Imaginon

[krazeeboi]

Is Imaginon technically a children's museum? If so, it would now qualify as the largest in the South, having surpassed EdVenture in Columbia in total square footage.

[dubone]

no. museums are technically for "objects of scientific, historic or artistic value." this is a library-theater combination. Discovery Place is our children's museum. Imaginon is our children's library and theater.

[krazeeboi]

Gotcha. I didn't think so, but I wasn't entirely sure.

[dubone]

i walked through here today for the first time. it is sooooo colorful and so full of children, a species i'm not around too often, so it was a little overwhelming.

we made our way up to the upper levels, which is more for teens, and it was little more sedated up there. it was cool to see kids spread out all over the booth with their graphing calculator doing their math homework.. and others online doing research. no doubt it will be a healthy place for many of the kids in nearby neighborhoods and throughout the city.

[Neo]

My girlfriend and I went to Imaginon yesterday and snapped some pics. They're up on my Flickr account:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dyelton/sets/1206884/

[ngp]

...so full of children, a species i'm not around too often, so it was a little overwhelming.

Man, I hear those things sometimes bite. They make me nervous. I think it's great that we have this new state of the art containment center.

[dubone]

yes, but they don't have proper warnings on the entrance .

[cinco]

My girlfriend and I went to Imaginon yesterday and snapped some pics. They're up on my Flickr account:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dyelton/sets/1206884/

great pictures, neo. did you go in during off hours? in most of the shots it seems empty... which makes for capturing the interior nice and unobstructed. or did you have a bullhorn yelling @ kids telling them to get out of your shot?

[Neo]

great pictures, neo. did you go in during off hours? in most of the shots it seems empty... which makes for capturing the interior nice and unobstructed. or did you have a bullhorn yelling @ kids telling them to get out of your shot?

I went on Sunday around 1:30PM and made a point to make sure not many peeps were in my pictures. The library had a lot of people and there was an extremely long line to see the Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe in the theater portion. There was a lot of foot traffic in and around Imaginon...made me proud!

[dubone]

great pictures, neo!!!

imaginon really has generated a lot of foot traffic, hasn't it. and it isn't the normal party crowd that are typically in the area between cosmos and dixies. the baby-carriage count in uptown just grew exponentially in the past month.

[Neo]

Here is Imaginon from one of the outside smoking areas in the Arena:

[dubone]

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/ent...ts/12997850.htm

wow... "overwhelming demand" for imaginon's children's theatre has them scrambling to hire employees, etc.

i wonder if they should keep their old theatre on morehead (or did they already sell it?)

[dubone]

http://charlotte.bizjournals.com/charlotte.../19/focus2.html

It is good to see that the design of Imaginon is so unique and interesting it is still being reported on, even after being open for a number of months.

Also, we had relatives in town this weekend, and when we drove past Imaginon they said "What is THAT building?" It really caught their attention.

[A2]

http://charlotte.bizjournals.com/charlotte.../19/focus2.html

It is good to see that the design of Imaginon is so unique and interesting it is still being reported on, even after being open for a number of months.

Also, we had relatives in town this weekend, and when we drove past Imaginon they said "What is THAT building?" It really caught their attention.

I know I am going to get busted on for saying this. But I am going to say it anyway. I love the front of the building, but can't stand the giant Silo. Ok I said it. Let's move on.

A2

[dubone]

Yeah, the 6th street facade, especially the "barn" or "silo", leave a lot to be desired. I guess we just need to hope a little harder for large buildings on the other three corners of 6th and Brevard.

[Miesian Corners]

Update--ImaginOn signage will be installed soon. The company that was hired to build the large neon, multi-colored sign had problems fabricating it. It is still being constructed, but should go on the building next month above the main entrance.

A large "high-design" electronic marquee will (hopefully) go up at the corner of 7th and Brevard sometime before year's end. They are still involved in fundraising to have it manufactured.

[dubone]

That is good news. It really is surprising it doesn't have a sign saying what it is.

I'm sure with the building's success that their fundraising efforts will go well.

[A2]

Update--ImaginOn signage will be installed soon. The company that was hired to build the large neon, multi-colored sign had problems fabricating it. It is still being constructed, but should go on the building next month above the main entrance.

A large "high-design" electronic marquee will (hopefully) go up at the corner of 7th and Brevard sometime before year's end. They are still involved in fundraising to have it manufactured.

Great news MC. Bring on the neon!!!

A2

[Ryepow]

What's going on behind the Imaginon theatre on 5th street? I went to a Bobcats game the other night and noticed one of those pork chop lots all fenced off. Maybe it has always been like that but for some reason it really stuck out. It's almost looked as if they are getting ready to build something in there.

[dubone]

It has been retained to be the staging area for Light Rail construction. They are already storing all the concrete blocks from the trolley tracks there, that will be reused when the Light Rail tracks are added back.

[Ryepow]

alright thanks, I thought that's what it might be all about but wasn't sure.

[dubone]

http://www.charlottecentercity.org/nav.cfm...p;action=detail

Imaginon has officially become Charlotte's first LEED certified structure, with a Silver rating from the US Green Building Council.

Also, rest in peace, Mr. Martin.

[atlrvr]

Now that Imaginon is up and running, and I assume all the children's books have been moved there from the main library, has there been any recent news of the reconfiguring of the space at the Main library?

There was a design charette a while back, and they indicated they would be adding a coffee shop adjacent to a new entrance on Tryon St., but so far, this seems to have stalled.

[Raintree21]

That is one thing I've always been disappointed in was our Main Library. Yes, we have a pretty decent library SYSTEM with all of the branches, but I would think that our main branch would be bigger and much more stately, considering the size of our city and how we want to be seen seriously.

[Justadude]

I'm not sure what you mean by "reconfiguring" the space, but parts of the main branch were reorganized after the children's section was removed. The multimedia space is much larger than it used to be, and there's a little coffee kiosk -- but that sounds smaller than what you're referring to.

I love the Imaginon concept, but I'm still a little dubious about removing the kids' section from the main branch. The library is increasingly becoming a rest area for the homeless, which is not welcoming for those of us who actually enjoy libraries. I agree that the branch needs a major upgrade to make it a more significant educational space.