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I think the park plan looks great! I really like the amphitheater overlooking the river. My only wish is that they take the "Civic space" and multiply it by about 10 and put a real Civic center/arena or baseball stadium on that side of the park. I think that would change the entire area and really put some "Miracle Grow" into downtown.
I think the park plan looks great! I really like the amphitheater overlooking the river. My only wish is that they take the "Civic space" and multiply it by about 10 and put a real Civic center/arena or baseball stadium on that side of the park. I think that would change the entire area and really put some "Miracle Grow" into downtown.
They won't build a second Civic/Convention center in the city, but there is (was) talk about a Minor League baseball park. One of the areas up in the air for the ball park is on the Town Commons.
So the Visitor Center/parking deck construction will start in September.
I believe the city is moving forward building a roundabout on 5th St, at 14th and Tyson.
Dickinson Ave, from Reade Circle to 14th, will be rebuilt with roads and streetscapes.
I can't tell you how happy I am to hear Dickinson is being rebuilt, it can spur development in that area. Those buildings that were renovated on Dickinson may finally be able to lure a tenant or two.
I can't tell you how happy I am to hear Dickinson is being rebuilt, it can spur development in that area. Those buildings that were renovated on Dickinson may finally be able to lure a tenant or two.
I'm not sure of their plan. As in, what they want it to become. At one time, they wanted the bars to move there. But (almost) anything is better than what is there. Especially with the the idea of a ballpark being built there as well.
The only big negative now, is the loss of access with the 10th St bridge being built. That would suck, from a ease standpoint. Actually, outside of the warehouses, everything should get razed. And the roads should be straighten out. The side streets don't match up coming off of Dickinson. It is just real messy through there.
I'm not sure of their plan. As in, what they want it to become. At one time, they wanted the bars to move there. But (almost) anything is better than what is there. Especially with the the idea of a ballpark being built there as well.
The only big negative now, is the loss of access with the 10th St bridge being built. That would suck, from a ease standpoint. Actually, outside of the warehouses, everything should get razed. And the roads should be straighten out. The side streets don't match up coming off of Dickinson. It is just real messy through there.
No doubt, it will take plenty to make it into a nice road but its a good start. The reflector just came out with a article about it, almost using my exact phrase of what I say about the district:
reinvent the Dickinson Avenue corridor as the “Tobacco Warehouse District,†an area many believe could become the city’s new downtown.-Wesley Brown, TDR
I've been a long advocate of giving up on downtown and just making that area the new downtown. The city doesn't want to get tough on closing clubs and that will keep the area from prospering, so the West End should be the new downtown area. I wonder how stable the ground is there, do any of you believe it's tough enough to hold a skyscraper? I know everyone always say Downtown Greenville's land is too soft for skyscrapers, so I can't help but to wonder if its the same for the west end.
No doubt, it will take plenty to make it into a nice road but its a good start. The reflector just came out with a article about it, almost using my exact phrase of what I say about the district:
reinvent the Dickinson Avenue corridor as the “Tobacco Warehouse District,†an area many believe could become the city’s new downtown.-Wesley Brown, TDR
I've been a long advocate of giving up on downtown and just making that area the new downtown. The city doesn't want to get tough on closing clubs and that will keep the area from prospering, so the West End should be the new downtown area. I wonder how stable the ground is there, do any of you believe it's tough enough to hold a skyscraper? I know everyone always say Downtown Greenville's land is too soft for skyscrapers, so I can't help but to wonder if its the same for the west end.
I could see them investing in Dickinson, then allowing "market forces" help backfill the rest of uptown, towards East Carolina.
What is your definition of a skyscraper in Greenville? I mean, we have two 10 story residence halls adjacent to uptown. I don't see why we can't have a six-story or more building uptown, or in Dickinson.
Also, has any official come out and said the ground is too soft? I know everyone says it, but I can't recall an official stating this.
WITN is now running our on-air signals from our new building on Arlington Boulevard in Greenville. And there will be an additional channel added. So now it is WITN, WITN 2 and WITN 3.
More info about the Dickinson Ave redevelopment from TDR:
A pair of redevelopment commission members volunteered this week to help lead an effort to reinvent the Dickinson Avenue corridor as the "Tobacco Warehouse District," an area many believe could become the city's new downtown.
Burdened with one of the densest downtowns in the state, community leaders in Greenville have suggested flipping the city's center to the southeast and repositioning it along Dickinson Avenue to directly tie into the 10th Street Connector.
However, city leaders say the area needs a vision - one Richard Patterson and Jeremy King offered to secure for the city on Tuesday in their first order of business since being appointed to the Greenville Redevelopment Commission in December by at-large City Councilman Dennis Mitchell.
The two commissioners volunteered to head a nationwide search committee for a qualified consulting firm to redesign Dickinson Avenue, the retail district several blocks south of downtown.
Early artist's renderings of the Tobacco Warehouse District show a plan that would completely change the streetscape of Dickinson Avenue and provide a center of gravity and excitement to an area of the city that has lacked both, King said.
"Dickinson Avenue is an important entryway to the city," said King, a partner at the Greenville law firm Lanier, King and Paysour. "I look forward to reviewing proposals to find the best match for the city. It's a good use of my abilities."
Patterson, captain of investigations at the Ayden Police Department, agreed.
"I am really excited," Patterson said. "We have the potential to revive an area and make it an area of growth in our city."
With the addition of several thousand square feet of commercial and cultural space, Scott Eaton, project manager for the city, said the Tobacco Warehouse District would evoke the area's past, while embracing its future.
Eaton said the redesign includes rotating art parks; refinished wall murals; pedestrian plazas and informational kiosks; memorial markers for the Higgs neighborhood and the area's tobacco industry and railroad; and 4-inch brick pavers lined with street lights, evergreen trees and a sidewalk cafe.
Eaton said the district would start at the intersection of 10th and Evans streets and extend south of Reade Circle, with its western boundaries being the Greenville Transportation and Activity Center, a multi-million dollar regional transit facility to be housed on Bonners Lane.
Eaton said the state Department of Transportation and Greenville Public Works plan to resurface Dickinson Avenue to Memorial Drive and that the district would build upon projects and neighboring properties to create an "alive, attractive, safe and walkable" area for city residents.
A lot of development is taking place along the 10th Street Connector, the major catalyst for the Tobacco Warehouse District.
East Carolina University bought land along West 10th Street to put in a maintenance and inventory warehouse and a new police department, the plan shows.
The U.S. Department of Justice is moving a federal courthouse from Wilson to Greenville, across from Sheppard Memorial Library, with talks of a $30 million to $40 million office complex going in next door for law officials.
Also, the old Imperial Tobacco Warehouse, which some hope will be the future home of a minor league baseball stadium, is being cleared of waste and debris in an environmental grant paid for by the federal government.
"I do not want to say that we have ever done these projects completely in a vacuum," Greenville Economic Development Officer Carl Rees said of the project's depth. "But there is so many different things that are being thought about in that area, with projects that are very real."
Rees said in planning the revitalization of Dickinson Avenue his staff felt that limiting the project to phases, like they have done with other efforts in the past, "might be a little bit shortsided."
"We thought it would be prudent to have a developer design the road for the next generation - 30 to 40 years down the line - with them accounting for bus traffic and the possibility of warehousing venues."
Eaton said the redevelopment project would take about a year. He expects construction plans to be submitted by Jan. 6, 2014.
I like that having a dense downtown is now considered a burden instead of what normal urban development is supposed to look like. Downtown Greenville isn't really all that dense though.
Also, wouldn't the planned 10th St. connector essentially cut the new and improved Dickinson in half? Kinda defeats the purpose of building a walkable area if you gotta cross a major traffic artery.
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