Raleigh Eyesores and Disappointments

[RALNATIVE]

I can't imagine a building like the Gherkin in Raleigh.

More eyesores:

Glenwood Towers http://www.rhaonline...es/glenwood.jpg

614 Glenwood: http://www.godowntow...nwood-Ave-w.gif

[orulz]

The Baptist Center over at Hilsborough and Gardner Streets:

[Merboy]

Anybody else been around long enough to remember this guy that I posted in the old eyesores thread in 2005?

[Justin6882]

Has it really been that long? I definitely remember this monster!

Anybody else been around long enough to remember this guy that I posted in the old eyesores thread in 2005?

[Merboy]

Has it really been that long? I definitely remember this monster!

[vitaviatic]

Well...I'm sure you guys could see this coming.

But I nominate that *bleep*ing Boylan Heights goiter known as Central Prison. Hey, a small building here and there that spoils a half a block -- every city has those. But this thing blows up the whole west side!

(Short rant this time.)

[Spatula]

This country is a prison nation. We have a higher incarceration rate than every other developed country by far. 1 in every 100 americans is in prison. 1 in 4 prisoners in the world is an american in prison here in the US.

The impossibly huge facilities to contain these prisoners, and the blight they cause on surrounding areas is a symptom of a far larger problem.

[ctl]

I realize this thread is a bit old... ex-Holidays are abundant, whether the cylindrical downtown hotels or the more familiar two-story motels on interstate highways. The Holiday brand was already having problems by 1979, when the founder died. A series of changes in ownership and strategy followed, but the decline continued for Holiday properties that opened in the 1960s and 1970s. Most of those properties have subsequently either closed or switched to another brand like Clarion.

In general, Clarion properties were built as something else and later reflagged -- often because the operator didn't want to spend money to maintain standards or looked for a lower franchise royalty. Choice Hotels owns a long list of brands, mostly at the low end of the market: Comfort, Quality, Sleep, Clarion, and more recently Econolodge and Rodeway. But a few Choice properties compete in the mid-range, and I hope the downtown Raleigh property is one of those.