rleuthueser

I'm fairly certain that those conditions existed due to complete ghetto conditions downtown that have been driven out by the boom of new facilities and Renaissance Tax rehab projects. I can post some pictures of the needle-filled garbage bags hauled out of the crack dens downtown to allow the high-end residences to be constructed if you'd like. And I don't anticipate the traffic of doctors, students, ill patients and their loved ones creating the menacing environment to which you allude. But maybe I'm missing something...

Ok, just to play devil's advocate here: 1) Who here is personally financing these projects? I'm pretty sure that you're all very similar to the guy standing next to your neighbor's new, very expensive car saying to your wife "gosh, I can't believe he didn't get the optional moonroof and I can't believe he settled for a single disk CD player." Why do you drive a specific car? Because that's your budget. It may seem like the major philanthropists in town have a bottomless checking account, but I've got news - it's not that simple. 2) Who would visit a hospital district for the storefronts and benches? Nobody - that's why you walk down Monroe Center for lunch, the park and scenery. 3) I want to see anyone bashing layout - including the skyways, tunnels, and in-house restaurants - walk outside from one building to another between November 1 and June 1 (for the mathematicians, that's 66% of the year). I'll be sure to hand you an extra pair of gloves to keep your keyboard-calloused fingertips warm. 4) The people that are sick and dying in these buildings would love to know that they couldn't be afforded quality ammenitities, interior gardens, and conveniences because the owners had to dress up the outside of the building to appease the healthy public. 1 out 2 people will get cancer. period. I guarantee you or your wife or kids will spend some time on the hill within the next 20 years. And I guarantee you'll love parking right at the doorstep of the hospital, catching dinner at the food court and heading to your hotel room in the building just to the west. 5) Do you have a daughter thinking about med school? How bout a family friend or niece? Now picture her walking down Division Street after a night class. Think she might become a sexual assault statistic? I'm sure she'd enjoy the west elevation of the building while she's glancing over her shoulder and peering into the shadows on the way to her car. <\end rant>

Spectrum's only leasing a portion of the parking structure. There's a system of gates and access cards that allow specific use groups limited access to avoid domination of parking spaces by an organization. Van Andel has a similar agreement in place, as will MSU when the med school paperwork is finalized.

Tower 25 structural steel started yesterday...

Nobody seemed to have noticed that we hoisted a 80,000# truss on 2/10... Sitting in its new home above the future drop-off area entrance off Coit Ave: First slab on metal deck pour: Won't be too long before masonry and curtain wall start rolling

There's a massive truss (approx. 16' high x 76' long) that sits between floors 2 and 3 that will take some time to install; it's currently scheduled for installation mid-February, then things should pick up again through the end of Feb and you'll see some curved sections on a mostly east-west axis on the far east side. The balance of the curves - including the exterior curve extending more on a north-south axis and all of the lobby Life Garden tiered curved sections will follow....late February/March?

Si. You can see the roof garden terrace canopies/trellises taking shape on the southwest corner. The radiused southeast corner will be the last section of steel to be placed (with expection to the section that won't be able to be installed until the tower crane gets pulled out towards the end of the year).

haha...yeah, vault is one step away from tomb We have yet to hear a warm fuzzy name from anybody else though. In fact, there are maze walls used to enter the vaults rather than the standard massive doors that seal patients inside in an attempt to make it less intimidating and "vault-like". The plantings are just boilerplate "clipart" and shouldn't be taken too literally, but they give a good idea of where the green space exists. Frederick Meijer Gardens is teaming with URS & Spectrum to finalize the garden composition. The waterfalls will be dropping through slots in the floor rather than over the edge as shown. It's an interesting system that uses a lot of tiny nozzles shooting fans of water which blend together (thanks to the physics of cohesion) - this allows the waterfall to be completely independent of the water level in the pond & levelness of a dripedge, and allows very accurate control. Theoretically it'll be a great design....theoretically... I'm sure the URS team would love to know that it's got your support for the design - there are typically some tough critics on here!

Hopefully I'm not stepping on anybody's toes by posting these, but it's nearly all bid out at this point. Michigan Street Development w/ LHCP Main Lobby Second Floor Life Garden Linear Accelerator Vault Waiting Area Linear Accelerator Vault Room Various Interior Elevations

Ask, and you shall receive....

Honestly, I've never seen the Meijer Heart Center gardens. The LHCP Life Garden plantings are still in design, but the layout of all the beds and water features have been locked in. The key points are waterfalls in the main lobby from 3rd-2nd & 2nd-1st floors. There will be ponds on most levels, and the gardens descend down into the south side of the parking structure and tunnel portal. I've got some schematic renderings buried somewhere on the server; let me see if i can find them. I may also be able to post some interior renderings of the main lobby and linear accelerator vaults.

Thanks! By the way - the 7th floor will house all of the mechanical equipment, so the top occupied space will be 6th floor. But there will be a tall screen wall system around the perimeter of the 7th floor giving it a more imposing look.

The latest north elevation panorama: December 2005 and December 2006 - a lot of digging and a lot of concrete Life Garden formwork at the tunnel portal

This is the kind of stuff Tim Allen would stand around and let out a nice series of grunts... And something for the more artistic soul...

You're mistaken - it's actually going to be used for emergency egress (hence the 'beautiful' shanty built on the south side of the building). Rails-to-Trails bailed out on taking the bridge...not sure where it's new home will be (most likely scrap). Originally it was going to be used near Holland. And here are some pics (it weighed approx. 75,000#):