My Thoughts For The City

[OE-305]

I was born and raised in CLT, but now reside in Las Vegas. It's very cool to read about all of these fascinating developments in my home town (from far away)...

Anyway, as I promised in my last post, I would like to share some of the places I've visited that I would like to see our leaders take some pointers from.

1st: Salt Lake City, UT

I took this picture last March. It's a multi-block entertainment district similar to EpiCenter across from the Delta Arena (west side of downtown).

as well as the very cool Union Pacific Station

What really impressed me with this little downtown village was the size and popularity of it. Everything was two stories with lots of ped bridges to cross the cobblestone & concrete streets below. Just a block away was the SLC light rail line. Everything about the place gave me the feeling of being in a compact European city.

I would love to see Epicenter expanded into a multi-block center similar to the one in SLC. What's planned for the surface parking lot just to the north (in front of the large parking deck on the same block)?

2nd: Downtown Las Vegas, Fremont Street Experience

A few years ago LV decided to close down their main street downtown (Fremont St.) and reopen it as a ped mall. Boy is it ever cool! It is lined with a 12 million LED canopy that puts on spectacular light shows every hour.

Once a month the city puts on art festivals here, and every Friday night there are bands that play on stages up and down this 3 block stretch. Last fall they had Eddie Money!!! Too bad I missed that one

It would be cool if part of Trade Street across from the arena and Epicenter had something similar to this. Now I'm not proposing 12 million LED lights, that would be kinda goofy. Maybe leave the roof open so you can see the stars. I would keep the parabolic walls up where the street lights would be, and play various light shows nightly. If it could somehow be fit in without choping down any trees it would be quite a sight and really make people remember our city. - Just my crazy 2-cents.

[cltniners]

when charlotte gets legalized gambling this could happen. until then a casino seems farily unlikely.

[OE-305]

hahaha, I wasn't suggesting that Charlotte get any casinos or anything like that. One MGM Grand would take up half of downtown

But maybe some decorative neon light posts that change colors every few seconds, or light stringers along the future pedestrian street to put on light shows.

At least you posted a response though... c'mon people, doesn't anybody ever travel outside of the southeast? What are some ideas that you would like CLT to pursue? That's why I started this thread.

[Raintree21]

But maybe some decorative neon light posts that change colors every few seconds, or light stringers along the future pedestrian street to put on light shows.

Doesn't that monstrosity on the Duke Power Building next to BOA Stadium fall under the category of decorative neon lights that change colors every few seconds?

[Miesian Corners]

I like the "monstrosity". It covers ventilation louvers on an incredibly ugly tower.

[Norm2]

Charlotte does need more more bright lights. Or at least lights on Skyscrapers that Change. Like lights in buildings in a lot of cities across the country change their color for the different seasons, or even a different color every night. Charlotte's stays the same all of the time.....

[Mobuchu]

LOL, we have those fun touch lights that make jingles around the 7th St. Station.

[eastsider]

I would like to see a modern art museum that is architecturally destinctive. I'm worried about the possible combination of a new mint museum with the possible new bank of america tower. The Blumenthal Preformance Center at the base of BofA Corperate Center just doesn't get noticed by passerbys. I think a landmark building that can inspire and draw in people will help move Charlotte to a new level.

Some examples:

The Guggenheim New York City by Frank Lloyd Wright

Milwaukee Art Museum by Santiago Calatrava

The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth by Tadao Ando

[Raintree21]

Charlotte does need more more bright lights. Or at least lights on Skyscrapers that Change. Like lights in buildings in a lot of cities across the country change their color for the different seasons, or even a different color every night. Charlotte's stays the same all of the time.....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Speaking of....I thought the Blue lights on BOA during the NFL season was really cool and spirited, then they just cut them off. I'd say keep it up but do it for each team, and for the holidays.

[Norm2]

the former wachovia tower/now duke energy tower has been bathed in red light before.....why not change the lights on that buildinginstead of having that bright ass white light all of the time? heck even have a combination of colors, like red AND green for christmas?

[dubone]

the former wachovia tower/now duke energy tower has been bathed in red light before.....why not change the lights on that buildinginstead of having that bright ass white light all of the time? heck even have a combination of colors, like red AND green for christmas?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

i agree wholeheartedly with this. also, didn't they dim the lights a little compared to what they used to be? somehow it seems a little less blinding. (maybe now that duke is the predominant tenant, they said to cut them down a bit, since they didn't want to pay their own rates ).

i like the color combo idea, as the colors would mix as they went up the tower and would be a cool effect.

[Miesian Corners]

the former wachovia tower/now duke energy tower has been bathed in red light before.....why not change the lights on that buildinginstead of having that bright ass white light all of the time? heck even have a combination of colors, like red AND green for christmas?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I heard last year that the tower's owner planned to install uplighting that would change color gradually like the BOA tower in Miami. Alas, nothing has happened. Perfect building for something like that, though. BOA in Miami even has designs cast from other buildings on it sometimes. At Christmas, the tower is projected with giant snowflakes.

While we're at it, why can't Childress Klein get the terrace outlines turned back on at the top of One Wachovia? The building's shape was much more pronounced when the three terraces at the top were lined with lights.

[Raintree21]

i agree wholeheartedly with this.  also, didn't they dim the lights a little compared to what they used to be?  somehow it seems a little less blinding.  (maybe now that duke is the predominant tenant, they said to cut them down a bit, since they didn't want to pay their own rates ).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

While your theory on Duke Power's high rates is high justified. I read an article about some scientific study saying that birds were flying into buildings at night time that were lit too brightly. So in order to save the birds, most cities toned down their bright lights.

[skysdalimit]

Save the birds!!!

I really do agree we need more different lights on the buildings, especially former Wach Center. They should def do the BofA Miami thing on that scraper.

[peaceloveunderstanding]

I am happy we dont have a zillion stupid color lights. I like our more uniform look. Normal light is the best light.

[Miesian Corners]

Actually, bats love the old Wachovia Tower. The lights attract LOTS of bugs in the summer and bats encirle the tower feasting all night long.

[nyxmike]

More colored lighting would be nice. The city needs more lights - lights attract life - look at Times Square, it is always busy. I think regular lights can be pretty boring..

[monsoon]

Most of you guys are not old enough to remember when they severely turned down the lighting on the old Wachovia tower in 1979. It was the middle of the 2nd energy crisis and it was just too expensive to keep it lit. And in the days where conservation was actually on people's minds, it also looked bad for the corporation to be wasting so much energy. I think they only operated the lighting at 1/2 power for just a few hours in the evening then it got turned off.

Wonder with the rising price of oil (which was the problem before) if those days will return and downtown lighting will disappear?

[Sean Reynolds]

What really impressed me with this little downtown village was the size and popularity of it. Everything was two stories with lots of ped bridges to cross the cobblestone & concrete streets below. Just a block away was the SLC light rail line. Everything about the place gave me the feeling of being in a compact European city.

I would love to see Epicenter expanded into a multi-block center similar to the one in SLC. What's planned for the surface parking lot just to the north (in front of the large parking deck on the same block)?

What you're talking about is the Gateway and it opened in late 2001, or early 2002 -- I can't remember. There are plans of creating a large entertianment/residential center just west of this area. The design will follow Rio De Janeiro type developments. There's also talk about building a Major League Soccer stadium in this area too.