TheMightyBK

I had a really vivid dream once that instead of moving across the way, the Panthers decided to develop the land surrounding the seating bowl with multi-use high-rises. The floors of the buildings had terraces and windows overlooking the field directly below, surrounding the whole stadium. The lowest levels integrated retail with the stadium concourses, while the upper floors looking down on the seating area were a variety of hotel rooms, mega-luxury suites, apartments and condos that had open-air access to the action in the stadium. The majority of the middle of each separate building was office space with windows that didn't open, and the top floors were penthouse apartments, bars and nightclubs. There was a light rail station integrated at the rear, but there was plenty of parking across the street where the curved deck is, because the Legacy Union decks started a new "war" for height and they added 20 floors of parking. EDIT- I forgot to mention the stadium was open air, but there was a "floating green roof" that suspended over the field and some but not all of the seating area of the stadium- it was basically a suspended green space park on top, connected to the buildings by walkways connecting to each of the buildings...but not at the tops of the buildings- more in the middle. I could definitely see the field below from the park as I looked over the edge. I remember thinking it was really cool. Then I woke up.

I expect relocations to pick up a bit more, too. People from smaller cities and rural areas flock to cities in search of work during recessions...and we are most definitely in the midst of one now and for the foreseeable future. That's what brought me to Charlotte back in '93 after I finished school...if you need a paycheck you go where the jobs are.

I like art. It brought people uptown, and together, during a hard time. If it weren't for this, there would have been tumbleweeds. I never for a minute thought it would be made permanent. A moment in time...but not an eye sore IMO.

Excellent photos! You did a fantastic job of not showing that horrendous garage.

Yeah, that garage cheapens the whole project in my eyes. That and the "crown". Could have been so much better. I wish I'd never seen the original plans.

I'm sorry, but that looks horrendous.

I grew up in Virginia, took Driver's Ed and got my license there. I was taught the left lane was the passing lane, and if someone approached from behind while you were in said passing lane, proper rules to the game meant you need to move to the right lane. When I moved to Charlotte I had to get my NC license and had to take a written test. I failed my first "practice test" because one of the questions was "what lane is the passing lane?" I learned this in Driver's Ed- it's the left, of course! WRONG! I quickly learned that NC has NO PASSING LANE. It's chaos out there.

Isn't the facade being saved? I thought I read that, but I could be misremebering. If it is, I'm cool with that. I'm sure the interior is all but useless as far as adaptive reuse goes. But I'm pro-preservation of anything that has even slightly interesting architectural features. I think this thing's front elevation passes muster in the "it's just different than glass" category, so I do hope it sticks around. It's not exactly eye candy, but it is visually interesting-ish.

Be careful what you wish for, friend. Those cameras are all over Maryland. A couple years ago they were found to be faulty, resulting in tickets to thousands of drivers who had, in fact, done nothing wrong (moreso the red-light cams vs. speed cams). A better solution would be traffic calming raised sidewalks...or rumble strips, perhaps...

Come down off the cliff, J-Man...it's a building...and when it's done it should be pretty frickin' cool. A band I used to know had a song called "Patience"...who were they again???

I don't see the current predicament as a permanent condition at all. As with everything, COVID is temporary, and once it's under control, things will eventually return to normal. For evidence, I look to areas that have dealt with similar scenarios in the past. The Far East's major cities continue to live densely and occupy vertical spaces. The sky is not falling...it's just cloudy with a chance of meatballs...

1996. I was there...GREAT show...and the venue was perfect. Ahh...memories...

How many floors to go on this one?

True. And what do they do consistently as a community that we don’t? They wear masks to protect themselves and others. They have done this drill many times, so knew as a society that mitigation is a best practice. It’s about respect there. In the US, we have not seen this happen, other than 1918. History is repeating itself. I’m getting a little off topic here, but mass transit in itself is not the issue. Behavior is the issue. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm no expert, but I don't think surface contact has ever been thought to be a big source of spread of the virus. Not that it cannot spread from surface contact...but that people breathing/coughing/sneezing in close proximity to one another is how it spreads best...like in a crowded train. If the trains aren't crowded and people wear masks and spread out as best as they can, it's probably not spreading...but if trains are full and people are shoulder to shoulder, well, I'd wait for another train...

Those thing are gorgeous compared to most new construction I see in the Baltimore area. Be thankful.

I'll eat my words a little- this did turn out a bit better than I thought it would. The new matches up well with the old. The top of the tower still looks weirdly "incomplete" to my eye, though...it's like they forgot...something. Ah well...still looks way better than the renderings. The new sure does make the old's need for a good cleaning pretty glaring...time to break out the pressure washer.

Wait...all that construction disruption and expense was just a demonstration?!? Why did the city bail on it?

I keep thinking there has to be one more translucent layer of something...if not, it's hot garbage

The bolded part above...didn't they actually build BRT lanes on Independence back in the 90s?? I lived there then, and remember thinking nobody would use it...and I think it was scrapped after just a couple years. Or am I misremembering that??

I was thinking the same thing...and then I saw LIE. See it?

Gorgeous shots! Thanks, Seabrooke!!

absolutely fantastic

Love it! Lots of character!