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New Construction and Renovations in the Heartside District


MJLO

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The point of the fire wall is to keep fire from spreading to other buildings. The fire wall would contain the fire to the parking ramp only, or keep a fire from jumping from a neighboring building to the ramp... Even with the alley, they would still need to move 15' additional feet (typical span is 30') and thats almost an entire row of parking sacrificed

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I understand, but what fire is going to start in or spread from to a parking ramp?

I agree with you completely, the chances are very slim... problem is the codes, especially in fire safety cases, are writ in stone.

You can see in the pic above the blank walls on the south sides of the buildings in the forefront to the parking ramp. If you look around as you are downtown, you'll notice a lot more blank walls than you realize. This blank wall is just confounded by the incredibly low building directly in front of it and empty parking lot...

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  • 2 weeks later...

Not to completely rationalize a horrible blank wall, but admittedly, the wind would probably blow pretty hard and fast through that parking structure with all walls exposed. With no tall building on the west side blocking the wind, in the winter, that would be a bit cold. Having the westward wall covered might just be an added benefit? :dontknow:

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Heres some 'ammo' for the argument... I was down in the Heartside area today. The parking lot is getting the metal rails on the exterior and they are going fast with that stuff!

post-10940-1191872723_thumb.jpg

Here are some other examples of blank walls around property lines that are all around the Heartside ramp!

post-10940-1191872823_thumb.jpg

post-10940-1191872735_thumb.jpg

post-10940-1191872779_thumb.jpg

post-10940-1191873264_thumb.jpg

Blank walls are inevitable! In an ideal world, all of the lots downtown would have mid/hi-rise buildings and all of the blank walls would be covered, but Grand Rapids still has ALOT of surface parking and quiet a few single or double story buildings downtown...

Edited by jbr12
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We should bring back the mural thread! I'm sure that there are hundreds of local artists who would work pro bono at creating a masterpiece that will be seen by many many thousands over time if materials were provided. Heck, a mural may even look better than a retail store or glass if done right. While they're at it, how about jazzing up the fire hydrants and meters too!

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Heres some 'ammo' for the argument... I was down in the Heartside area today. The parking lot is getting the metal rails on the exterior and they are going fast with that stuff!

post-10940-1191872723_thumb.jpg

Here are some other examples of blank walls around property lines that are all around the Heartside ramp!

post-10940-1191872823_thumb.jpg

post-10940-1191872735_thumb.jpg

post-10940-1191872779_thumb.jpg

post-10940-1191873264_thumb.jpg

Blank walls are inevitable! In an ideal world, all of the lots downtown would have mid/hi-rise buildings and all of the blank walls would be covered, but Grand Rapids still has ALOT of surface parking and quiet a few single or double story buildings downtown...

Uggh, I wish you hadn't posted those two surface lots on Ionia. I hate those lots, and the blank walls that go with them. :P I definitely see your point. I think it just gets more attention because it faces forward instead of sideways like your other examples, and you can see it from so far away because there is nothing across the street but a sea of parking lots.

Speaking of this parking ramp, they definitely have parking issues in Heartside, like much of the rest of downtown. Light rail anyone?

1517293597_b2e22555bc_b.jpg

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I know this has been discussed before, but can't remember where. Looks like 45 S. Division is going back before the city. This time to the DDA, seeking a $50,000 BRIP grant. Anyone know who the restaurant owners are? Or what is planned?

Design by Cornerstone Architects

1519987733_9a315455a8_o.jpg

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Hmm, large fresh blank wall with a building in front that has easy roof access if you're a free runner? Can anyone say taggers?

Ahh brings me back a few years...

I hope you're not admitting you were a tagger. <_< They are total scum IMO (and many others' opinions).

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To clear this up now and for all future referance of any type, I at one point 3 - 4 years back was a tagger, this ended when the GRPD did there major crackdown on tagging capturing every major tagger in the city with the exception of Mek and Ren.

Not quite a stunning teen-hood (hurrayformakeupaword) but, I somehow went from that to being at CC for Crimminal Justice. Heh, weird how far things turn about.

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I know a few free-runners (The ones around here go by Traceurs, there's a split between Free-running and Parkour, one is about style, the other function.) but I don't think any of them practise tagging. I also know a tagger but he doesn't practise Parkour or Free-running, and only tags decaying abandoned structures.

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I know a few free-runners (The ones around here go by Traceurs, there's a split between Free-running and Parkour, one is about style, the other function.) but I don't think any of them practise tagging. I also know a tagger but he doesn't practise Parkour or Free-running, and only tags decaying abandoned structures.

OK, I need a new dictionary.

["tagger" is the only word that's familiar]

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I know this has been discussed before, but can't remember where. Looks like 45 S. Division is going back before the city. This time to the DDA, seeking a $50,000 BRIP grant. Anyone know who the restaurant owners are? Or what is planned?

Design by Cornerstone Architects

1519987733_9a315455a8_o.jpg

The building owners are Dave, Paul, and Monte Reinert. The same group that owns O'Toole's and Monte's on Bridge St. Last I heard the building was going to be turned into a bar/restaurant called The Republic....serving tapas and small plate type meals.

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The building owners are Dave, Paul, and Monte Reinert. The same group that owns O'Toole's and Monte's on Bridge St. Last I heard the building was going to be turned into a bar/restaurant called The Republic....serving tapas and small plate type meals.

Thank you sir (or madam). :)

GRStraightEdge, Hey we all do stupid things when we are young (or even old). I certainly did my fair share of hell-raising. But I certainly don't miss those days.

You should turn in the two taggers you know, maybe anonymously. People invest literally $millions, sometimes their life savings, and put their households sometimes in financial jeopardy, to grow their businesses, renovate old buildings and invest in urban areas. To have people then come in and deface them is sickening. These guys need to spend some time paying for their crimes.

(steps off soapbox)

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....and only tags decaying abandoned structures.

So that makes it ok? Frankly, that's bullcrap, he should be caught and punished accordingly. Blight sucks in any shape or form. What that person is contributing to is straight up blight. I'm a huge believer in the broken windows theory. Once the cycle starts its extremely difficult to get it to stop.

I sure as hell don't believe that it's art either. I went to art school for 6 years, I never once took a course in tagging.

Stuff like this really hits my hot button.

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The viewpoints of people who tag run so counter to what we are talking about here at UP, that I really can't see how anyone can be a member here and justify to themselves that it's OK, even on abandoned buildings.

As I said, if you know who this MEK and Ren are tslater and Straight Edge, please turn them in to the police. You'll be a hero to the entire community.

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