NASCAR Hall of Fame

[southslider]

I believe the width of Caldwell next to HOF is still for only two through lanes in each direction. I imagine the extra width people are seeing is for a dedicated left-turn lane in each direction to both Stonewall and MLK.

[HopHead]

The office tower is slated to open on March 1st of next year. Some of the space will be filled around that time. NASCAR's executive, media and licensing group will move in, in April.

[InitialD]

11-15-08

[Andyc545]

Reserving thoughts on the rest of the structure, I'm really liking the "bowl" or "wing" or whatever the Hall of Fame structure is being dubbed as. It brings an iconic piece to the city.

[tozmervo]

I don't recall ever seeing a rendering of the Stonewall side, but accepting that it is at least unique, I've been otherwise a little disappointed. The curve is basically a glorified parapet. The MLK side has barely even started yet, so I don't want to judge the whole thing, but Stonewall certainly seems to have the short straw.

[Guest]

Toz, I posted a bunch of renderings and elevation diagrams on Page 80 of this thread. This will give you a better idea of what this side will look like, I have larger if you want for me to post them.

[tozmervo]

Not too long ago, I was treated to a tour of the HoF construction site. I came to better appreciate the complexity of the program going into this site and some of the structural design behind it, though I am left with a few nagging questions/criticisms.

First, a couple of interesting tidbits: sometime in the next couple of weeks, they are expecting to receive a NASCAR Hauler that will be put into place and boxed up while construction continues. They are also planning to receive the tube steel for the mobius ribbon "twist," which will arrive in the form of (4) 40' sections, all 4' in diameter. Sometime in early-mid February they are planning to lift all four sections at once into place - well over 160' of steel going up at once should be quite a sight to see. If you look at the HoF from the corner of Caldwell and MLK now, you can see the giant connector piece where the tube will connect into the side of the building.

Also, I learned that there is a reasonable use for the pedestrian bridge from the convention center - the Ballroom in the HoF will use the kitchens across the street, and the food/supplies will cross on the lower bridge. Having said that, the upper bridge (for everyone else) seems really forced from a circulation perspective. From both sides you have to go up a "grand staircase," only to go back down a "grand staircase" once you reach the other side.

I also hadn't recognized just how big the plaza will be. Sure, it'll get filled up during special events, but the rest of the time it looks like it'll just be a vast, over-sized plaza.

[Guest]

From what I've heard, they have made a great deal of headway on the MLK side of the Nascar HoF, so I would like to make a photo request for the side of the building we dont get to see much of, the front. Thank you.

[WestCoastNC]

Updated pictures of NASCAR HOF taken this past Saturday:

[Guest]

Thank you so much WestCoastNC, this is just what the doctor ordered. I've been craving some MLK views of Nascar for quite sometime, thank you for delivering. This place is really starting to come together nicely. I was getting worried about the finishes, but the materials are looking pretty good so far. I just wish Stonewall had some decent streetlevel treatment. It looks like somewhere I wouldn't want to walk at night.

[DigitalSky]

Thank you so much WestCoastNC, this is just what the doctor ordered. I've been craving some MLK views of Nascar for quite sometime, thank you for delivering. This place is really starting to come together nicely. I was getting worried about the finishes, but the materials are looking pretty good so far. I just wish Stonewall had some decent streetlevel treatment. It looks like somewhere I wouldn't want to walk at night.

Yeah great photos WestCoastNC! Too bad they couldn't put a revolving restaurant in that UFO-esque race track portion, that would have been really cool...

[Charlotteman]

Kudos West Coast N.C.!

I'm totally lovin' the HOF museum. Wow it's way cool.

[atlrvr]

I still can't figure out Stonewall....though its hard to see in the photos, there are some very large panels covering what looks like it could be large windows. They panels match the color of the building exactly, so I can't determine if they are stone and permanent, or painted and will be removed once they are ready to put the glass in. If you look closely, you can see what I'm describing in the top right picture. I feel pretty confident that they will end up as windows, I just don't know why they are camaflouging them instead of the typical plywood.

[New Name]

^I figured those would be display panels of some sort - either screens behind glass, or logos or exhibits behind glass... (?)

[Eastman]

I still can't figure out Stonewall....though its hard to see in the photos, there are some very large panels covering what looks like it could be large windows. They panels match the color of the building exactly, so I can't determine if they are stone and permanent, or painted and will be removed once they are ready to put the glass in. If you look closely, you can see what I'm describing in the top right picture. I feel pretty confident that they will end up as windows, I just don't know why they are camaflouging them instead of the typical plywood.

If you look at the construction drawings posted earlier, I believe they are noted as display windows. I expect with all the exposure to 277 this wall will be used to advertise quit a bit.

[U4ick]

Progress, Indeed! Enjoy some of these angles:

[Guest]

Progress, Indeed! Enjoy some of these angles:

I love seeing how the "bank" where the cars will sit on the inside is going to work out. I really love how it mimics the turns on an actual race track. Its pretty amazing and fascinating how complex the construction of this building is!

s

[eastsider]

Apparently, the last piece of steel framing went in today.

A couple pics from the past weekend:

[WestCoastNC]

The last picture is awesome, great work!

[New Name]

What kind of media attention do you think this place will get on opening day? It's not often that a major official national sporting museum opens.

Comparable official national sports/major museums are:

Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY - 1939

Football Hall of Fame in Canton, OH - 1963

Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto - 1961

Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA - 1968

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, OH - 1995

Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, TN - 1967

Does anyone dispute the fact that this museum will be in this league? If so, I predict a HUGE amount media for this thing. I'm talking every sports network, FOX, all of it - live broadcasts for all the festivities. It's Center City Partners wet dream!

It sure would be nice to have triple trains running for Lynx by then....

[AuLukey]

I'd put it in the same league as the basketball and hockey hall of fames. They aren't quite as famous (and I like both of those sports.) It's like the World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine - I didn't really hear anything about it until I visited an aunt who lives right down the street from it. Outside of the racing community and, perhaps, the Carolinas, I feel this may end up about the same depending on how NASCAR plays its cards.

[rockhilljames]

NASCAR is insanely popular.

It will rank up there with the baseball and football hall of fames in terms of attendance.

[atlrvr]

Looks topped out to me

[TONYCLT]

I don't know if anyone else noticed, but for the last 2 nights part of the NASCAR logo on top of the building has been lit up, Also part of the ribbon has been installed.

[Guest]

http://oxblue.com/pro/open/?webPath=coxschepp/royalcourt

NASCAR PLAZA is all lit up tonight, looks fantastic!!

and at 1:30 in the morning, is the most visible tower in the meck air quality camera.