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Town Point Park Facelift...


Weaver24

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I think revamping Town Point Park is a great project. There seems to me to be so few parks or open spaces downtown that TPP should be upgraded to be more park-like (as proposed) and not just a large grassy area. We all know that the housing boom is on a downturn, but with the Hilton, Cruise terminal, upgrades (proposed) to the MacArthur Memorial and other developments that will bring more people downtown, the park should become more of a destination, or signature place in DT.

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  • 6 months later...

Here is first update on plan to upgrade TPP. I assume the details of changes to be made are still being discussed?

The project was advertised for contractors to bid on it a few weeks ago. They do not publish the request for bids unless the design work is complete.

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Man that would be expensive to go underground and you would have to deal with flooding.

Hmmm. Maybe make the road that passes by town point park go "underground" through a tunnel, and have the park run up over top of the roadway? Put concession stand/shopping stuff in a huge boat so people board the boats to get food and stuff?

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One of the things I believe they are looking at is doing a better job of connecting the park to the business district. I don't know if that means more overhead pedestrain crossings (I hope not) or adding more street-level pedestrian crossings (with pedestrian signals timed with existing lights) or maybe adding elements that connect both sides of Waterside (like info stations or landscaping). I think they need to make the crossing between the WTC and Customhouse more friendly, open, and noticeable.

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I seen a little bit of it this morning. I can not get a good feel for it. I will just have to see the finished products. They did mention fountains which is a good thing. I'm hoping for one really nice fountain and not a bunch of small crappy ones. Do that and I'm pretty much happy.

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Facelift

The plans have been altered slightly to address noise concerns. News video included.

I'm not crazy about the stage facing the water. I'd prefer having it fact the cruise center. That way, everyone, band included, can look to the side and see the river. Not a bad option, but not as preferable in my mind. Maybe they can angle the stage so you're kind of looking toward Otter Berth (vs. Waterside Drive).

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I seen a little bit of it this morning. I can not get a good feel for it. I will just have to see the finished products. They did mention fountains which is a good thing. I'm hoping for one really nice fountain and not a bunch of small crappy ones. Do that and I'm pretty much happy.

I'm afraid you will not be happy. Download the drawings that Lil-Bear posted on June 10. Go to drawing L106 (59 of 148). The fountain is shown on the lower right, between Otter Berth and Waterside. The enlargement on L313 (76 of 148) looks like the fountain will just be a few nozzles shooting up through the pavers. The problem is that Town Point Park is just too small to include everything that everyone wanted. If they built a signature fountain, there would not be room for anything else. So they tried to do as much as possible, without any one feature dominating the site. Also note in the title block on the right side of both drawings that the fountain is Alternate 6. That means that if the bids for the base contract comes in too high, the fountain may not be built at all.

I'm not crazy about the stage facing the water. I'd prefer having it fact the cruise center. That way, everyone, band included, can look to the side and see the river. Not a bad option, but not as preferable in my mind. Maybe they can angle the stage so you're kind of looking toward Otter Berth (vs. Waterside Drive).

The stage does not really show up on these drawings, because it is not part of the construction project. They are merely relocating the stage from the current location to the new location next to Otter Berth, so they contractor doesn't have to do much with respect to the stage. Also, it will still be demountable like the current stage, again because space is limited. If there is no concert, they can remove the stage and use the space for some other activity.

Since the stage is not on the drawings, it's hard to tell how it is oriented. The best indication is on drawing S101 (97 of 148). On S101, it looks like the stage will be facing the cruise terminal. There will be a building on each side of the stage, one for Festevent office space and support rooms, and a dressing room. These buildings are also removeable, but they are not like construction trailers - they are custom built to be esthetically pleasing. See drawings A101 and A102 (103 and 104 of 148). According to C002 (5 of 148), these two buildings are Bid Alternate 1.

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I'm afraid you will not be happy. Download the drawings that Lil-Bear posted on June 10. Go to drawing L106 (59 of 148). The fountain is shown on the lower right, between Otter Berth and Waterside. The enlargement on L313 (76 of 148) looks like the fountain will just be a few nozzles shooting up through the pavers. The problem is that Town Point Park is just too small to include everything that everyone wanted. If they built a signature fountain, there would not be room for anything else. So they tried to do as much as possible, without any one feature dominating the site. Also note in the title block on the right side of both drawings that the fountain is Alternate 6. That means that if the bids for the base contract comes in too high, the fountain may not be built at all.

The stage does not really show up on these drawings, because it is not part of the construction project. They are merely relocating the stage from the current location to the new location next to Otter Berth, so they contractor doesn't have to do much with respect to the stage. Also, it will still be demountable like the current stage, again because space is limited. If there is no concert, they can remove the stage and use the space for some other activity.

Since the stage is not on the drawings, it's hard to tell how it is oriented. The best indication is on drawing S101 (97 of 148). On S101, it looks like the stage will be facing the cruise terminal. There will be a building on each side of the stage, one for Festevent office space and support rooms, and a dressing room. These buildings are also removeable, but they are not like construction trailers - they are custom built to be esthetically pleasing. See drawings A101 and A102 (103 and 104 of 148). According to C002 (5 of 148), these two buildings are Bid Alternate 1.

Whew Tel you scared me for a second there with the talk of taking up valuable green space in town point park to build permenant Festevents office space and dressing rooms. Thank god both of them are removable. I love townpoint park with all of the grass trees and open space. The last think I would like to see is that open space reduced by a guady fountain or any other object. I don't think people in Norfolk or Hampton Roads for that matter know what a gem town point park really is. It is much more appealing than the concrete park around the Inner Harbor in Baltimore. Re-orient the stage, but please do not reduce any further the green space in town point park.

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I still think a large fountain that people can sit around, meet at, read a book by, sun-worship at, etc. would be a very good thing for the park. It would draw people in, attract picture-takers, provide a pleasing sound, and give workers and TCC students a place to sit around and eat lunch. Fountains are integral to great European cities, so I believe one would be great here. If all it's going to be is something little kids can stick their feet in and splash, they are better off without it. But in my mind, there's a lot of wasted space around Waterside that could easily accommodate a large fountain with some kind of historical theme related to our area.

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I still think a large fountain that people can sit around, meet at, read a book by, sun-worship at, etc. would be a very good thing for the park. It would draw people in, attract picture-takers, provide a pleasing sound, and give workers and TCC students a place to sit around and eat lunch. Fountains are integral to great European cities, so I believe one would be great here. If all it's going to be is something little kids can stick their feet in and splash, they are better off without it. But in my mind, there's a lot of wasted space around Waterside that could easily accommodate a large fountain with some kind of historical theme related to our area.

I agree, like where the flags are in half circle. Build there and put the flags around it...

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I agree, like where the flags are in half circle. Build there and put the flags around it...

You know what brikkman I retract my earlier statement this suggestion may very well work. This way you are not reducing the amount of lawn by replacing an unappealing concrete and brick swath with something much more appealing and attractive.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I was thinking that with the new stage setup, adding seating and a large screen monitor for viewing football games in the winter, with vendors, might help bring people to the park. Kind of like an outdoor sports bar. Screens are set up outside Fedex Field in DC and Wimbleton in ole' London, so the same concept could be used. I'm convinced when the weather is good, big crowds would show up to see their favorite pro and college teams. :tough::alc::D

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