Cathedral Square Project

[GR_Urbanist]

^You mean less winding walks and more geometry plus monument? I'd like to see more formal designs (French and Holland design) for urban parks.

Bingo! A nice European style plaza would really set this space apart.

It's old world, but would be a totally new concept in GR.

[GRguy]

Maybe they add lots of long benches for people to sleep on!

[markrumsey]

I love the idea of moving the sign to Uptown Village. docksidepress (?) on flickr has this picture of it, which shows it as separate signs. Even just take the Uptown portion:

Maybe if lighthouse recruited a cleaners for the commercial space they could use all the signage!

I saw a rendering of the project today - not to shabby. The plaza looked nice and the buildings were unoffensive. They even included some public art.

[tobias]

I heard that Sheldon will be closed and made into a pedestrian walkway, so it will be like a park from north of the Cathedral all the way to Wealthy.

Plus, there is talk of building a new Saint Andrew

[ArsEcclesiae]

I heard that Sheldon will be closed and made into a pedestrian walkway, so it will be like a park from north of the Cathedral all the way to Wealthy.

Plus, there is talk of building a new Saint Andrew's School, just to the north of the present school, and creating a expansive boulevard leading from Saint Mary's Hospital to the front doors of the Cathedral.

I have also heard some rumours along those lines. St. Andrews School is in pretty poor condition from what I have gathered and the cost of repairing it would be more than to rebuild a new school. So if they demolish the school that opens the path up for the St. Mary's Hospital-Cathedral Boulevard.

I also have hopes that "Cathedral Square" will look to European designs and I am sure that some artwork will be incorporated, after all, us Catholics do love our statues!

[GRDadof3]

I have also heard some rumours along those lines. St. Andrews School is in pretty poor condition from what I have gathered and the cost of repairing it would be more than to rebuild a new school. So if they demolish the school that opens the path up for the St. Mary's Hospital-Cathedral Boulevard.

I also have hopes that "Cathedral Square" will look to European designs and I am sure that some artwork will be incorporated, after all, us Catholics do love our statues!

The part about Sheldon being closed off is no longer a rumor. It's mentioned earlier in this post and went before the city commission yesterday. I believe it was approved.

This image that was done for the Wealthy Jefferson Initiative shows St. Andrews still intact. That'd really be too bad if they had to tear it down.

[Mark Miller]

The long term plan includes the existing St. Andrews school being torn down. A new St. Andrews school will be built and incorporated into the campus. Note that this portion of the site is not in a historic district, so the school has no protection.

Sheldon will be closed and a north-south greenway will connect Wealthy to the cathedral. There will also be an east-west axis that ties the cathedral to the hospital, coordinating with the master plan that St. Marys recently did.

The plaza will be at the corner of Wealthy and Division. A parking lot is planned directly north of the plaza.

A parking deck will also be built within the new plan directly off from Wealthy.

[joeDowntown]

Good lord, don't tear down the school That building gives it such a tranquil campus feel.

Joe

[sfloria]

Didn't they also say last night on the news that 2 new catholic gymnasiums are going to be built, and LEED certified? I though they said one at West Catholic and one at Catholic Central. Where is that going to go?

[tobias]

The one for West Catholic will be built immediately in front of the present gym on their campus. The one for Catholic Central will be at their practice fields (the CAT) on Knapp Street.

[egrguy]

Knape's Blog

The HPC gave the diocese its blessing. This will definetly change that corner.

[Prankster]

Knape's Blog

The HPC gave the diocese its blessing. This will definetly change that corner.

I love how he alluded to something happening with the So-So's Lounge building. This could be a catalyst for that whole area of Division Ave. getting cleaned up.

[twoshort]

I love how he alluded to something happening with the So-So's Lounge building. This could be a catalyst for that whole area of Division Ave. getting cleaned up.

I'm pretty sure So-So's is going to be demolished as well. The building is owned by ICCF along with just about every other building on the east side of Division from Wealthy to Logan. I think they're only missing two properties, 424 (Kleiman's) and 436. I think they also own all the buildings on the south side of Wealthy from Division to Lagrave.

[MAU]

Yes, So-So's is being torn down and ICCF is putting up new bldgs.

[Rizzo]

From the Heartside:

[grcitydog]

^^ looks very nice, but I don't like such a far setback from the street in that part of the city; seems too open for that corner.

[Prankster]

^^ looks very nice, but I don't like such a far setback from the street in that part of the city; seems too open for that corner.

I believe what you are seeing there is a park, with the buildings fronting streets other than S. Division.

[GRguy]

Maybe it is just the rendering, but I don't like the facade at all...looks like 1970 Detroit (not a compliment)

[twoshort]

Yeah, I think its a park and I think that's the only thing they CAN put there due to contamination.

I also thought the facade looked a bit dated, but its pretty hard to tell from that teeny tiny picture.

[GRDadof3]

From the Heartside:

What's really odd about this plan is that it appears that they are going to completely cover the old storage warehouse with some kind of fascia. How else are they going to achieve that black and white checkered pattern? I thought we stopped doing that back in the 80's or so? That and with the plaza, maybe that's why it has a certain "70's" vibe grguy.

It seems like they would want to keep the one decent structure on that block in its current state (with renovations, new windows, etc. obviously). Although I have to admit the West side of that warehouse is not exactly all that attractive (there was probably a building next to it that covered it up at one time).

[Eridony]

I hate that building. Are those tiny black spots on it supposed to be windows? I'll be sad if they building a nearly windowless box like this. Or was that building just put in to fill space in the rendering, and the real focus is supposed to be the plaza? I can't really see any of the plaza though, all I can tell is it has trees and no grass.

[gvsusean]

the best plaza/park i have ever been to (in the united states) is the one in chicago with those brick blocks with people faces on em

[andrew.w]

I hate that building. Are those tiny black spots on it supposed to be windows? I'll be sad if they building a nearly windowless box like this.

It actually looks like all of the medium grey areas may be windows. Sketchup doesn't cast shadows on transparent areas and notice how the sun shades on the south side of the building doesn't cast shadows on these grey blocks. The mottled effect in each one of these squares might also be the ceiling of each flevel visible through the windows.

The only thing that wouldn't make sense about this is that the new windows would completely ignore the placement of the original front windows and it would be hard to maintain any of the existing structural brick walls with all of that glass.

[GRDadof3]

For easier reference, this is what the warehouse looks like currently:

(facing Division)

(facing Wealthy)

[Raildudes dad]

The "warehouse" was C Bell Chevrolet dealership in the early 60's. The showroom was on the ground floor and the service department was on the 2nd floor. I'm not sure (don't temember ) if they drove cars to the floors above that. We didn't go there often, my dad drove Fords . I'm curious if those ramps are still in the building.