Unused Land in Uptown

[swampfox43]

^Duh, I completely forgot about the Sunsphere in Knoxville. I even went there in 1982. OK, I stand corrected but I still want one in Charlotte.

[HopHead]

I like the idea of an obervation tower as well. San Antonio has a structure called Tower of the Americas. It has a restaurant in it that circles the city every 45 minutes. I did some work for a company there a few summers ago (BTW - by far the hottest summer I've ever seen) and actually had a team dinner there one night. It was pretty cool. The only thing that was weird was that the bathroom was located in the middle so you easily lost track of where it was. Something like this could draw visitors that are in Charlotte as well...

[tozmervo]

You are referring to the Sunsphere that was constructed as the main attraction/symbol of the 1982 World's Fair which was held in Knoxville. The theme of that fair was about Energy and this tower, I assume, symbolized the future of solar power. According to that article it has been in various states of disrepair, which isn't uncommon for Worlds Fair attractions once the party is over.

[rockhilljames]

You guys are joking, everyone knows the Sunsphere is used to store wigs. I remember when the World's Fair was in Knoxville and I begged my Dad to go. I said, "it's a once and a lifetime thing!" To which he replied, "well, that means you'll only miss it once in your life." So true.

Ummm...if I can only choose one lot, I'll choose the lot bordered by East 3rd and Brevard. Right along the rail line, next to the transit center, SCREAMING for redevelopment. How about mid-rise condos fronted by ground-floor retail and townhomes. Multi-building, multi-facade low-rise retail too please.

[uptownliving]

My fantasy is if I won the lottery I would buy the empty lot owned by the railroad bounded by LRT, 3rd, 4th, and Brevard.

I would then have the exterior of the building be the facades of all those nice buildings we have lost over the years such as the old City Hall, Masonic Temple, Music Building...basically all of the buildings that were built to a pedestrian scale over 100 years ago. The city has specified they want to make Brevard St a stroll district and touristy area...what better place to put pedestrian scale buildings. I would also put in a stipulation that no retail chains would be allowed to locate in the building...only locally based businesses.

[JayGee]

(without reading the wiki)

The Sunsphere was remodeled and reopened a couple of years ago. There is an Observation Deck, Bar, and Reception space. I've been to two wedding receptions there and seen loads of high school proms up there since it reopened.

[monsoon]

......

Do they even do Worlds Fairs any more. Me thinks not.

[nashbill]

I was in third grade in '64. My parents took my brother and I out of school and we drove to New York dragging a camper behind us. We "camped", it was an asphalt parking lot turned into a campground for the fair, about 2 blocks from the fair. We stayed for 3 days and never saw any other part of New York except the walk from the camper to the fair. It was spectacular. One of those times in child hood that stay with you forever. All the country exhibits and the companies that put up exhibits. I'll be forever grateful for parents who thought this was something there children should see. Sorry for straying off topic but Monsoon's comment brought back a flood of memories.

As for using land in uptown, I'd put in a Weiner World like the one in Pittsburgh, google it.

[Windsurfer]

As for using land in uptown, I'd put in a Weiner World like the one in Pittsburgh, google it.

[monsoon]

.... Sorry for straying off topic but Monsoon's comment brought back a flood of memories. .

[swampfox43]

If I had a time machine, I would like to go back to see the the '64 and '39 World's Fairs in NYC and the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893.

[ChiefJoJo]

There's way too much of it Uptown; too many surface lots. With the free-wheeling real estate days behind us, even with robust growth returning in the next 2-3 years, in the near term I think the city cannot expect lots more high end condo towers. Especially after the spec-driven boom of the last several years, one would hope that at least in some areas of Uptown, a priority would be placed on smaller scale development that can be more readily financed and built and that is heavily pedestrian oriented. I would craft zoning regulations (height limits, parking maximums, green space, quality design standards, etc) that encourage near term piecemeal development of some of these empty blocks, so that pedestrian activity can be extended outside of the Tryon St corridor. One way to do this is to set these standards clearly in the code (form based?) and allow administrative approvals for developers that are able to meet the standards so they can move quickly through the review, permitting and construction process.

[JayGee]

I was in third grade in '64. My parents took my brother and I out of school and we drove to New York dragging a camper behind us. We "camped", it was an asphalt parking lot turned into a campground for the fair, about 2 blocks from the fair. We stayed for 3 days and never saw any other part of New York except the walk from the camper to the fair. It was spectacular. One of those times in child hood that stay with you forever. All the country exhibits and the companies that put up exhibits. I'll be forever grateful for parents who thought this was something there children should see. Sorry for straying off topic but Monsoon's comment brought back a flood of memories.

As for using land in uptown, I'd put in a Weiner World like the one in Pittsburgh, google it.

[nashbill]

Wow, that is great. I would have loved to have seen it. Once when I was flying out of LaGuardia a few years ago, I noticed the iconic UniSphere is still there as the plane flew right over it. This was the triumph of googie architecture which we discussed once on UP, which unfortunately, not much survives in CLT. I do wish they would have kept the AMF monorail.

The Unisphere which still exists in 2009.

[nashbill]

Come to think of it wouildn't something like that be great in Marshall Park?? I haven't lived in Charlotte for a while. Marshall is the park in 2nd ward, right?

Of course the park would need to be surrounded by stores and cafes and apartments.

[palmetto75]

I have a coin from the Columbian Expo my grandmother gave me about 20 years ago. I thought it was a great treasure until I found out it was the first ever massed produced commerative coin . Its amazing the impact these events had on the world even today.

As for uptown I would love to see Grays's Papaya venture outside of NY and open up in monsoon's den of iniquity. He is pretty staunch on not moving outside of NYC but I figure Charlotte has a good of case as any.

[JRNYP2C]

Put all the focus into 3rd ward bound by Trade, Graham and College.

Forget the baseball stadium. As much as I wouldn't mind seeing it happen, it more than likely is a dead deal.

Put low-rise or, when the economy recovers, mid to high rises in that section. Spread out the city and get rid of all of those ugly parking lots!