Proposal: Downtown Convention Center

[gman430]

16 minutes ago, oklahoma75 said:

I read those renderings were presented to Hughes as an idea from the architect...they were not solicited.  i believe a retraction was even in Gville Today

These are the exact ones he presented to county council at the meeting Tuesday. Could the design change in the future? Yes but as of right now this is what is planned. Craig Gaulden Davis introduced Hughes to Rome Office and that’s how they got involved.

Edited March 21, 2019 by gman430

[GvilleSC]

7 minutes ago, gman430 said:

These are the exact ones he presented to county council at the meeting Tuesday. Could the design change in the future? Yes but as of right now this is what is planned. Craig Gaulden Davis introduced Hughes to Rome Office and that’s how they got involved.

I think everyone is talking about different things, but I could be wrong. 

[gman430]

4 minutes ago, GvilleSC said:

I think everyone is talking about different things, but I could be wrong. 

Ohhh...that would make a lot more sense. Yeah, the new state’s tallest building is what the architect has in mine for that site. Basically just an idea and proposal. Whether Hughes moves forward with it is anybody’s guess. 

[ausrutherford]

This is the tallest building in SC:

 

It's almost as if the architecture gods are laughing at the state...

[distortedlogic]

2 hours ago, ausrutherford said:

This is the tallest building in SC:

 

It's almost as if the architecture gods are laughing at the state...

Most don't consider this one the real tallest as its not a building general citizens use. But this is pathetic on a couple of levels. Not only is the appearance of this building awful (even considering what it is) but It's pathetic THAT  is our tallest. 

[bikeoid]

3 minutes ago, distortedlogic said:

Most don't consider this one the real tallest as its not a building general citizens use. But this is pathetic on a couple of levels. Not only is the appearance of this building awful (even considering what it is) but It's pathetic THAT  is our tallest. 

It has plenty of headroom on each floor though!

[Galley]

On 3/21/2019 at 7:44 PM, ausrutherford said:

This is the tallest building in SC:

 

It's almost as if the architecture gods are laughing at the state...

What am I looking at, exactly?  It looks like a grain silo.

[btoy]

10 hours ago, Galley said:

What am I looking at, exactly?  It looks like a grain silo.

That is a copper wire tower in Abbeville and also the current tallest building in SC.

[gman]

3 hours ago, btoy said:

That is a copper wire tower in Abbeville and also the current tallest building in SC.

I consider that a structure, not a building.  Structures are also referred to as non-buildings. As for structures, a communications tower near Florence is actually the tallest. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diversified_Communications_Tower

[gman430]

https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/2019/05/28/greenvilles-old-convention-center-faces-uncertain-future/3692563002/

My opinion: Keep the Greenville Convention Center open even if this new one downtown gets built and use it for large scale and industrial events like graduations and trade shows. Use the new one downtown for corporate company events. They both can be successful due to them catering to different clienteles. 

Edited May 28, 2019 by gman430

[Den2Gvl]

We'll have a new convention center in the next 4-5 years according to the Mayor's comment in this article. 

[Exile]

I suppose it's possible that a downtown convention center could in fact drum up more business for the old behemoth, if their missions are clearly distinguished and they are marketed alongside each other. And at least some amenities are developed around it.

[chuckyvt]

8 hours ago, gman430 said:

My opinion: Keep the Greenville Convention Center open even if this new one downtown gets built and use it for large scale and industrial events like graduations and trade shows. Use the new one downtown for corporate company events. They both can be successful due to them catering to different clienteles. 

I think there will be a niche for it, but I think the overhead of operating it may become too much for a small handful of events a year.   

[ausrutherford]

They need to connect it to the Swamp Rabbit extension on the other side of the airport. Instant foot traffic boost. 

[sptgguy]

I'm surprised the city hasn't managed to get a hotel to build beside the convention center. I think that is one of the main drawbacks. People want to stay in close proximity to the actual site of their (fill in the blank).  From a quick look via google map, there is plenty of undeveloped land that I am sure the city could have applied leverage on to get it developed to support the building. (A decent hotel with a covered connection of sorts, one or two restaurants, and a few retail spots) 

[Exile]

7 hours ago, sptgguy said:

I'm surprised the city hasn't managed to get a hotel to build beside the convention center. I think that is one of the main drawbacks. People want to stay in close proximity to the actual site of their (fill in the blank).  From a quick look via google map, there is plenty of undeveloped land that I am sure the city could have applied leverage on to get it developed to support the building. (A decent hotel with a covered connection of sorts, one or two restaurants, and a few retail spots) 

I seem to recall a master plan, or a consultant's detailed recommendation, or its equivalent, for that section of 291 about 15 years ago, give or take, that included a hotel alongside the center. But obviously nothing's come of it--the plan, much less the hotel--for whatever reasons.

[vicupstate]

Hotels cluster together and right now the Sleep Inn is the only other hotel in that area. Any new hotel would have to survive from just Convention events, which is probably not sufficient. Many of the events there draw in mostly locals.    

[sptgguy]

The city has had YEARS to come up with a way to attract the support. I seem to recall some kind of report in the last decade about the convention center that said it could not attract other forms of business due to the lack of hotel to help support those in attendance. No one wants to ride a shuttle to and from an  off site/hotel that is one/two miles away. 

 

[gman430]

11 hours ago, sptgguy said:

I'm surprised the city hasn't managed to get a hotel to build beside the convention center. I think that is one of the main drawbacks. People want to stay in close proximity to the actual site of their (fill in the blank).  From a quick look via google map, there is plenty of undeveloped land that I am sure the city could have applied leverage on to get it developed to support the building. (A decent hotel with a covered connection of sorts, one or two restaurants, and a few retail spots) 

I didn’t know it was the city’s job to build hotels.  

[sptgguy]

I never said it was their job. They have the ability to nudge and persuade.  

[Exile]

Back in the days of the Textile Expo (it was then named "Piedmont Exposition Center", but we just called it "Textile Hall"), there was not just the Phoenix Inn, but a motel at the SE corner of 291 and 385, a Thunderbird Inn/Motel I believe, that was until the Hyatt the largest hotel/motel in Greenville. There were some restaurants and bars strewn out along that stretch too, including the Dragon Den, which had a remarkably good Chinese and Polynesian menu.

I remember vividly a drunk European man getting in a head-on collision with a neighbor right in front of my house. Nobody was hurt, but textile HQ's were all over the place, and I have no doubt he'd been wined and dined at one of them and was lost.

Anyway, the point is, the paradigm's different now. I imagine they built it where it is because of proximity to the airport--private jets and such. But location and concentration of amenities was clearly not an issue then. Visitors were all over the place. If there's a way to bring that stretch of 291 back to life, then maybe the Center will make it. If not, then I'd say sell it off to a megachurch, or convert it for govt offices.

That is, once the DT convention center is open for business. If ever.

[apaladin]

IIRCC the Phoenix Inn was first the Thunderbird? It was the same facility wasn't it?

[Exile]

7 hours ago, apaladin said:

IIRCC the Phoenix Inn was first the Thunderbird? It was the same facility wasn't it?

Yeah, you may be right. Was the one up the hill at 385 the Golden Eagle? I'm pretty sure it was some bird name. Anyway, whatever its name was, it for a long time had the most rooms of any lodging in Greenville. QT is now on that site.

[gman430]

So when is this project going to go before both city and county councils for funding approval?

[gman430]

I assume this is dead.