MayDay

I've really enjoyed your travel notes essays. You truly have a gift for verbally painting an image that can intrigue someone who's never been here, but equally inspires those of us who know this city like the back of our hand. Fyi, St. Ignatius was slated to be a symmetrical "U" shape with the tower anchoring each wing, but only one wing was built - so it was originally planned to be even more massive. And I know that two top banquette very well - it really is perfect for just sitting back and taking it all in.

Boreas, you've taken this thread off-topic enough. If you continue, you will have some time off.

" Under that heavily armored tank exterior I knew there was a sliver of humanity."

Renovations are under way - see earlier posts for details.

Well this recent visit wasn't for me to take photos, it was because I was the man of honor at my best friend's wedding. I don't think she would have approved of me gallivanting around on *her* day, but I managed to snap a few pics. When she first announced that it would be an outdoor wedding in October, I thought she might want to pick out a lovely white parka. Fortunately, it was 70s, sunshine and gorgeous fall color. We took Route 11 into town: Onto Mahoning Avenue - I remember when this area was a little more polished. Plenty of character left, but sad to see how it's deteriorated: However, *this* and another place named Ball Busters Sports Bar were good for a chuckle: Youngstown has a few oddballish 60s "modern" churches - this (Mahoning United Methodist) and St. Columba Cathedral: Mahoning Avenue may have seen better days, but it's had this great view for as long as I can remember: At Fellows Riverside Gardens - one wedding and many packs of Kleenex later (don't judge me - I've known her since I was 3!), I had some time to snap a few pics: And off to the reception - along the way: Here's the tall ending - the center tower is the WKBN tower - at 1,432 feet, it's more than twice the height of Cleveland's Terminal Tower:

Oh no, nothing - NOTHING tops the day I'm driving eastbound on the Abbey Avenue bridge and then everyone is just slamming on their brakes - I'm thinking WTflyingF??? There's no emergency vehicle, so hit the big pedal on the right, jack@sses! A few seconds later, a *big* six-point buck is just leisurely trotting westbound in the opposite lane, past all of us stopped on the bridge. I mean, I know Lincoln Park in Tremont is about as wooded as it gets near there - but a big six point buck?!? :-o

"and umm, Mayday IIRC I believe you technically grew up in city limits.." Nope - about 1,500 feet from the city limits.

^The completed height would be about 750 feet - as it is, it's about 550ish feet.

A spam post (and subsequent responses) were removed. Carry on.

Okay my inner Appalachian bumpkin is gonna rant - folks, a "pumpkin patch" is not a place that accepts American Express, it's not a place where you take the kids for "face painting", it's not a place that sells PASTEURIZED cider (aka apple flavored vile goat piss), and it sure as sh!t isn't a place where all the pumpkins have been pre-picked and stacked neatly on "antique farm implements" (aka sh!tspreaders - that's right folks, that "charming farm antique" was originally used to spread manure but apparently it's the damned cat's meow). I suppose if I were an exurban stepford wife, the aforementioned would qualify as a "charming country farm" but in my book, it's sanitized horsesh!t. I want a place where it's on *me* to walk out into the muddy field, scope out the perfect gourd, take a boxcutter to the stem and brush about five pounds of dirt off the beautiful beast and haul it back to the shack and pay cash for the damn thing. Apparently going one county away just isn't far enough for this mythical place I grew up with :roll: Personally, I'm fine with grabbing a pumpkin from the local grocery store. Cider? I can always drop some mulling spices in it. The problem is - my partner is born/raised "city" and likes to do the country stuff every now and then; I'm happy to indulge his occasional fascination with bumpkin life but I'll be damned if it means going to some nancy@ssed pre-picked place. *scowl*

Saw that; great job and thanks for keeping us informed all along the way :-)

BAH!

"I paid 2 bucks for a framed, matted, mint condition page from a mid-late Victorian-era fashion magazine, still around today." Just curious - where did you acquire it?

^For all you need to know, read this thread http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,24517.0.html

Don't mind me, just snacking on some omelettes :-(

Due to a combo of inclement weather, illness, and my crazy schedule, I haven't had too much time to get out and snap photos. I have to admit it's disappointing because right about now, the combo of the sunsets and the low humidity can make for some magical shots. And - *clearly* I have to get out every now and then to keep my sanity. Instead of posting new threads, I'll just add to this and then add an "update" post when appropriate. And speaking of clearly - I hope you enjoy this tune by Cleveland's own Deyampert Just a few shots to start things off: Added November 11, 2010 Added November 14, 2010

^Yep - mind you that's referring to the entire scope of the project, not just the Terminal Tower. Everything from Canal Road to Superior, and between Ontario and West 6th which includes the Terminal Tower, MK Ferguson Plaza, Landmark Office Towers, Higbee Building, and of course the Union Terminal. Plus there was the realignment of railways, streets, etc. Here are a few shots from CSU's clevelandmemory.org: Canal Road near West 3rd (when West 3rd used to descend to the Cuyahoga): Champlain Ave. I believe this is now where Skylight Office Towers and the Ritz Carlton are located: Champlain Ave. at Ontario - the Higbee Building now stands here:

Leetonia's always been a little rough around the edges - nice shots of downtown, I'd forgotten what it looks like. I definitely remember the Dairy Queen - that always seemed like the "community center". Too bad you missed this house up on Walnut Street: http://www.pluggedincleveland.com/real_estate/view.cgi?num=222900

As metrocity pointed out, Chicago has this to a lesser extent; look at where they're sited on their shoreline (aka the path of the glacier).

^The Courthouse tower is on a floating pad - that's part of the reason they reduced the floor count from the initial plans.

Some may already know this - you can thank Lake Erie for that; well, the glaciers that formed it. Their movement and retreat which left us with the Great Lakes also left the downtown Cleveland area with a 200' thick layer of glacial shale deposited on top of the bedrock. I know gotribe can offer a lot more geotechnical insight but our area's soil is some of the worst to work with when it comes to constructing skyscrapers - in places like NYC, bedrock is just below street level - here, we have to excavate 200 feet below street level (at least) before construction (actual built construction) can even start. Any building well over 400ish feet needs to be anchored to bedrock for structural stability; the only other option is "floating pad" where the building rests on a thick concrete "pad" that's about 7 to 8 feet thick. But - that limits the height of the building that the pad can support to around 400 feet. Key, Terminal, 200 Public Sq., Erieview and a few others all rest on caissons that reach 200ish feet down to bedrock. I've always wondered how our skyline would look if the soil conditions weren't a factor.

As I sit here gnoshing on a fuji apple salad in the 44107, it'd be nice if we could get BACK ON TOPIC!

It's actually just a clock tower - at one point there was a water tower inside the clock tower, but the metal water tank was scrapped for the war effort.

"A contingency fund that county officials had not disclosed before this week" Oh good grief...