ventilation and spacing between... we're looking at 504'. wow... I just hope its not a box building and has some architecture in it.

My only problem with a 40-story tower would be that if it is not in the right place it will throw off our balanced skyline and look weird sticking up all by itself. Could it be that the current Free Times's article on Addams University Bookstore moving to Assembly were Soaps Laundry mat was is related to this tower rumor?

[waccamatt]

CorgiMatt, on Dec 29 2005, 09:57 AM, said:

My only problem with a 40-story tower would be that if it is not in the right place it will throw off our balanced skyline and look weird sticking up all by itself. Could it be that the current Free Times's article on Addams University Bookstore moving to Assembly were Soaps Laundry mat was is related to this tower rumor?

The Addams Bookstore location is where Holder Properties is going to build a condo tower. They are still acquiring properties in that area, but I know they already have the meat market, the bookstore and the convenience store.

[krazeeboi]

Isn't a church located in the vicinity as well?

[waccamatt]

krazeeboi, on Dec 29 2005, 10:05 PM, said:

Isn't a church located in the vicinity as well?

I think the LDS has an office on the Assembly Street side of the block.

[krazeeboi]

When is the city going to replace the "Welcome to Columbia" signs with ones that have the new slogan, "Where Friendliness Flows" on them? The ones with the uninspiring "A Capital Place to Be" are still up.

[emerging.me]

Been wanting to post this for a while... my scanner software is screwed up, so I just took a picture of the picture. This is my grandparents walking down Main Street in Columbia. We think it was taken some in the late '30s early '40s. The sign in the top left is for "Marilyn Shoes," which was right next to where Jammin' Java -- my favorite downtown hangout -- is now. I tracked it down using one of those postcard books -- which are really cool by the way. The building on the right, I believe, is the one they just tore down to make way for the new condos. Pretty crazy huh? Look at how busy the street was!! Apparently this was taken by a roving photographer -- the guys that would just randomly snap pictures of people on the street and the approach them to sell 'em a copy. Crazy huh? I thought it was really special.

Edited by emerging.me, 11 January 2006 - 01:56 PM.

[krazeeboi]

Now THAT is a cool picture. I've seen some historical photos of Columbia, and you wouldn't believe the activity along Main and Aseembly.

[waccamatt]

Awesome picture, EM. It is unfortunate how so many people and businesses moved out to the suburbs through the years, but I think Five Points and the Vista have done pretty well. Hopefully with the new residential developments springing up in the downtown area, Main Street will soon teem with that type of activity again!

[RestedTraveler]

I went to Columbia for the first time in many years yesterday, mainly to take the kids to EdVenture.

Afterwards, we drove along Gervais Street through downtown. I was pretty impressed with what I saw there. It's not nearly as "dead" as I remember it being.

One thing that struck me is there were several (three that I recall) old train stations that had been converted into shopping/dining. Were those really train stations? I'm curious as to why there were so many of them? Does anyone know the story behind this or know where I can find the information online? I'd be interested in learning more.