Van Andel Arena Expansion?

[joeDowntown]

12 minutes ago, Pattmost20 said:

Also: My buddy was just in a meeting with 3D renderings, he hasn't been able to get pictures yet, but he said one thing that might not be so evident in the rendering above is the fact that there will be a ton of trees in front of the arena. He said it looks like a forest on the 3D rendering.

Nice! You can see  the number of trees in the first site plan (great to add additional green space to the city). Are the bricks really purple, or is that rendered this way to show the patterns of the brickwork?

Joe

[Pattmost20]

1 hour ago, joeDowntown said:

Nice! You can see  the number of trees in the first site plan (great to add additional green space to the city). Are the bricks really purple, or is that rendered this way to show the patterns of the brickwork?

Joe

I believe it is just to show the pattern, but I will confirm with my buddy. He is hoping they will e-mail out the power point presentation so I can share some of the images.

[WMrapids]

On 6/19/2019 at 10:10 PM, GRDadof3 said:

The plaza project was approved. Starts April 24 and is targeted to be completed by September 15.

 

https://www.woodtv.com/news/grand-rapids/dda-oks-1-6m-for-van-andel-arena-plaza-revamp/

[Prankster]

“A later phase of the project will include revamping the service alley on the west side of Van Andel Arena, including replacing the parking lot adjacent to HopCat with a green space.“

they’re going to turn the parking lot into green space?!?!  If that happens, there goes one of the most developable spaces in downtown. 

[kwl]

54 minutes ago, Prankster said:

“A later phase of the project will include revamping the service alley on the west side of Van Andel Arena, including replacing the parking lot adjacent to HopCat with a green space.“

they’re going to turn the parking lot into green space?!?!  If that happens, there goes one of the most developable spaces in downtown. 

If I were to guess, I bet they're referring to the handful of parking spaces on Weston immediately adjacent to Hopcat. Since the project will eliminate the alleyway behind the Ionia stretch, the continuation of Weston west past ionia will no longer be needed. Theres already a grass island there separating the larger parking lot. 

[mpchicago]

Can't say I'm in love with what I see, but I'm hopeful that it will look/function better than what is there now when complete.   I trust they will not be using purple pavers.   Would clash with red brick building I would think.

[GRDadof3]

On 2/12/2020 at 3:05 PM, mpchicago said:

Can't say I'm in love with what I see, but I'm hopeful that it will look/function better than what is there now when complete.   I trust they will not be using purple pavers.   Would clash with red brick building I would think.

Apparently all of the brick pavers with people's names in them who gave donations back when the arena opened are going to be saved and re-used. Maybe the purple is really supposed to be pink brick? 

[Guest]

Welp, I'm guessing most of you don't make it DT quite as often these days, but fencing has gone up around the NW portion of the arena

Good time to start a project I suppose.

Anyone know if they'll be updating the super rad sign out front?  lol.  Has this been updated since 1996?

[GRDadof3]

3 hours ago, Floyd_Z said:

Welp, I'm guessing most of you don't make it DT quite as often these days, but fencing has gone up around the NW portion of the arena

Good time to start a project I suppose.

Anyone know if they'll be updating the super rad sign out front?  lol.  Has this been updated since 1996?

They probably won't get much work done. Police departments are on patrol shutting down every construction project, unless it's truly for "life saving " work. You have to have a letter from the AG's office or they shut you down and/or ticket you $500 for each worker on site. EVEN if it's work sanctioned or contracted by a municipality. 

[GVSUChris]

12 hours ago, GRDadof3 said:

They probably won't get much work done. Police departments are on patrol shutting down every construction project, unless it's truly for "life saving " work. You have to have a letter from the AG's office or they shut you down and/or ticket you $500 for each worker on site. EVEN if it's work sanctioned or contracted by a municipality. 

They actually have some official paperwork/memos posted on the fences saying that it has been deemed “essential infrastructure work.” It does make me curious though because the Amway and 10 Ionia and the Canopy are all going to town still,  but other projects have completely stopped. 

Edited April 1, 2020 by GVSUChris

[ModSquad]

13 hours ago, GRDadof3 said:

They probably won't get much work done. Police departments are on patrol shutting down every construction project, unless it's truly for "life saving " work. You have to have a letter from the AG's office or they shut you down and/or ticket you $500 for each worker on site. EVEN if it's work sanctioned or contracted by a municipality. 

Jeff, my son is a GR Police Officer.  I just checked with him and he tells me that every police department and sheriff's department in West Michigan is currently operating under the same order, which is to take no police action whatsoever other then emergency calls, or for crimes being committed.  He told me that there are a lot of calls coming in that non-essential business are remaining open, but those calls are all being routed to 311 and then sent over to code enforcement.  

[GRDadof3]

2 hours ago, ModSquad said:

Jeff, my son is a GR Police Officer.  I just checked with him and he tells me that every police department and sheriff's department in West Michigan is currently operating under the same order, which is to take no police action whatsoever other then emergency calls, or for crimes being committed.  He told me that there are a lot of calls coming in that non-essential business are remaining open, but those calls are all being routed to 311 and then sent over to code enforcement.  

I know of 3 construction sites that have been told to "cease" by the Kent County Sheriffs department, one of them they ticketed each person working $500. One was even deemed "essential work" with letters from the township and the sheriff said "No letter from the AG, no work allowed" so they had to stop.  GR police probably have bigger things to worry about but personally I wouldn't risk it. 

[joeDowntown]

Getting rid of the bad 90's sign and neon "statues" is what I'd call essential work!  LOL

Joe

[RegalTDP]

1 hour ago, joeDowntown said:

Getting rid of the bad 90's sign and neon "statues" is what I'd call essential work!  LOL

Joe

Something like this?

On a completely unrelated note, sometimes I do find ways to occupy myself when I'm in a long Zoom meeting...

[GR_Urbanist]

I seriously miss that thing so much!

[organsnyder]

2 hours ago, RegalTDP said:

On a completely unrelated note, sometimes I do find ways to occupy myself when I'm in a long Zoom meeting...

Videoconference pro-tip: Put the meeting on your secondary/tertiary monitor (you have multiple monitors, right?) so you're looking straight into the camera when you're doing something else.

[Guest]

On 4/1/2020 at 12:48 PM, GRDadof3 said:

I know of 3 construction sites that have been told to "cease" by the Kent County Sheriffs department, one of them they ticketed each person working $500. One was even deemed "essential work" with letters from the township and the sheriff said "No letter from the AG, no work allowed" so they had to stop.  GR police probably have bigger things to worry about but personally I wouldn't risk it. 

I think the Governor or AG gave a little clarification and was allowing for things like home construction to continue, but only to do things to protect the investment (finish a roof, put windows in, etc)  After that it would need to stop.

I did see the Sheriffs were out in Rockford telling them to stop work on a home.  The HBA called BS.  I would think any tickets issued would probably get thrown out.

MDOT said all of their projects are "essential infastructure".  The city of GR followed suit (Ridiculous IMO).  Last I heard a lot of contractors are starting to pull out and close up for the time being, some would rather put money over the health and safety of their employees, but that's a whole 'nother topic I guess lol.

 

(Correct me if I'm wrong on any of this BTW)

[Dj Augustine]

We can't even get excavators out for commercial projects in Michigan.  In illinois commercial and residential construction is continuing until a new permit is needed.  

[GR8scott]

Meanwhile I been reading about some other states like CO, AZ and CA That are taking advantage of the low traffic and timing to double down on construction projects while enforcing social distancing practices of 6 ft and providing additional safety resources Also paid sick leave so no one uncomfortable is working while trying to stimulate one aspect of the economy and come out of this ahead instead of playing catch up

[Raildude's dad]

That's  all well and good until someone on the crew gets infected, then the job gets shut down. We have 2 local MDOT jobs just started that I know that have shut down. Starting a road project in MI right know is double dumb. It's my opinion it's going to get a lot worse than it is now. How is this area going to be any different if we all don't stay home. Saw two kid baseball teams getting ready to practice in a park. 20-25 kids together? WTH is wrong with the coaches

[wingbert]

This site gives you a state by state breakdown.  The analysis of Michigan’s policy is that the rules are not well defined within the governor’s order.

Construction Limits – State-by-State Tracker

[QuietHammer]

Hearing the City of GR maintains this project as critical because it provides security in that it helps deter someone from causing mass harm to attendees during gatherings.    I'm guessing  the work also tends to be easier with no events going through the front door right now as well...

[Guest]

20 hours ago, QuietHammer said:

Hearing the City of GR maintains this project as critical because it provides security in that it helps deter someone from causing mass harm to attendees during gatherings.    I'm guessing  the work also tends to be easier with no events going through the front door right now as well...

Huh?  This is a private project.  The city of GR doesn't really determine which projects are essential and which aren't.  It's kind of the opposite in that the contractor makes that determination for themselves.

Edited April 10, 2020 by Floyd_Z

[joeDowntown]

The arena has a lot of activity going on. Footings are in place in multiple locations. Progress on this will have to hold us me over until construction gets kicks up again. 
 

 

[thebeerqueer]

On 4/25/2020 at 1:30 PM, joeDowntown said:

The arena has a lot of activity going on. Footings are in place in multiple locations. Progress on this will have to hold us me over until construction gets kicks up again. 
 

 

Saw this progress while on a walk downtown last week. Was surprised at the amount of activity at this site.