Triad Photo of the Day

[DJ8hep]

Winston-Salem was really fun to photograph today during the tour with @KJHburg!

[KJHburg]

my friend took this on Saturday.  Winston Salem 

[cityboi]

Great pictures guys! Hate I missed the walking tour.

[RichardC]

Great photos of center city Winston-Salem.  I was there on Saturday as well, but after nightfall, and was delighted by the vibrancy of the street life downtown, even with no events at Stevens Center or such.  I walked around several of the main streets after dinner in the Arts District at Camel City BBQ, and it seemed like a big city for the holidays with people walking up and down the streets, the Christmas lights along the streets, the buildings lit up, and windows and building facades decorated for the holiday season.  The new Merschel Plaza was particularly appealing at night, with the new motion sculptures as the centerpiece, an additional city Christmas tree, all lit up against several buildings, and facing the new Kaleidium children’s museum due to open soon.  It will be interesting to see the museum open, with Liberty Plaza park finished, and see what developers put at the site adjacent to the Hotel Indigo facing Merschel Park.

[cityboi]

[cityboi]

[AlmaPinnix]

3 hours ago, cityboi said:

Did they take the signage down?

[cityboi]

1 hour ago, AlmaPinnix said:

Did they take the signage down?

No that was a photo a found that I did some editing on that I took before the signage went up.

[cityboi]

Greensboro and Winston-Salem 

Edited January 29 by cityboi

[cityboi]

Three historic Triad hotels. Two of which had names linked to the confederate past in the south.

The King Cotton Hotel - Greensboro 

Robert E Lee Hotel - Winston-Salem 

The original O'Henry Hotel - Greensboro 

Edited March 12 by cityboi

[cityboi]

[cityboi]

 

Edited March 19 by cityboi

[cityboi]

[cityboi]

Through AI on my new Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra I was able to take old Greensboro black and white photos and accurate colorize them while increasing the resolution close to 4k.

 

See Old Greensboro through the eyes of modern day color

OHenry Hotel 

Interior of the OHenry Hotel 

Carolina Theatre under construction in 1925

 

Edited April 8 by cityboi

[cityboi]

Greensboro 

Southern Loan & Trust Building 

Benbow Hotel 

Construction of the old First Union Building 

National Theater

McAdoo Building 

Banner Building 

Greensboro Loan and Trust Company 

Greensboro Centennial Celebration in 1908.

Clegg Hotel in 1899

Edited April 12 by cityboi

[cityboi]

[KJHburg]

A couple from the twin city today Winston Salem.

Reynolda, Graylyn, Wake Forest, Old Salem 

 

[cityboi]

The old Guilford County jail in Greensboro coming down. Architecturally this is blahhh but I still hate a midrise structure is coming down for a 2 story sheriff's office. Would have been nice if they had renovated the way Roy Carroll turned the Wachovia Building into Center Pointe.

Edited April 20 by cityboi

[cityboi]

[cityboi]

Greensboro 

 

Edited Monday at 09:27 PM by cityboi

[DJ8hep]

On 4/19/2024 at 8:00 PM, cityboi said:

The old Guilford County jail in Greensboro coming down. Architecturally this is blahhh but I still hate a midrise structure is coming down for a 2 story sheriff's office. Would have been nice if they had renovated the way Roy Carroll turned the Wachovia Building into Center Pointe.

I remember you pointing that building out on our walking tour last summer! I agree.. sort of reminds me of a 28 story highrise in Frankfort KY they demolished for a low-rise building. https://www.ctbuh.org/news/capital-plaza-tower-demolished-in-frankfort

[cityboi]

1 hour ago, DJ8hep said:

I remember you pointing that building out on our walking tour last summer! I agree.. sort of reminds me of a 28 story highrise in Frankfort KY they demolished for a low-rise building. https://www.ctbuh.org/news/capital-plaza-tower-demolished-in-frankfort

Yes its unfortunate. Greensboro tends to put cost before creativity unlike a number of its peer cities. One example is the Tanger Center. I have mixed feelings about the design. The front facade looks great but the sides and back of the building looks unfinished to me. The city turned down a stunning design for the current one. I guess it would have added to the cost of the nearly $100 million performing arts center.

One of the finalists for the design of the Tanger Center. Looks stunning 

This is what we got instead. The surface parking annoys me but I do understand the VIP parking is part of the funding mechanism for the Tanger Center. The city could have at least built a screened deck with ground level retail and restaurants and possibly set aside some of that land for a developer to build a hotel. My guess is that the city may one day expand the Tanger Center by attaching a multi-use venue with a smaller theater around 300 to 500 seats for smaller shows. The seats could be removed for different performing set ups such as standing concerts or be utilized for convention space. City leaders have been talking about the need for a small convention center downtown. Might be a great location for one especially being within walking distance to the parks and the retail and restaurants on Elm Street. Plus the Tanger parking lot is in close proximity to downtown's biggest hotels. The Marriott across the street on North Elm, the future Westin Hotel two blocks to the south and the Hyatt Place and future AC Hotels a few blocks to the west. The parking lot could easily fit a 75,000 to 100,000 square foot convention center. By comparison, the Benton Convention Center in downtown Winston-Salem has. 100,000 square feet and the Koury Convention Center in Greensboro off of I-40 has nearly 300,000 square feet. Because Greensboro already has a large convention center, I could see a more modest size venue downtown around 75,000 to 85,000 square feet. This location make more sense than the News and Record property which more than likely has contamination issues. The area around the Tanger Center is cleaner, nicer and already set up for surrounding pedestrian activity.

Edited Tuesday at 02:52 AM by cityboi

[HRVT]

11 hours ago, cityboi said:

Yes its unfortunate. Greensboro tends to put cost before creativity unlike a number of its peer cities. One example is the Tanger Center. I have mixed feelings about the design. The front facade looks great but the sides and back of the building looks unfinished to me. The city turned down a stunning design for the current one. I guess it would have added to the cost of the nearly $100 million performing arts center.

One of the finalists for the design of the Tanger Center. Looks stunning 

This is what we got instead. The surface parking annoys me but I do understand the VIP parking is part of the funding mechanism for the Tanger Center. The city could have at least built a screened deck with ground level retail and restaurants and possibly set aside some of that land for a developer to build a hotel. My guess is that the city may one day expand the Tanger Center by attaching a multi-use venue with a smaller theater around 300 to 500 seats for smaller shows. The seats could be removed for different performing set ups such as standing concerts or be utilized for convention space. City leaders have been talking about the need for a small convention center downtown. Might be a great location for one especially being within walking distance to the parks and the retail and restaurants on Elm Street. Plus the Tanger parking lot is in close proximity to downtown's biggest hotels. The Marriott across the street on North Elm, the future Westin Hotel two blocks to the south and the Hyatt Place and future AC Hotels a few blocks to the west. The parking lot could easily fit a 75,000 to 100,000 square foot convention center. By comparison, the Benton Convention Center in downtown Winston-Salem has. 100,000 square feet and the Koury Convention Center in Greensboro off of I-40 has nearly 300,000 square feet. Because Greensboro already has a large convention center, I could see a more modest size venue downtown around 75,000 to 85,000 square feet. This location make more sense than the News and Record property which more than likely has contamination issues. The area around the Tanger Center is cleaner, nicer and already set up for surrounding pedestrian activity.

Honestly, even the flashier concept in the renderings appears to have a lackluster/unfinished back of the building (common in projects like these but often the back of the building is better hidden). While the outside of the building isn't as sleek as what was initially proposed, I'm glad they decided to cut costs on the exterior vs the actual function of the building: That being the theater itself. On the inside, it really is a great facility and it's awesome not having to go to Durham or Charlotte for high quality shows.

[jthomas]

1 hour ago, HRVT said:

Honestly, even the flashier concept in the renderings appears to have a lackluster/unfinished back of the building (common in projects like these but often the back of the building is better hidden). While the outside of the building isn't as sleek as what was initially proposed, I'm glad they decided to cut costs on the exterior vs the actual function of the building: That being the theater itself. On the inside, it really is a great facility and it's awesome not having to go to Durham or Charlotte for high quality shows.

I agree with you about the interior being the most important part - it's a first-class venue and a huge asset for the city. One day, those surface lots will become to valuable to remain as parking, and the sides and back will be hidden better. The bigger problem for the Tanger IMO is the surroundings - just look at that aerial picture. Three bland office buildings with no ground-level activation, a parking deck, and the horrible 1970s concrete bunker that is the Marriott complex. You have to walk at least two dead blocks in any direction from the Tanger to reach any other street-level activity. This is the kind of stuff that DGI should be working on, rather than chasing flashy big projects or gimmicks like self-driving shuttles.

[HRVT]

3 hours ago, jthomas said:

I agree with you about the interior being the most important part - it's a first-class venue and a huge asset for the city. One day, those surface lots will become to valuable to remain as parking, and the sides and back will be hidden better. The bigger problem for the Tanger IMO is the surroundings - just look at that aerial picture. Three bland office buildings with no ground-level activation, a parking deck, and the horrible 1970s concrete bunker that is the Marriott complex. You have to walk at least two dead blocks in any direction from the Tanger to reach any other street-level activity. This is the kind of stuff that DGI should be working on, rather than chasing flashy big projects or gimmicks like self-driving shuttles.

You're not going to get any disagreement from me. But that's a much bigger problem... and one I think those approving the design hoped would eventually get fixed.

Unfortunately, current city "leader"ship is chasing their tails focusing on glitz and glamour vs focusing on the basics. If the city would focus on the basics, the rest will take care of itself.