NASCAR Hall of Fame

[New Name]

It's too hot to get a better picture.

[AuLukey]

WOW, I didn't think they were anywhere near this far down with digging! They're moving a pretty quick pace. Then again, this is NASCAR...

[Andyc545]

It seems the Brevard Street will be closed this upcoming Monday for Construction of the HOF, similar to how Wachovia moved into Tryon St for construction. I'm assuming this is either for the cranes to go up or for buried lines and power. Maybe someone knows more.

[uptownliving]

I havn't heard anything about Brevard closing down yet but I know that 1 lane of Caldwell and 2 lanes of Stonewall will be closed on Monday to allow Blythe Development to construct a new joint underground conduit for various utilities as part of the 277/Caldwell interchange redo.

Later on Brevard will be turned into a 2 way street...but I think it will be a year or so before they do that.

[uptownliving]

City Council approved adding a basement level to the Hall Of Fame for $2.5M. This space will remain unfinished however will be there for future use/expansion of the Hall of Fame. It is a lot cheaper to build this space now than to retroactively add a basement level after construction is complete.

Watching the debate there were some interesting notes:

- Councilman Foxx was disappointed that staff can't find $800K to make the building LEED Certified and yet they found $2.5M to add the basement level.

-The budget is very tight on this building. As of last night the steal ribbon with the cut outs was still in..however they are not sure there will be enough money to put in the LED "racing" lights around the ribbon. However the LED lights could be installed at a later date.

[dubone]

I agree with Foxx. It is a shame that an unfinished basement for storage costs 3 times as much as making the whole project LEED certified (and the sustainability and long term cost reductions that goes along with it). It is more of a shame, however, that the city does not have LEED certification as a priority for its projects. I agree with the perspective that it is cheaper to add the unfinished basement area now than to build it here or elsewhere later, but LEED certification has similar long term benefits. Most of the steps to make a project LEED are reductions in operation costs.

I should be used to the city's commitment to mediocrity, but it is still annoying.

[Andyc545]

I am happy they went ahead in adding the basement, it's a wise decision in thinking ahead, and I would imagine its longterm effect will be far greater than its inital investment.

Any word on what changes would be needed in order to make the building LEED certified.

Last, that would be a real shame about the LED lighting if that were ditched b/c those LED's are going to be HOT!

[dubone]

For LEED they already are doing things that give them points, such as being near transit and in a pedestrian environment. Many LEED projects with flat roofs end up putting living roofs/green roofs with plants on top, as it prevents the sun from baking the stones or asphalt on top and creating an oven just above where they are spending money and fossil fuels to cool the air inside. LEED also typically provides for using more recycled materials, non-toxic materials, or materials that leak less toxic gasses throughout their life. Think of FEMA trailers, which focused on the cheapest materials for all components (MDF, vinyl, petrochemical carpeting, etc.), so they emit so much formaldehide into the air they are making thousands of Katrina victims cancerous and asthmatic. Those types of materials would be stopped by a designer trying to meet LEED certification. You also would not have all the scrap wood and other materials going straight to the dumpster as they would recycle a lot of the waste.

None of things are certain, but they are typical as they aren't that hard to do or expensive to do, they simply require brain activity. I bet if they simply absorbed the green costs as necessary elements, they could have easily shaved enough from luxury items to afford it. $800k for a $150m is half of one percent, so it isn't like we are talking about a major overhaul. It is simply the minimal act of trying to make the building healthier, cheaper to operate, and lower in environmental externalities. In more advanced civilizations, the act of trying is, um, actually tried. In Charlotte, however, we prefer to be wastefully lazy on our massive public projects. But hey, at least our arena has many smoking balconies for the comfort of the guests.

[Mobuchu]

Since the building is so close to going over budget that it cant spend that extra .5%, maybe the city should ask NASCAR for a small donation to make the building more memorable?

[dubone]

Oh, I'm sure they have a plenty of contingency money budgetted for oopsies and poopsies. But they certainly can't spare half a penny to bring this project up to 21st century standards. It is a building for reds not blues, and they are not at all interested in greens.

We had 'world class architecture firm' swoop in to give us an aluminum swoosh, and that is about it. Certainly there must be no convincing the bumpkins on the development team that the type of enhancements that come with pursuing LEED certification often pay for themselves, and give the project a longer lifespan and respect. So we'll get standard facade materials, standard floor materials, standard roof pebbles to bake in our new 108 degree summer weather. This is a public project, yet millions will be spent on profit centers like flashy this and colorful that and technology there. But they certainly wouldn't expect to pay a few hundred thousand to improve this building's responsiveness to the growing demand for healthy and clean buildings that millions of people will spend a few hours of their lives in. Even if LEED's $800k was too steep for the budget, why not $400k for doing some LEED-type improvements that save operating costs? Couldn't they be done through certificates of participation or something paid back with the operational money they save? Again, that would require trying, but this city doesn't care about this subject, so it doesn't ever happen unless it is funded by the banks.

[Andyc545]

Oh, I'm sure they have a plenty of contingency money budgetted for oopsies and poopsies. But they certainly can't spare half a penny to bring this project up to 21st century standards. It is a building for reds not blues, and they are not at all interested in greens.

Creative terminology. Made me giggle. Nonetheless, very factual. It would be nice, if it gets booted, for NASCAR to invest into the LED lighting, we know they aren't short changed by any means.

[Raintree21]

Was that $800k for LEED Platinum or was it for a lower level of certificaton?

[Guest]

Basic Leed level. Only a hand full of buildings are up for leed platinum in the country and most of them are being built by bank of america.

[Miesian Corners]

I recommend writing a note to the mayor and city council about this. The more constituents write, the more they will be aware we have watchful eyes on them (where do dubone and uptownliving find the will power to actually watch these things on cable?). As far as I'm aware, this information has not been published in any of our local media outlets. We all need to take the initiative and write our elected officials. Face it, if you can take the time to post on this board, you can send an email. DO IT NOW.

I just emailed everyone (including the city manager). I will let you know of any responses.

[tiblerbrit]

I just emailed the mayor. Anyone else you would recommend sending an email to?

[Miesian Corners]

Susan Burgess ([email protected]), Pat Mumford ([email protected]), John Lassiter ([email protected]), Anthony Foxx ([email protected]), Patsy Kinsey ([email protected]), James Mitchell ([email protected]), Warren Turner ([email protected]), Michael Barnes ([email protected]), Nancy Carter ([email protected]), Andy Dulin ([email protected]), General Charlotte City Council mailbox ([email protected]), and the City Manager, Curt Walton ([email protected])

[Miesian Corners]

Thus far, I've only heard from Nancy Carter. I have to give the woman credit. Anytime I've contacted her via email, she responds within several hours with an actual response, not a canned "thanks for sharing your concerns" form letter. Also to her credit, her issue with LEED is that the majority of the money (I'm paraphrasing) would go to what she called "administrative certification". While that is a valid argument, I responded by telling her that if Charlotte-Mecklenburg had green building guidelines in place (like Chicago, Boston, and Salt Lake), we wouldn't really need the US Green Building Council to oversee everything. But without that safety net, how can we be sure that architects, contractors, and construction companies are doing what they are supposed to?

[rooster8]

In the least they should build it with green features if they're not interested in the actual certification. Maybe they are, but it doesn't sound like it.

[Raintree21]

Would we only be emailing to ask for LEED certification or to also ask for the lighting to be kept as well?

[tiblerbrit]

Yeah I got the same from Nancy Carter, I also got a quick response from Andy Dulin thanking me for my input.

[Justadude]

I sent out an email as well, asking for them to at least support green design, with preference for LEED certification.

If someone has contacts at the Observer, this could gain enough traction to at least heighten the public debate...

[uptownliving]

At the Charlotte City Council workshop next Tuesday they will be discussing the new General Development Policies for the Environment and Infrastructure. They will also be discussing "Blue Sky" ideas for coming up with a environmental policy for the city. All of this ties back in to our LEED discussions here.

You can read more about City Council's plans here.

WARNING...the link is to a 28M pdf document.

[Raintree21]

WCNC has been talking about the basement increasing the cost but no mention so far about LEED.

[dubone]

Don't be silly. No one at WCNC has ever heard of LEED.

[Andyc545]

To correct myself, Brevard street is only cutting down its left 2 lanes only for construction instead of the whole street. Also, I noticed today looking at the site that we have our first crane on site!!! It's right on Caldwell street, and again it's only the blue base, but it's fully in tact and ready.