Calder PLAZA to get makeover

[x99]

10 hours ago, joeDowntown said:

Your rant leads me to believe you probably think that the Meijer Gardens is a pretty park littered with mangled metal and stone. Of course, you're x99- You probably think the flowers suck too.

Like flowers.  Have a lot of them planted in my yard.  And I like that giant horse at Meijer Gardens.  Classy looking horse.  Just don't like gigantic pieces of scrap metal of all sorts--pointy, curvy, rusty or painted red.  Eh.  Bit of an iconoclast that way.

1 hour ago, mpchicago said:

There is a parking garage under much of Millennium Park, but it was built to hold all that stuff. Like Raildude's said, I would think that if they went that far the whole plaza would need to be replaced including the structure holding it up.

Hopefully a simple green roof would not be an issue, but it depends what sort of dead load they engineered this thing for.  Regular old dirt is 50 pounds a square foot at 6" deep.  A typical parking structure is only engineered to, say, 5 pounds of dead load and 50 pounds of live load.  Permanently loading  your average parking structure with 50 pounds of material would be an issue.  Still, it is presumably engineered for a permanent snow load, so you ought to be able to green it up in the summer with at least 4 inches of dirt and grass.  The big question is whether you can green it up, leave it there, and then dump a couple feet of snow on it.  This is not a typical parking structure by any stretch of the imagination, so it may be engineered for a lot more than typical.

[john_denver]

How many parking spaces does the parking structure hold?  I assume it's pretty full most of the work week and when there are events going on across the street.

[Chester Cheeto]

56 minutes ago, Raildude's dad said:

The support columns / footings need to be strong enough as well. That's what structural engineers sitting in front of computer screens in little cubicles get paid to do.

I'll have you know I work in my very own office thank you very much. 

[Raildude's dad]

2 hours ago, mielsonwheels said:

I'll have you know I work in my very own office thank you very much. 

I'm a civil with my own office also, but we get to go outside and play in the dirt

[GRDadof3]

3 hours ago, john_denver said:

How many parking spaces does the parking structure hold?  I assume it's pretty full most of the work week and when there are events going on across the street.

I remember seeing on the parking study that it's one of the ramps with the lowest occupancy rates. Could they afford to give up some of those? I've been to sold out shows at Devos Hall and found part of the ramp to be half empty. Almost as if people don't know it's there...

[GRBorn]

On 7/14/2016 at 2:24 PM, GRDadof3 said:

I remember seeing on the parking study that it's one of the ramps with the lowest occupancy rates. Could they afford to give up some of those? I've been to sold out shows at Devos Hall and found part of the ramp to be half empty. Almost as if people don't know it's there...

I frequently see the Government Center ramp counter showing hundreds of open spaces. And it's one of the most expensive. 

[jas49503]

On July 17, 2016 at 11:16 AM, GRBorn said:

I frequently see the Government Center ramp counter showing hundreds of open spaces. And it's one of the most expensive. 

Maybe there is a connection. 

[ant33]

A little more info on this project, including some kick ass bathrooms lol..

http://www.grbj.com/articles/85847-firm-renovates-downtown-landmark

 

[joeDowntown]

1 hour ago, ant33 said:

A little more info on this project, including some kick ass bathrooms lol..

http://www.grbj.com/articles/85847-firm-renovates-downtown-landmark

 

Walked past it this weekend and really like what they are doing at the street level. I think it's definitely going to add activity to the void of nothingness on that east side section of Monroe. 

Joe

[ctpgr34]

Found this on the GRHS Facebook page, original plan before Calder

[joeDowntown]

I know they were originally debating fountain or sculpture. Cool photo. It shows that even a little bit of green space would help break up the concrete plaza and make it more inviting. 

I doubt on hot days like today anyone is thinking about hanging out on Calder Plaza. 

Joe

[x99]

It's hard to get a sense of the site plan from that drawing... but even if that grass is at the curb, the overall design would have been a lot better than the giant parking lot with a hunk of metal in it.

[GR8scott]

The calder plaza property itself isnt too bad other then the large concrete slab being open and plain. I would like to see major changes to the surrounding properties to enhance the scene at the plaza during events! Just imagine, the federal court house and at least the small part of the 5/3 building and their surface parking lots were redeveloped with some taller buildings. There is few remaining areas right downtown that a potential iconic tallest building would look great in.

[ctpgr34]

From last night's mixer/forum-http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2016/08/would_you_redesign_calder_plaz.html#incart_gallery

 

[GRDadof3]

50 minutes ago, ctpgr34 said:

From last night's mixer/forum-http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2016/08/would_you_redesign_calder_plaz.html#incart_gallery

 

I'm liking everything I see! 

Here it is in full detail. I'll try and snatch some of the images and post them here this afternoon (unless someone can beat me to it).

http://s3.amazonaws.com/downtowngr.org/general/Reimagining-Calder-Presentation-of-Options-Aug-30-2016.pdf?mtime=20160830165650

[thebeerqueer]

It's so exciting to have this space re-imagined. I like this quote from the PDF "GRAND RAPIDS HAS THE “ICON”... IT’S TIME TO CREATE “ICONIC EXPERIENCES!” Even though it might sound a bit hokey, I do believe in it. The entire experience of viewing the Calder can be enhanced by changing up the space. I like a lot of the 'modernist lines' proposal' and really dig the Monroe side of 'urban living room', specifically the wide open stair case.

[joeDowntown]

Wow, really well done. I think I like the Sculptural Grove concept best, though each has really nice elements. I wonder if the "games" area would get used, though I guess I'm thinking of "old downtown" and not a city with a bunch of people living on the door step of Calder plaza. Also love that they are proposing retail on Monroe (yes!). I'm not a big fan of pedestrian bridges, but in this case, it does seem logical. I just hope they make it look really nice. 

Definitely like the amount of vegetation, compartmentalizing some of the large open spaces, water features, and changes/access to Monroe. 

It's really well done. Hope they iterate on this and push forward quickly.

I see they have two areas for retail. I'd love to see a third retail building near the Di Suvero sculpture to help bridge the gap between North of Michigan and South of Michigan. 

Great stuff!

Joe 

[Chester Cheeto]

Could there be some foreshadowing on the overhead views?  Ottawa is shown having two way traffic and the parking lot in the 5/3 campus to the south of the plaza is marked as 'future retail.'

I like elements in all three options and would be happy with any of them, especially the retail options along Monroe.

[GR_Urbanist]

This is good stuff all around. The fact that this is even occurring was unhead of 10 years ago.

I dont like any one in total. I prefer the  "Urban Living Room " on the Monroe side, while  "Sculptural Grove"  looks better on the Ottawa side, with everything from  "Modernist Lines" directly fronting Ottawa.

All three envision ripping out the wall on Monroe and replacing it with glass! Major score there. Also like the return of the pedestrian bridge over Monroe in "Sculptural Grove".

 

The big question is if we can get rid of the Ford Federal building and the parking lot/hole between the plaza and the 5/3rd building for something that are natural attractions for people? 50% of the problem with the plaza is that there is no reason to go there. The makeover helps on the Monroe side, but not with the other approaches.

 

[GRDadof3]

Here's all of them for those who can't go to the doc. Full scale (click on the image and at the bottom right should be a button for Full Size)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[WMrapids]

I always wished they would put green space there and extend it between the 5/3rd Bank buildings toward Amway.

[GRLaker]

This looks much better. Here's to hoping it comes to fruition. With the north side of town getting more attention with development lately, it will be nice to have a green space like this. 

[GRDadof3]

17 hours ago, GRLaker said:

This looks much better. Here's to hoping it comes to fruition. With the north side of town getting more attention with development lately, it will be nice to have a green space like this. 

Which version do you like the best of the three? I'm still undecided (like aspects of all of them)

[mpchicago]

I like the idea of a large lawn, an interactive water feature (both at Millennium park in Chicago), the garden rooms (reminds me of Parisian parks), retail, and huge open staircase on Monroe. 

I would like to also see another wide staircase at SE corner of Monroe and Michigan to connect this plaza with activity at Rowe/MSU/Monroe North and Bridge Street.

Is there still a plan to connect the Crescent Park/Hill area with Calder Plaza, and the river?  I don't see that here.  

Is CWD, future owners of Fifth Third complex and parking structure just to south, involved in anyway?  Seems they should be since they are really part of the whole.

Edited September 1, 2016 by mpchicago

[GRLaker]

28 minutes ago, GRDadof3 said:

Which version do you like the best of the three? I'm still undecided (like aspects of all of them)

I love all of them. But if I had to pick one out of the three, it would be the sculptural grove. If they could get a nice restaurant or brewery in there with an outdoor seating area under that overhang, it suddenly makes Calder Plaza a place to be again. It could turn the north side of the city from a business-only area into more of a 24/7 destination for people living in the Rowe, Boardwalk, Icon, and the new places being built on N. Monroe.  

Edited September 1, 2016 by GRLaker