ExPatClevGuy

Oh no, not ART! <<gasp!>> No, not Thaaaaaat! :cry: Public Art will ruin Cleveland's repution. Oh misery why do you rain down on our city; Why this endless embarrassment? WORLD FAMOUS ARTISTS STAY AWAY FROM CLEVELAND! (and our princess-perfect parks.)

Robert Venturi reminds us, it's not actual parking that matters, but the appearance of abundant parking that tantalizes us to pull in.

Love it! While no, It didn't make me think of that elegant design treatment for the end of the mall, I did (for just a quick moment) think of this...

Thanks Dumbledore. Gosh, what a nice difference! I'm very pleased indeed about the progress on this little (well, not so little project.

During Mike White's administration in 1990, there was a serious thinning of the urban forest at Rockefeller Park to pull out diseased specimens and uncrowd healthy young saplings. Once numerous trees were marked for removal, some environmental activists came in and marked every single tree for removal using identical markings hoping none would be removed. This resulted in the city having to conduct another expensive repeat tree inventory with subsequent removal of only the sick trees. I don't have any recollection that many were replaced. Reforestation of Rockefeller Park is surely in order today.

http://www.cleveland.com/cityhall/index.ssf/2016/03/city_council_green_lights_100.html#incart_m-rpt-1 City Council green lights $100 million project near Cleveland Clinic CLEVELAND -- Cleveland City Council on Monday approved legislation green lighting $100 million in construction near the Cleveland Clinic -- despite Councilman TJ Dow's attempt to block the project for months. Council approved a land swap deal between the city and Case Western Reserve University that will allow the construction of a hotel, an apartment complex and a new dental clinic to move forward in the East side's impoverished Hough neighborhood.... (Ugh, on T.J. Dow)

Oh dear, "Gilbert should voice his position asap in protecting this 40-year-old Cleveland institution?" I can't say I'm hopeful about that. Just look what he tore down for "Dice Park." I don't sense much altruism with this guy, only dollars & cents, so the thing that might save the theaters and C.I.F.F. are that J*A*C*K must now compete with the entertainment offerings out at the Rocksino. Allowing even a reconfiguration of the theaters and entertainment in the mall could mean more fresh meat for the Gilbert & Co. casino operation. - They do have that upside going for them.

In this screen capture from the Turner Hilton Webcam this morning, it looks like Construction activity on the upper floors of the Standard Building. Any news of such progress at this site?

Freshwater Cleveland Cleveland insider: the stories behind CLE's quirkiest public art "Most Clevelanders are familiar with the iconic Free Stamp in downtown’s Willard Park or Cleveland Venus in front of the Carl B. Stokes Court House, but those who look closely will find the 216 is peppered with unique and smaller works of public art..." http://www.freshwatercleveland.com/features/Manka031016.aspx

Update from today? Just curious.

Reminds me of our old friend from just down the road.

Conservative is what that flat roof is, shockingly so. It's a cheap ugly finish to an otherwise fantastic scheme. Nothing flamboyant about the "flat look" if you ask me. In fact I'd call it uninspired, even retrograde. It's fine to re-hash the Erieview Tower, The 9, PNC Center, IMG, East Ohio Gas, or the Celebrezze Tower, but I hardly think NuCLEus is supposed to be an homage to the 60s-80s. The sculpted-top skyscrapers on the Cleveland skyline each show evidence of their respective design eras, but they have a timeless quality that the main NuCLEus tower just doesn't present. I don't think they should just give it a party hat, but that would be a start to designing a fresh look for the punctuation mark of that roof. To Strap and TPH2, NYC has 161 buildings over 400' tall either standing or under construction. If, like Cleveland, NYC only had four skyscrapers of scale on their skyline, they might be a bit more concerned about the aesthetic influence of adding just one more. To compare our own design requirements to those of the largest city in the United States seems somewhat inappropriate, wouldn't you say?

I used to drive past it every day along the West Shoreway in the mid to late 90s, but I'll be danged if I can't find a photo. This is what it looked like though -

Alumni offices and gathering place (take that CWRU), multi function space, student activities office and student lounge, library, theater project, university archives, polymer laboratories.... Little imagination results in little opportunity.

I know it's the same old view, but here's a cropped shot from the Turner construction webcam as of 9:00am this morning

From the webcam tonight. CRISP: Final key elements of the glass curtain wall are now in place over the Mall. WEBCAM: http://www.earthcam.net/projects/turner/conventioncenterhotel/

Now this looks like a BFD. Caesars is departing from Cleveland. New branding in store for the Horsehoe Casinos in both Cleveland and Cincinnati http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2015/11/02/exclusive-cincinnati-casino-operator-exits.html

Interesting mechanism on tracks; A video of the rooftop mounted device loading glass down the side of the tower - for new windows on the A.J. Celebrezze Building

Hey, wasn't this already posted for discussion on the May Company page? <<Snap!>>

- The men's furnishings dept was just down the stairs and to the left.

That's the historic old Woolworth's 4th Street entrance, and I believe the main parts of the sign are sign original. Here's some samples of similar from other Woolworth Stores, and one CLE 4th St original snapshot I found on the web.

This is perplexing to me; They seem hyper focused on construction rather than property management. The Turks - they build like ants, just incredibly so, but how will this fit with what's needed at T.C.? I'm looking forward to more info soon.

May I post pure speculation here? "We've been negotiating for quite a while," Ruby said. "It's the most spectacular place I've ever seen." Jeff Ruby eyes Cleveland for next restaurant http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2015/09/12/jeff-ruby-eyes-cleveland-for-next-restaurant.html

Shall we reflect on this for a moment?

I'm not sure I'm remembering this right but isn't this process of covering the existing facade with this outer glass panel shell new and experimental? I thought I read that this has never been done and was a unique solution to both make this building more energy efficient as well as more secure in the event of some sort of blast or terror attack. If that's true I would not be surprised if there were adjustments and changes as they find out what works and what doesn't. Also, for all of the delay if this is the first and it does create significant energy savings it will be cool and significant to have the first such building here in Cleveland, especially if this process is replicated in other projects. Hopefully I'm right and that explains the delays. "In many ways, the project is a test case for the GSA and for every skyline in the country. Agency officials believe the project will be the first time an existing skyscraper in the United States is wrapped in a second skin designed in large part to conserve energy. The new facade, which will be placed 2.5 feet outside the original facade, will create a cushion of insulating air that will turn the building into a giant thermos." - Steven Litt, cleveland.com, (January 27, 2011 at 12:00) "GSA designs for new Celebrezze building facades will mute the 1960s look of the tower"