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CONSTRUCTION THREAD: Reedy Square


gman430

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Maybe I'm not aware of all the details, but why is everybody so excited over this thing? To me, it just looks like a bunch of cubes that will probably look like crap in the next 20 years. I'm not against iconic buildings, but this just isn't that amazing to me. At 6 to 7 stories as some had speculated, I figure it would be kind of an eyesore more than anything else. Perhaps I should withhold my judgement until after more detailed renderings appear.

I can't speak for everyone, but I'm excited about this building for many reasons. First of all, it's unlike anything you'll find in Greenville, much less the entire state of South Carolina. For that matter, you'll probably have trouble seeing a similar building in much of the Southeast. From that viewpoint, it has the opportunity to make the 'wow factor' upon visitors, as well as informing them that they are in the right place. After all, it's going to be a visitor center. It needs to be identifiable, easily describable, and functional. I think this design can offer all of those things. Functionally, it seems that this design will be engaging. Lastly, it embodies the progressive attitude of the Leaders in the City (whether they're at the Chamber or City Hall).

Of course, the rendering that we have seen thus far is merely conceptual. A lot of things will have to be resolved. I look forward to seeing more detailed renderings and plans, but I think most of us agree that it is headed in the right direction. :shades:

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Maybe I'm not aware of all the details, but why is everybody so excited over this thing? To me, it just looks like a bunch of cubes that will probably look like crap in the next 20 years. I'm not against iconic buildings, but this just isn't that amazing to me. At 6 to 7 stories as some had speculated, I figure it would be kind of an eyesore more than anything else. Perhaps I should withhold my judgement until after more detailed renderings appear.

I'm inclined to agree with you. It appears that many are excited, simply for excitement's sake. To be honest, I don't even know what the exact intent and purpose is of these giant cubicles. I am open to having my mind changed, as I love "out of the box" thinking, but orderly, if that makes sense. :dontknow:

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FYI, many people criticized the Liberty Bridge prior to its construction and there are a few who still do not understand why it is so special today. To have a roughly five or six story unique work of art as your regional visitor center is a gift that happens only once in a lifetime here in Greenville. Its unconventional design is at least partially to blame for its unusual appeal. The most amazing discovery yet will be understanding how it will function as both a prized masterpiece (aesthetically speaking) and a highly productive regional visitors museum. :shades:

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Based on what we know, this visitor center will blow away just about every visitor center in the Southeast and probably be on a level playing field with any in America. For comparison's sake, does anyone have photos of the visitor centers in Charleston, Columbia, Charlotte, Atlanta, Raleigh, Birmingham, Richmond, Jacksonville, etc.? My guess is that they pale in comparison to this one.

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Greenville, you have a great point! Here's what I found with a quick google search:

Charleston:

CHVistorsCenter.jpg

Miami Beach:

miami-visitor-center.jpg

Gaston County:

Gaston_Co._Visitor_Center_-_Compressed.jpg

Ha, it's more difficult than I thought to find such images. However, from these few examples, I think we can agree that the design of this is not a minor detail. It's great that Greenville is trying to grow the area's tourism. The built environment is just as important as the natural, and leaving an impression on people to come back and spread positive words about our city/region is key in growing this industry.

Greenville has the Wow factor currently, but it's not going to be enough to sustain the region's future and diversifying the economy. A part of the Wow is not just for leisure visitors, but also for corporate leaders. They need to have an impression of Greenville when they leave. Being plain and ordinary is not going to make Greenville stand out. Showing progressive policies, architecture, initiative and confidence will go a long way. I think that's what all of this really boils down to...

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Well a lot of cities really don\\\'t have visitors centers geared towards the general public. Many are really CVB offices geared towards event planners and groups/organizations that may want to bring a meeting to that city. But I was intrigued, so I decided to look some up that seem to be geared towards the general public and here\\\'s what I found.

Chattanooga (adjacent to the TN Aquarium):

2844626572_0cf810e44d.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jstephenconn/2844626572/

Savannah:

savannah5c.jpg

Charleston (I remember this well because me and my siblings got stuck here waiting out a rainstorm while walking around downtown, LOL):

cvc4.jpg

cvc11.jpg

Columbia (located on 2nd floor of convention center):

CMCC_night.jpg

Baltimore (not Southeastern, but I like it):

visitorscenter400x300.JPG

Wilmington (old county courthouse):

wilm1.jpg

Memphis:

3213689105_3f2c3aeeb4.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/52855156@N00/3213689105

Augusta (inside the Augusta Museum of History):

museum.jpg

Asheville (housed inside the chamber of commerce building):

visitorcenter1.jpg

Macon:

http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/photos...443_oeiaC-M.jpg (just posted the link due to copyright)

Louisville:

2253888107_a3eb4d4e39.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/taurusaficionado/2253888107/

Nashville (connected to the Gaylord Entertainment Center):

2818554075_1cbe4bd4e2.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/zaskem/2818554075/

2322954658_cf53a13fb3.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/64772328@N00/2322954658/

Dallas (housed in old courthouse):

1799569.jpg

Houston (located on the first floor, old city hall):

cc767dad-c5c4-42f5-b385-850e7746f259.jpg

Austin:

2937129872_a0e40bb23e.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesstevens/...57607980282079/

Charlotte:

CLTvisitorinfocntr.jpg

3289285550_e502cbc27c.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kramchang/3289285550/

3289285218_f21179aaf1.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kramchang/328...57614001228234/

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Thanks for finding and posting those great images, GvilleSC and krazeeboi. :thumbsup:

I agree that many visitors centers do not seem to be geared toward the public, other than racks of brochures and maybe one or two employees who can answer questions. I have been to Baltimore's along the Inner Harbor, and although it is mostly just brochures I really like the architecture. Charleston's is not nearly all that is pictured. In fact, half of that is the "bus shed," which consists of an open area where gatherings and events are sometimes held. Most of what Charleston has is a gift shop and visitor information in the form of brochures.

I like Nashville's. The architecture is really neat, and I remember from going there a few years ago that it is a good visitors center. Memphis's is horribly bland and dated looking.

I think we really have a chance to be innovative here, both in regard to architecture as well as scope. We obviously need good brochures, but having interesting displays and exhibits might go a long way too. This is our chance to change our "small town with big city amenities" talk to "big city with small town charm" rhetoric. We need to move away from "Greenville is a city of 56,000 people halfway between Atlanta and Charlotte, not far from Asheville, and only a few hours from the beach" toward "Greenville is a growing, progressive Southern city nestled at the foothills of the mountains, the largest county in SC, a thriving automotive hub, the most international business investment per capita in the US, etc."

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Memphis's is horribly bland and dated looking.

Yeah, but it seems to have some pretty cool exhibits on the inside:

2372025225_07b4b778ae.jpg

2484982104_9048b5ea87.jpg

2006%20TN%20welcome%20ctr%20Memphis%20TN.JPG

I also think some other cities may have visitors centers, but they may call them something else (like the concept for Greenville's), which is why I couldn't find anything for them.

As I stated, the architecture does appear to be innovative, but I can't really grasp the function and integrative nature of the building with the rendering that was given. I hope more detailed sketches are made available soon.

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I don't think that could be the same building. The outside pic has a single pitch shed roof, while the interior pics have a complicated hip-type ceiling and what appears to be an Elvis turret.

But honestly, how often do VCs get used anyway. I've never set foot in one before - I guess I've never wanted to look like a tourist, I don't know.

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I don't think that could be the same building. The outside pic has a single pitch shed roof, while the interior pics have a complicated hip-type ceiling and what appears to be an Elvis turret.

But honestly, how often do VCs get used anyway. I've never set foot in one before - I guess I've never wanted to look like a tourist, I don't know.

I think that's a part of the reason that the design of the building needs to create interest and encourage people to interact with the building, and not be a background building.

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I think that's a part of the reason that the design of the building needs to create interest and encourage people to interact with the building, and not be a background building.

Exactly. :thumbsup:

This building by itself will be a tourist attraction....as much, if not more, than the attractions it will feature. Brilliant concept. Make the building an attraction. Honestly, most of these buildings in other cities leave me yawning (I do like Nashville's and it also has a great location). Many people are not the kind of tourist to visit tourist centers, espcially if they are housed in some other type office building / Chamber of Commerce / convention center / etc. Many people are the type of tourist that will seek out interesting, iconic structures, I certainly do.....and, I always cheese it up with my photo made in front of the icon. :lol:

Greenville is doing something more than building just a tourist info center. Greenville is adding an additional attraction.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Found out earlier today that this building is indeed the real deal. :) Rhodes Dahl wants to keep it confidential for the time being though. They say it was accidently released early on their website. Oops.

GREAT news! I'm stoked about this whole proposal! Thanks for the confirmation. I look forward to their formal public announcement and its existence! :shades:

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GREAT news! I'm stoked about this whole proposal! Thanks for the confirmation. I look forward to their formal public announcement and its existence! :shades:

:thumbsup: Here is a news article that talks a little about the project: http://www.gsabusiness.com/news/27971-gree...-recovery?rss=0 I agree with Mr. Kaatz that more funding should be included for the Greenville CVB.

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Found out earlier today that this building is indeed the real deal. :) Rhodes Dahl wants to keep it confidential for the time being though. They say it was accidently released early on their website. Oops.

Any idea on the "official" timing of the release? I'm ready to see this project get underway. :thumbsup:

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  • 1 month later...

The planned elements for the Blue Wall Center include:

Terraced Garden Rooms- landscaped focused on rare, native plants species

Peak Peek- vertical overlook nestled in the treetops

Lakeside Restaurants with sunset deck- featuring organic and local specialties

Eco-lodging- off-grid individual cabins

Lake Lights- solar powered evening light show

VERY cool aspects!

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Impressive. Can't wait to see the construction actually start.

The reedy sq link shows an opening of Spring 2012. Anyone have any guesses on when we should expect to see construction start based on that projection?

In comparing this latest rendering with the original, it looks like they are pretty similar. But this latest one does not show the top two "boxes" to the right of the picture; however you can just see the bottom corner of one of them on the upper rt hand corner of the rendering. This seems a little strange to me because if these other two boxes are to be included in the project then why weren't they described as the others were (and why cut them off)? But, if they have been cut from the project then why do we still see the corner of one of them?

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The planned elements for the Blue Wall Center include:

Terraced Garden Rooms- landscaped focused on rare, native plants species

Peak Peek- vertical overlook nestled in the treetops

Lakeside Restaurants with sunset deck- featuring organic and local specialties

Eco-lodging- off-grid individual cabins

Lake Lights- solar powered evening light show

Wow! Very, very cool! Loving the idea of the solar powered evening light show. So earth friendly, so low impact, so green, so cool, so now. :lol:

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There appears to be some new images out for Reedy Square and the Blue Wall Center. http://www.greenvillecvb.com/ReedySquare/

The Blue Wall rendering surprised me. I like what I'm seeing for both, but the Blue Wall looks to incorporate more than I originally thought it would... :shades:

Do I see another curved cable-stayed bridge depicted in one of the images on the Blue Wall circular, or would that be supported from below?

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The reedy sq link shows an opening of Spring 2012. Anyone have any guesses on when we should expect to see construction start based on that projection?

In comparing this latest rendering with the original, it looks like they are pretty similar. But this latest one does not show the top two "boxes" to the right of the picture; however you can just see the bottom corner of one of them on the upper rt hand corner of the rendering. This seems a little strange to me because if these other two boxes are to be included in the project then why weren't they described as the others were (and why cut them off)? But, if they have been cut from the project then why do we still see the corner of one of them?

I took the image to simply be a more up-close/pedestrian cropped zoom...

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I took the image to simply be a more up-close/pedestrian cropped zoom...

Either that or they don't know what they want to put in those spaces yet. The CVB has refused to talk about this to the media. They are trying to raise money for these centers and the technique is apparently to do it quietly before going public. Maybe they

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I am all for this approach by the CVB, especially considering the bush league attempts at announcements and "groundbreakings" by local developers in recent history. :rolleyes:

Yes. It's a lot more encouraging when things are done behind the scene, announce them, then begin construction soon thereafter.

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