The New Canton Federal Campus is all wrapped up and occupied.  I have followed the project from bare parking lot to completion and wanted to share a few pictures that I had.  As a bonus I included some other spots from around town.

 

Here is a picture of the Federal building location before ground breaking.  It was a four block expanse of parking lot mainly for AEP employees.  I used to park here long ago when I worked at American Electric Power and always thought it was a sad sight.

 

 

Here are some early construction pictures I took last summer.  This is the back of the building.

 

I snapped these photos of the finished product this afternoon.  I took some panorama shots, I will see if I can post them.  I cannot say that I love everything about this vanilla building but it is a HUGE improvement.  I would call it a win for Canton.... as long as they preserve the former Federal building.

 

Panoramas:

 

This is the former location, the Frank T. Bow Federal building.  The building's future is in limbo at the moment.  This building has a fantastic lobby with wonderful murals.

 

 

 

 

Bonus Photographs:

 

This home stood on the site for the new Federal building.  Instead of tearing it down, it was sold for 1 dollar and moved about 3 blocks away.  It was a sad sight before the move but has since received a top notch makeover.

 

This was Joseph's bar, my favorite dank dive bar.  I miss it a lot.

 

Here is that location today.  It is a restaurant.... stupid name, great food and PACKED!

 

My favorite downtown mural taken last year:

This year has some additions:

My trusty steed:

 

The former Cadillac Garage, rehabbed into a photography studio/residence:

 

Wilson Point, a newly built downtown senior residence.  This is right beside Josephs Bar and used to be a weed filled lot.  It's not perfect, but not really that bad either.  For new construction it fits into it's surroundings well enough.

 

Iris is one of my favorite restaurants in town.  The food is amazing and the beer selection is equally fantastic. 

 

There is funky art scattered all around downtown.  I think this one is pretty cool:

 

This one I don't really care for.  The building is as ugly as they come though so anything on top of it is fine:

 

I could probably post more but I am probably entertaining myself mostly.  I relish opportunities to showcase my hometown.  The Hall of fame celebrations are on deck, should be a good one this year.

 

Thanks for taking the time to look at my photos.

 

That's a sweet ride you've got there. I especially like the sidepull brakes.  Rivendell reader, eh?

 

Regarding Joseph's:

Moe: Oh, everybody is going to family restaurants these days, tsk. Seems nobody wants to hang out in a dank pit no more.

 

Carl: You ain't thinking of getting rid of the dank, are you, Moe?

 

Moe: Ehh, maybe I am.

 

Carl: Oh, but Moe: the dank.  The dank!

Ha, believe it or not I don't actually read Grant Peterson's publications.  Not that I have anything against Rivendell, it's just all out of my price league.  I like their Rambouillet, I am not sure if they even sell it anymore.

 

Moe's tavern is a clean classy place compared to Joseph's.  It was pretty nasty in all reality.  There was what looked like mold on the ceiling, urine soaked bathrooms and every beer on tap tasted like leinenkugel red.  I am pretty sure the great lakes handle was just for show... and an extra 3 dollars per pitcher.

 

The funniest part of Joe's exterior, they replaced the original windows with wood siding and two tiny windows...then boarded those up too

I worked in that old federal building for two years.  Place was definitely in need of more updating than could be done with just remodeling and retrofitting, but the atrium was impressive and I hope that they find something productive to do with the place.  I used to think it could have some real potential as a charter school.

"I could probably post more but I am probably entertaining myself mostly."

 

Actually no - I think a lot of people would like to see more (myself included) :-)

"I could probably post more but I am probably entertaining myself mostly."

 

Actually no - I think a lot of people would like to see more (myself included) :-)

 

Ha, I usually assume I am the lone Canton maven / enthusiast.... but then again this is UrbanOhio.  I will go through some of my old photos and see if I have some more pictures interesting enough to post.  I am planning on taking plenty of pictures of the Hall of Fame festivities.  The downtown fireworks are next week.  I am curious to see how my camera does in low light.

Cool shots!  I like the normal photo threads too, but I like the tours highlighting new projects and favorite commercial establishments.  Creepy murals are always a plus too.

How do you interpret the mural?  I used to think the two sides were reaching towards each other.  My wife thinks they are fighting each other.

The critters on the left are manufacturing workers and their [rust belt] communities.  The thing on the right is times achangin'.

 

I love the tire rhino too.

The new building is attractive, but I hope they find a reuse for the original federal building.

"I could probably post more but I am probably entertaining myself mostly."

 

Actually no - I think a lot of people would like to see more (myself included) :-)

 

Ha, I usually assume I am the lone Canton maven / enthusiast.... but then again this is UrbanOhio.  I will go through some of my old photos and see if I have some more pictures interesting enough to post.  I am planning on taking plenty of pictures of the Hall of Fame festivities.  The downtown fireworks are next week.  I am curious to see how my camera does in low light.

 

That's never stopped me from occasionally spamming the forum with Youngstown photos. :-)

 

Having grown up in the Canton/Massillon area, I always like seeing photos from the area.

Thoroughly enjoyed those. It would be good to see Canton make a comeback; there's some good stuff there.

 

My trusty steed:

That bike is sweetness incarnate. I love the color scheme, and the hardwar is prime old-school, much of it 1970s style. As I noted in the Bicycling thread when you first posted it, the crankset is Stronglight and the hubs look like Normandie. Upon closer examination I see that the frame is a Raleigh Carlton, brake levers are Mafac and it looks like the calipers may be too. Bar-tip shifters are Shimano, of course.

 

Saddle looks like Brooks, possibly the infamous B-17. I still have one of those stashed away. People said it would break in, but after 20 years it still was hard as a board and my skinny butt doesn't provide padding to compensate.

I like those bar con's and high flange hubs.  Tre chic!

Thoroughly enjoyed those. It would be good to see Canton make a comeback; there's some good stuff there.

 

My trusty steed:

That bike is sweetness incarnate. I love the color scheme, and the hardwar is prime old-school, much of it 1970s style. As I noted in the Bicycling thread when you first posted it, the crankset is Stronglight and the hubs look like Normandie. Upon closer examination I see that the frame is a Raleigh Carlton, brake levers are Mafac and it looks like the calipers may be too. Bar-tip shifters are Shimano, of course.

 

Saddle looks like Brooks, possibly the infamous B-17. I still have one of those stashed away. People said it would break in, but after 20 years it still was hard as a board and my skinny butt doesn't provide padding to compensate.

 

Rob, you have a good eye.  The hubs are Normandie, the crank is a stronglight 93, the brake calipers are loooong reach weinmann 750s, the levers are Universal 61, the shift levers are suntour and it has a Suntour V-gt luxe which is one of my favorites.  The frame is a Raleigh Gran sport, right between the Competition and the Super Course.

 

The saddle is an old Brooks professional which is even harder than the B17.  This older version is a lot wider than the newer professional I have.  I've sold off a lot of extra bikes and have started to ride this one more, I made a handful of changes for comfort since I posted it last.

The critters on the left are manufacturing workers and their [rust belt] communities. The thing on the right is times achangin'.

 

I love the tire rhino too.

 

That never occurred to me but I like your interpretation.  I have never been good at finding meaning in art, I just enjoy the pretty pictures.

I like those bar con's and high flange hubs. Tre chic!

 

Ha, thank you.  This bike is an English marque so I don't know if French compliments apply to it.  Then again, it does have a couple French parts on it.

Great photos. More is better!

I stand corrected on the saddle; Brooks Pro is what I had in mind, that came with the Peugeot PX-10. I thought if I ever wanted to make someone decide to never take up cycling, I'd put that on a loaner and take them out for a ten-mile spin around the Greenway! :evil:

 

I'll take a wild-ass guess at something else, too - the mudguards. Vintage Bleumels, maybe the Popular series? Have you seen what some folks are asking for those? I paid less for my Raleigh DL-1 new!

Haha, yeah that saddle is extra extra firm.  I keep waiting for this magical pixie dust that happens to them.  I can ride mine for 30-40 miles normally, after that my backside starts yelling at me.

 

You are right about the fenders.... and I lucked into them.  The dusty lbs had two unused pairs stuffed away and I payed 30 dollars for them.

 

I sold my least used road bike yesterday and bought a DL-1.  What a strange feeling, I can't seem to keep the front wheel stable with all that fork rake.  I am looking forward to fiddling with the rod brakes.  Is there a way to say that last sentence that doesn't sound so wrong?

Great photos. More is better!

 

The wife and I are going to the downtown fireworks tonight, I will make sure to take plenty of pictures.  There is a lot of activity around the Hall of fame right now.

 

  Anyone else pay attention to the bollards? I presume they encircle the entire new Federal Building, and they are meant to deter vehicle bombs.

excellent thread -- i like the new fed building and will hope the old one is saved, please keep us up to date on that. oh and that is a stunning grafitti mural, makes you go hmmm -- thx!

Awesome photos. I love the before/after/progress shots. Definitely post more photos! That new federal building is pretty nice. I just hope the original is put to good use.