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Vandenberg Center/Calder Plaza

Rizzo

By Rizzo
in Grand Rapids

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Veloise City

Veloise

Posted
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I missed the bikes. I did walk past 4 Friends though. We're you sitting on the bench behind the last car in this photo?

150010941_9d3d92a096_o.jpg

Not me. Had my red bike (seen in most of my DT shots) with me. Got food from Sam and coffee from FF and sat out front at one of Sam's green tables. His wife and kids arrived and we had us a lovely little party.

About 5 teens on stunt bikes hung out at RPC (on stage), then rode around the flat area. They then rode over tp the hot dog place and parked out front. Five more young guys rode up and they ended up using the RPC chairs for some sort of skill test (I left before the activity started). Between me, the FF customer (yellow ATB with full suspension parked upside down), a street guy with big baskets and lots of reflectors, a commuter-type on the street, and all the pedestrians, there was a nice European feel this afternoon. I think perhaps 10 cars used the street in an hour.

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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Am I wrong in assuming they are one, and the same? Also, isn't it technically Vandenburg Center? I think we've been incorrectly labeling it this entire conversation.

Oh yeah, you're right MJLO. "Vandenberg Center" is that whole block from Michigan to Lyon, Monroe to Ottawa, and contains Calder Plaza in the center of it. :blush:

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civitas Burg

civitas

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From New York times magazine critic Robert Sherrill in 1974, "Urban renewal went through Grand Rapids like a $50 million glacier, leaving behind some imposingly cold, square, glassy buildings...there is absolutely no mixture of architecture, old and new, no mixture of purpose...After the government workers go home, the downtown area of Grand Rapids is as lifeless as the inside of the corner mailbox after the last pickup."

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tamias6 Town

tamias6

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No we don't save everything, only that which is significant.

The Towers was a failed "complex" that never really developed. The building isn't tied to anything significant and is being developed into something better.

Same holds true with structures like the Federal Building, Frey and Chase Bldgs, there's nothing particularly special about them.

But City Hall has one of the most important pieces of public art in the United States permanantly attached to it. Not to mention a rooftop mural by Calder on the Kent Co. Bldg. These three pieces are meant to coexist.

So I say redevelop around the property, but let's preserve what makes Grand Rapids distinct.

Looking at the Empire State Building makes one say New York The CN tower puts a face on Toronto. The Gatway Arch is a regonizable feature of St. Louis. All of these things share a commonallity. They are large scale stuctures that makes there host cities recognizable. Does GR have anything like that? No. From the outside GR looks like any other plain Jane mid-western town. If we want a landmark to really set GR apart from any other city. It's got to be large scale, unqiue, and high impact, what ever it may be. City Hall and the County Building. no matter there architectual merits or demerits depending on opinion. to me are not distinctive buildings. Go to any American city of 100,000 people or greater and one will see buildings just like City Hall and the County Building. So that in mind, if I were the city and was given the right offer from the right developer with the right plans, I'm a afraid that the City Hall and the County Building would have to make way from somthing bigger, better, and more powerful. Besides that's what taking photographs and record keeping are for.

As for the Stabile and Culder Plaza. The Stabile is an important element that does set Grand Rapids apart from other cities. It's even a part of the city logo. The open space that surrounds the Stabile is a part of the experience of viewing the sculpture. Also, in my humble opinion, the open space is a welcomed contrast to the density of the surrounding downtown although the space could use some warming up to make it a bit more people friendly. Therefore, any development that would take place on Culder Plaza must imapct the skyline in such a way as to put a face on Grand Rapids in much the same way as the the Empire State Building distinquishes New York, while maintaining the open space and the Stabile that resides therin as a central feature.

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  • 6 months later...
tamias6 Town

tamias6

Posted
Posted

Somthing like this could very well work at Calder Plaza and around the 5/3 Bank building and along the western edge of Calder Plaza facing Devose Place. The only thing I would do different than what GRDad posted is the architectual style of the liner buildings by going with more modern styles like the proposed Tall House Project and the renderings of the Area 4/5 Proposals as both examples meet a middle ground between traditional and Modern styles thus blending together the older buildings to the south and the existing 60's buildings in and around the plaza.

Bingo! Here's a renovation project of the Saltonstall Building in Boston (also built in the 60's) that is doing what we've talked about around the base of the Fifth Third Bank building. Obviously on a much larger scale than here.

Saltonstall Overhaul

77793556_d2677d1cb9_b.jpg

cambridgestreet.jpg

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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Posted

How about this for an idea for Calder Plaza, or parts of Rosa Parks Circle?:

http://www.streetfilms.org/archives/great-...rthouse-square/

(warning: video if you are at work right now)

Temporary/mobile planters scattered throughout the plaza? Here's that square via maps.live aerial:

http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&...1&encType=1

Would Calder Plaza be used more? The planters could be laid out in different arrangements over a few weeks period.

2668640006_389905e6d5_o.jpg

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NorthCoast Hamlet

NorthCoast

Posted
Posted
How about this for an idea for Calder Plaza, or parts of Rosa Parks Circle?:

http://www.streetfilms.org/archives/great-...rthouse-square/

(warning: video if you are at work right now)

Temporary/mobile planters scattered throughout the plaza? Here's that square via maps.live aerial:

http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&...1&encType=1

Would Calder Plaza be used more? The planters could be laid out in different arrangements over a few weeks period.

2668640006_389905e6d5_o.jpg

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

Posted
Posted

Thanks.

I'm for big plans as much as the next guy, but a) most of us here don't have the money nor the connections to redevelop Calder Plaza and bring more use to it, and b) I'm thinking of something that maybe we can throw to the DDA for their budget for next year. Maybe even make it some kind of attraction, or destination. Have local florists, garden centers, architects, AIA, Meijer Gardens and landscapers donate time and greenery to it. Bring in artists to add design elements, mazes, sculptures, etc.. Or maybe even try it on a trial basis during the home and garden show or during some of the bigger conventions.

Actually, (after doing a little research) the video above is of the two-week long Festival of Flowers in Portland. It's apparently spear-headed by one of the larger nurseries in Portland and it ends with a big sale of the flowers.

Scratch adding this to the Home and Garden Show. It's scheduled for March 5-9 next year (still snow on the ground). Maybe the week after Festival in mid-June.

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mejane Whistle-Stop

mejane

Posted
Posted
Thanks.

I'm for big plans as much as the next guy, but a) most of us here don't have the money nor the connections to redevelop Calder Plaza and bring more use to it, and b) I'm thinking of something that maybe we can throw to the DDA for their budget for next year. Maybe even make it some kind of attraction, or destination. Have local florists, garden centers, architects, AIA, Meijer Gardens and landscapers donate time and greenery to it. Bring in artists to add design elements, mazes, sculptures, etc.. Or maybe even try it on a trial basis during the home and garden show or during some of the bigger conventions.

Actually, (after doing a little research) the video above is of the two-week long Festival of Flowers in Portland. It's apparently spear-headed by one of the larger nurseries in Portland and it ends with a big sale of the flowers.

Scratch adding this to the Home and Garden Show. It's scheduled for March 5-9 next year (still snow on the ground).

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Rizzo City

Rizzo

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I think what would bring people to Vandenberg and the Calder is an event coupled with programming. What about Franks?

Do local companies even know that this plaza exists? Maybe a nice pamphlet should go out to companies advertising this space as a prime location.

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d8alterego Whistle-Stop

d8alterego

Posted
Posted

How about something like the Crown Fountain in Calder Plaza??? ;):rofl:

2669925778_e89c5d80fa_o.jpg

I'm sure that'd bring plenty of people to the plaza on hot days. Although I think there may be a drainage problem due to it being ontop of a parking structure.

2669104843_a24f64bb92_o.jpg

Hmmm, not sure which version I like more... :P I think GR needs more public art that "pops."

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Prankster Burg

Prankster

Posted
Posted
How about this for an idea for Calder Plaza, or parts of Rosa Parks Circle?:

http://www.streetfilms.org/archives/great-...rthouse-square/

(warning: video if you are at work right now)

Temporary/mobile planters scattered throughout the plaza? Here's that square via maps.live aerial:

http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&...1&encType=1

Would Calder Plaza be used more? The planters could be laid out in different arrangements over a few weeks period.

2668640006_389905e6d5_o.jpg

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PR-15 Whistle-Stop

PR-15

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Posted
From New York times magazine critic Robert Sherrill in 1974, "Urban renewal went through Grand Rapids like a $50 million glacier, leaving behind some imposingly cold, square, glassy buildings...there is absolutely no mixture of architecture, old and new, no mixture of purpose...After the government workers go home, the downtown area of Grand Rapids is as lifeless as the inside of the corner mailbox after the last pickup."
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wingbert Burg

wingbert

Posted
Posted

Hmmmm, so I asks meself, what makes people hang out in Daly plaza in Chicago?

2330775-L.jpg

(is that a bizarro world view of our own Calder Plaza or what?)

Well for one thing, they have a farmer's market there (plus a Picasso in addition to their Calder).

chicago_820.jpgFarmers-Market---Chicago.jpg

I remember walking through Daly plaza once and there was a large group of people representing some food company or another doing a guerilla marketing effort and handing out free samples to everyone. How long would that last on Grand Rapids' plaza before someone called the cops and had them shooed away. Cool city!

<_<

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