Main Street/CBD Developments

[johnpro318]

News from the state (http://www.thestate.com/business/story/367987.html) on the Sheraton Hotel.

Now its not opening to May 22nd.

[krazeeboi]

The State reports today that the Palmetto Center has been sold to an out-of-town company. Also in the same article, the glass sculpture depicted atop 1441 Main, to be Wachovia's new state HQ building, is not a final design.

[CorgiMatt]

The front door and the side rear door of the former McCrory's building were wide open this afternoon. The builders are there every week day working all day long.

[Spartan]

Perhaps you've forgotten what this building actually looks like. The marble is not an addition; it's what's already there. The marble pillars cannot be removed as that would seriously compromise the stability of the structure. Although not a shot of the building from the front, this one shows what I'm talking about. 1441 Main is to the far right.

You probably can get a better idea with this shot that I took sometime last year:

Also, check out this shot of the main entrance from Emporis.

Right now, the glass that exists at street level is dark and reflective, and the renderings represent a vast improvement. The other changes are what looks to be decorative lights on the marble pillars, the planters in front of the pillars (looks like they could be made of granite), and the Wachovia sign. These changes will make it at least interesting to stroll by the building, especially with the monitors. Right now, it's pretty much repulsive from a pedestrian point of view.

Hmm.... well, thats not an improvement. My thought is that if they're going to invest all this money in an unnecessary glass attachment to this building, why not add a shop or restaurant space or something to the ground floor.

[krazeeboi]

Hmm.... well, thats not an improvement. My thought is that if they're going to invest all this money in an unnecessary glass attachment to this building, why not add a shop or restaurant space or something to the ground floor.

Although retail/restaurant space is my top choice as well, it's hard to say that the renovations won't represent an improvement. We know that as much as we'd like for every building to have restaurant/retail at the ground floor, it's just not going to happen that way. And for the ones that don't, I'd much rather the street level to be something like what's depicted in those renderings than what currently exists.

[emerging.me]

Still ugly!

I'm just giving you guys that love it a hard time. Did anyone else see the article in The State about it recently saying that people were split on the new design? They are SO reading us.

Edited April 8, 2008 by emerging.me

[krazeeboi]

I'm not saying I necessarily love it, but I think what we've seen is a vast improvement over what currently exists.

I'd like to see the other alternatives.

[Spartan]

I suppose its a slight improvement. But its very slight...

[krazeeboi]

^Functionally (from an urban standpoint), it won't represent a 180-degree turnaround. But aesthetically, I think it will be close to that. I think we also have to keep in mind that this is an existing building here--one that obviously did not consider the pedestrian--so the architects have constraints that they must work within. So considering that, I give them a bit of leeway. Now if this were a building being built from the ground up, there would have been no excuse.

The renderings somewhat put me into the mind of the most recently built Wachovia building in uptown Charlotte at 3rd and Tryon. Renovations were done at the street level of that building as well, and while it doesn't have any street level retail, it's at least interesting to walk by with its transparent glass. I don't even think the adjacent plaza gives it an edge over the renovated building in Columbia, since it only seems to be occupied during the day. Presently, the after hours activity along that stretch of Tryon is pretty light.

[Captain Worley]

That looks like someone plopped a rollercoaster down on top of that building. It'll look cool, but that's what popped into my mind when I saw it.

[krazeeboi]

^LOL, that's a lively description.

[krazeeboi]

This week's edition of the Free Times reports that the 2nd phase of the streetscaping project is set to begin May 5.

[krazeeboi]

I want to bring up an issue that I've spoken about before.

Does anyone see anything that appears to be "off" in this shot (besides the horrible job they did in trying to preserve the historic facade and incorporate it into the ground floor of Meridian):

[Spartan]

Well, aside from the palmettos, somebody seems to have built a barn on top of the Barringer Building.

[comingtocolumbia]

New store coming to Main Street (Next to Atlanta Bread - 1301 Main St) - In the retail section of The State

[Captain Worley]

I sure hope it is a better newstand than the Capital Newsstand. I used to love that place, but they went severely downhill. Nowhere near the choices in magazines they used to have back in the eighties.

[GamecockEngineer]

Oddly placed hot dog stand? Empty street? Ugly light pole? It looks like the top of the palmetto tree is missing.

[krazeeboi]

You guys alluded to it with the trees. Why is the tree canopy on Main so hit-or-miss, even with the streetscape improvements between Gervais and Hampton? In that shot, you've just got this open sidewalk with barely any tree cover.

[Spartan]

Yeah, and in Columbia, South Carolina, the lack of shade is a killer problem. I've said from day 1 that they made a mistake by not planting shade trees on Main Street. You can say what you want about Greenville, but it is right pleasant to walk down their Main Street even on the hottest days of summer. I would love to hear some logic from the City as to why the shade trees that were there before had to be removed and not replanted.

[krazeeboi]

So were mature shade trees removed during the streetscaping? I do know that some of the larger trees were allowed to remain, as can be seen at the corner of Main and Washington in the picture I posted and in the picture below:

Here's a picture of the same general area of the first picture I posted. You better see the obvious gap in the canopy from this perspective:

Greenville, as well as Charlotte, have done great jobs in terms of the tree canopies along their main streets. I have no idea why the streetscaped section of Main in Columbia seems to have no consistency with its trees.

[CorgiMatt]

The trees you're worried about are babies. Just wait.

And palmetto trees take a few seasons to a few years, and before you know it they are so exquisitely beautiful.

[waccamatt]

I think the only part missing the tree canopy is the part in front of the Meridian. I don't know if it has something to do with the fact that the construction of Meridian was going on at the same time as the streetscaping.

[CorgiMatt]

Oh, I see what you're talking about. It's because the only place missing the canopy is in front of the Arcade building where "underground Columbia" (such as it were) prevents a tree from being planted.

Edited April 20, 2008 by CorgiMatt

[goodbye]

Yeah, and in Columbia, South Carolina, the lack of shade is a killer problem. I've said from day 1 that they made a mistake by not planting shade trees on Main Street. You can say what you want about Greenville, but it is right pleasant to walk down their Main Street even on the hottest days of summer. I would love to hear some logic from the City as to why the shade trees that were there before had to be removed and not replanted.

For reference, here are a couple images of Greenville's Main Street taken today:

For more information about this photo, click here.

For more information about this photo, click here.

For more information about this photo, click here.

I would say that the tree canopy originally planted in the late 1970s and early 1980s is still one of the best and most important changes ever created by the City, even though it was not nearly as expensive as several other projects since then. Someone obviously had a clear vision of what the canopy would look like once mature. The City is currently in the process of replanting several of the trees along certain portions of Main Street in order to provide a better future coverage and in some cases to widen the sidewalks even more.

[krazeeboi]

I think the only part missing the tree canopy is the part in front of the Meridian. I don't know if it has something to do with the fact that the construction of Meridian was going on at the same time as the streetscaping.

I do hope that's the only section of the streetscaped portion of Main that has that obvious gap in the infant canopy. Corgi's explanation makes sense, so I really hope that's the reason. Is it possible that some planters could go out front with some type of plantings to at least try to make up for that?

Once mature, the canopy won't look as uniform due to older trees already existing (and of course, they need to remain), but it will make a noticeable difference. As you can see from the shots that Skyliner posted, it makes for quite a pleasant stroll down the street. The following shot of Tryon Street in uptown Charlotte by RestedTraveler shows the same thing: