dave68

completely unnecessary

Does anyone know if the esplanades will extend into Mall A? I wonder how/if the tree wells are possible. It would be great to have all the Group Plan buildings powerwashed to bring the buildings to a uniform color.

I agree. Wouldn't it be great if there was a salvage company created that saved historical facades . These could be preserved and sold for future builds.

I sent a copy of the article to Mr. Robert Brown as to an explanation of why this plan was thrown by the wayside. I will let you know if I get a response.

http://lmnts.lmnarchitects.com/fabrication/mm-fabrication/#more-652 a new article is posted regarding the panel fabrication for the medical mart. There is a great photo of a full scale mockup of the real panels with the windows of how the finished medical mart will look.

I wrote back to Mr. Brown stating that I still disagree with many of his points he tries to make validating the existence for a landmarks commission. If buildings are meant to be protected with regards to landmark status there is no reason any building should be as such since we now have 1 building being destroyed, 1 building completely surrounded by parking structures, and one being marred by a raised walkway. I suggest anyone with an opinion disputing his views let him know why you disagree.

I received a letter of explanation regarding The City's view on the justification for demolition for The Columbia Bldg. from Robert Brown of The Landmark Commission. Thought it should be shared.

I am excited for this bridge. When I was in San Diego, there is The Harbor Drive pedestrian bridge which is very similar in design. An architecural/engineer beauty. http://www.ccdc.com/projects/major-downtown-projects/projects-landing-page/convention-center/harbor-drive-pedestrian-bridge/overview.html

Are there any architectural renderings of the design? I have gone to Polaris's website and no real information is provided.

i noticed the water feature has been eliminated from the final design as well as the kiosk. Does anyone know why?

Here are the plans to refresh everyones memory of what the completed project will be. http://planning.city.cleveland.oh.us/designreview/drcagenda/2010/030510/PerkPackage030410.pdf

question? Has anyone considered the possibility of moving the Columbia Building and The Stanley Block to new locations? i know that the Candy Factory building was moved to make way for Petco Park in San Diego. If this could happen I would align it with East 4th street and Prospect. Continuing the historic nature of The Gateway District all the way to The Q. The Stanley Block as well moved and let the Rock Caesars Gaming develop that entire block without obstacles yet preserving Cleveland's historic buildings

if the skybridge is needed to be redesigned I would love the structure to be as minimal as possible. I would love to see an all glass structure similar to Rafael Vinoly's glass connectors to the 1916 Building of The Cleveland Museum of Art At least we could maintain an unobstructed view of The Higbee Building/Terminal Tower entering from the skywalk. The other mindset is to mimic the architecture of The Higbee Building on both the Welcome Center connector buildings and the skywalk bridge. The annex to The Halle Building parking structure matches the main building and a proposed skywalk bridge, designed by Walker and Weeks, was to match the art deco qualities of the two. The design can be seen in the book A Cleveland Legacy The Architecture of Walker and Weeks by Eric Johannesen. Another example of this would be the skywalk on The Wrigley Building in Chicago

CITY PLANNING CONSIDERATIONS WITH REGARD TO PROPOSED CASINO WELCOME CENTER AND GARAGE DEVELOPMENT Robert Brown, The Director of The Cleveland City Planning Commission, was nice enough to respond to my email with regards to Welcome Center and Garage Development. Hera are some excerpts he shared. Street Life. The proposed “welcome center” project proposes a large retail or restaurant space at the corner of Prospect and Ontario, replacing a long-vacant building that once housed a religious book store. Immediately east of the new retail/ restaurant space on Prospect will be another pedestrian-oriented space, a “welcome center,” with information about the casino and some possible retail sales area. Together, these two people-oriented, non-vehicular new spaces on Prospect Avenue will help connect pedestrian activity from the casino, along Prospect Avenue, to East 4th Street. These new uses can also contribute to the renovation and re-use of the vacant and under-utilized historic buildings on Prospect between East 2nd and East 4th. In addition, the fact that the main street-level entrances to the casino will be directly on Prospect Avenue and on Public Square means that many if not most of the casino goers will enter the casino from the street, rather than on the pedestrian bridge, walking from local hotels and from the Convention Center, Medical Mart and other nearby venues. Casino Phasing. The casino developer has stated its intent to make the Higbee Building a permanent part of the larger casino complex, which is proposed to be built on the south side of Huron Road, connected to the Tower City complex. Construction of the second phase casino is anticipated for 2015. Competitiveness. It is important to the Cleveland community that the casino succeeds and draws millions of visitors to the city, along with the thousands of jobs associated with the casino. Other successful, first-class casinos offer their patrons convenient parking and valet parking drop-off and pick-up, along with safe, climate-controlled connections to the casino. For the Higbee Building casino, the only location available for this service, including the extensive valet area required for such service, is at the southeast corner of Ontario and Prospect, where the Columbia Building is located. All options have been examined carefully and none of them are workable.

I noticed that on the city planning commission agenda from May 20 there was some review of the phase 2 plans. Does anyone know the outcome? DF 2009-006: 1730 East 12th Street, at Chester Avenue, Perk Plaza Rehabilitation, Phase 2 Furnishings, Final Approval, Ward 3 Project Representatives: Jim McKnight, Landscape Architect; Joel Wimbiscus, ParkWorks

Thanks presOhio for the link. Has anyone forwarded this to Cleveland Planning Commission and Landmarks Commission?

Whomever the lenders are/were it must not have been an issue because they had started all the phase 1 construction inside of the building prior to the parking structure being part of the plan. I would love to see whom/where this has been brought up as a stipulation for the construction of the casino.

I think the bottom line comes down to is this architecture better than what is there now. The answer for me is no. Rock Gaming should go back to the drawing board and present something which fits better into its location. Especially the skywalk which attaches to The Higbee Building. Therefore these 2 buildings should have a dialogue that speaks in unison in style. Is this the future architecture we want to represent our city?

I wonder if the Stark Warehouse District development had continued if there would have been a chance to have had their headquarters be a part of that redevolpment,

Why is it that The Tower City Center parking is inadequate for the casino clientele? I would think Forest City would be excited to have Rock Gaming use their facility to pass through. I remember going to Higbee's long ago and parking was never a problem. The developers promised a new way to think about casinos, unfortunately it sounds like that idea is vanishing. Why is Rock Gaming insistent this parking structure must be built for the casino to continue. If the casino was touted with such fanfare why not see if the parking structure is even necessary. If the need is there than lets consider a plan that knits The Gateway community together rather than isolate one component . Also if parking was such an issue shouldn't Rock Gaming have figured this out before the building process began? All the recent development along withThe New Group Plan Commission has talked about the importance of connecting all. This parking structure/skywalk does nothing to move this idea forward. If this comes to be, Dan Gilbert should at least restore the Stanley Block to show that he believes in the community redevelopment

I am at least glad to see a rendering on how the skywalk attaches to the Higbee's facade. Not particularly a fan of the design interaction

http://wmf.memechose.com/wordpress/sustainability/case-study-5/ This website has better pictures of the facades finished from the first phase of construction and shows details of what the Euclid Ave. facade will resemble from the first phase. It show s the brick designs

What I also find interesting is all the original concept renderings for the Horseshoe Casino, in the higbees building. Not a single rendering with the walkway attached to it. I wantThe Planning Commission to see a rendering of this before approval. Misleading renderings on an approved project that are not telling the entire story. So is this walkway for all or just valet parked clients? The walkway only will lead you to the second floor of the casino and not to the main level unless they are planning to reconfigure the floors inside Higbees to allow direct access to the first floor. I am opposed to this poorly conceived prking structure. Why can they not make a deal wit the old May Company parking structure instead? Do we really need 3 parking structures right next to each other?

Here is the polaris group website so far regarding CSU http://polaris-realestate.com/project-under-development/cleveland-state-university/

if you look at this link it shows what the plan is if phase 2 happens http://www.flatseast.com/documents/retail-leasing-plan.pdf