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Tuesday, February 20, 2007
First Peeks At New Hotel
Posted by scott spaulding at 2/20/2007 04:28:00 PM
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Suggested Reading
- 2006 Downtown Housing Potential Study (PDF)
- Allen County/Fort Wayne Comprehensive Land Use & Development Plan (PDF)
- Around the Square Presentation (PDF)
- Around the Square Sub-Area Plan
- BaseballPLUS Committee Report (PDF)
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- City of Fort Wayne Press Release on 'Harrison Square' development
- Downtown CReED Map (PDF)
- Downtown Design Guidelines (PDF)
- Downtown Hotel Study 2005 (PDF)
- Downtown Parking Map (PDF)
- Economic and Fiscal Impacts of the Proposed Harrison Square Project
- Exhibit for Condo and Retail (PDF)
- Exhibit for Hotel (PDF)
- Exhibit for Stadium License Agreement (PDF)
- Harrison Square Brochure
- Harrison Square Condo/Retail Agreement (PDF)
- Harrison Square Financial Data (PDF)
- Harrison Square Frequently Asked Questions
- Harrison Square Funding Relationships (PDF)
- Harrison Square Hotel Agreement (PDF)
- Harrison Square Stadium License Agreement (PDF)
- Harrison Square Stadium Management Agreement (PDF)
- Harrison Street Infill Strategy - Market Study (PDF)
- North River Final Report (PDF)
- Parking Management Report - Executive Summary (PDF)
- Urban Renewal / Economic Development Areas Map (PDF)
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13 comments:
Wow! Pretty impressive design (though that Marriot sign sure is big!). As a stand alone building, I like the contemporary style, as opposed to, say, the new printing press or the faux historic Jefferson Point. FW certainly seems to struggle embracing modern ideas in design (i.e. the new printing press), so this is a refreshing change. However, the siting doesn"t seem to reflect the mixed use and retail and condo aspects that are part of the overall HS Concept. As it"s shown, it doesn"t seem to encourage much pedestrian activity. Hmmm... Hopefully that"ll be improved or clarified.
One architectural note regarding the shared sense of the physical Fort Wayne - the height will blot out the Indiana Hotel/Embassy Theater building from the western sun.
The sun has always looked great on the tan brick of the old Indiana Hotel.
This would change part of the historic cityscape of Fort Wayne.
Personally, I like the design. And like Scott said, it certainly is a nice surprise to see a more modern style building, as compared to developement over the last couple of years.
And I have to agree, it does look just a little out of place with the rest of the project, but I think that will all change as we get closer to seeing the final look of the project itself as a whole. But I do like the idea of a restaurant, coffee shop, and some street level retail all built into the first few levels of the hotel. So overall, I'm pretty impressed.
Personally, I am hoping that the design of the hotel will change. When the city sent out the RFP the hotel was billed as a convention hotel, with Harrison Square an addendum. That's how I see it anyway.
Because of this, what we've gotten back is a proposal for a hotel that stands alone and stands out, which is understandable since there is no concrete Harrison Square design to work with at this point.
I was hoping to see a hotel design similar to what was presented in Design Collaborative's renderings: a building on equal scale with the Embassy and Indiana Hotel, with a modest urban look to continue and stretch the historic architecture from the Embassy down towards the equally historic West Central Neighborhood.
This kind of modern, contemporary style would be great for the Grand Wayne Center and northbound, but I feel that the historic quality of the area in question should be the driving force for the design of Harrison Square.
This modern, much taller hotel would stick out in this area and I'm afraid that this design would set a certain tone for the rest of the project. There's an opportunity present to enhance the historic quality of that section of downtown while bolstering the charm of the old urban feel and fostering the growth of the "community meeting place" atmosphere that was to be Harrison Square.
I guess what I'm really afraid of is a development that is too modern for its own good. I would rather have faux historic architecture than ultra-glassy, inaccessible stylings, especially for the ballpark. I would hate for the City and Hardball Capital to go through all of this only to build a ballpark that detracts from the historic qualities and charms of the game of baseball and especially of Fort Wayne's rich baseball history.
The ballpark at Harrison Square should pay homage to the Fort's ballparks of old, when baseball here was played downtown, unlike the anomaly of Memorial Stadium.
well, my first impression was how great this hotel was. then after reading many of the comments here, you guys put forth some great points.
i especially agree with mitch's point about the Indiana Hotel. I didn't even take that into consideration when looking at the design.
Either way though, this is great stuff....I'd prefer a look to go with the historic concept etc., but at the same time, this kind of hotel would be something to really get excited about.
Brian and Scott, great post. Thanks
I think I would have to agree with Mitch and Scott!
I would like this design if it were built in a stand-alone location rather then Downtown.
Mike Sylvester
I think the design looks great, but with all that glass and night games with the sun setting in the west, I'm wondering about glare. That wouldn't be too fun watching the game while being blinded.
@Mitch: You're right, but that's the nature of "progress". One of the best examples of this is St. Patrick's in NYC. When built, it was the tallest building for blocks. But slowly, the city grew up around it )http://www.flickr.com/photos/kcgolightly/118505904/). And I never really hear the complaint today that the surrounding building shouldn't have been built.
This is Scott Greider writing, not the other "scott". Though I love almost everything the other "scott" is saying and doing, I don't necessarily agree with him re: design. Unlike him, I never see the value of faux anything, let alone major civic endeavors. By necessity, faux looks to the past. It may produce some moderately pleasant buildings and experiences, but at it's core is dis-ingenuousnesses. FW doesn't need any more of that. It needs radical vision casting. It needs an embracing of the future. It needs modernism!
Now as I mentioned in my response to Mitch, I do have some concerns. But not among them is the sense that this hotel is too "modern". On the contrary, I'm very pleased with the stylistic approach of this project.
@Mitch: example of St. Patrick's Cathedral, NYC
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/45/118505904_a4e4be3c77.jpg?v=0
In my opinion, this kind of design would be perfect for an indoor water park, but not for the hotel at Harrison Square.
Well, like Adam, I thought it was a great design at first, but after reading all the comments that have been posted here, I'm not quite sure.
Yes, it does somewhat take away from historic aspect of the buildings surrounding it, but like Scott (Greider) said, I think Fort Wayne needs to move out of the past a little bit. Faux style buildings are pleasant and decorative, but to me a modern building seems to fit downtown more, but then again, I'm not sure if that location is where it should "fit". I definately agree that this hotel would look nice to the north of the GWC, or around the central business district, but here it does look a little out of place. But again, like I said earlier, that may change since we haven't seen what HS will look like in the end yet. But maybe it doesn't fit it's location, simply because there hasn't been much developement to the south of the GWC in years, so maybe this could be a new turning point.
I'm really glad this whole project is finally underway. I think the building is great - blends with the ultra-modern design of the Grand Wayne center. And I do not believe the beauty of the Indiana Hotel will be at all diminished. Look to other cities with similarly historic buildings juxtaposed with modern ones - i.e. Chicago.
My only concern is with the restoration of the Indiana Hotel. I was diappointed to learn that its restoration is not part of the new hotel proposal. I would love to see it be restored into an upscale hotel with suites to accomodate the wedding parties and other formal events that currently take place in the lobby. Perhaps we can interest local companies to tackle the daunting project.
Go Fort Wayne! I'm so excited to finally see you shine!
ps - check out my website at www.cbrwg.com/NicholaForbing ;)
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