The long-dormant City Watcher has an opinion:The deal for the land on the North Side has another dimension that no one has noticed. The company that builds this taxpayer-subsidized performance venue has a facility in Columbus near the Nationwide Arena. Called the “Lifestyle Communities Pavilion” or “LC” [shown right] it is a truly ugly facility that has no place on the Northside. We can do better. (LINK)
A recent P-G puff piece about our own proposed amphitheater which focuses on the acoustics, the "destination" factor, and the inarguable titanic greatness of Dan Rooney confirms that it is modeled after the Columbus venue. (LINK)
Opposition to the project until now has focused on the public subsidies, the low price for which the Stadium Authority sold the land, the multiple extensions of the original development contract and the fact that many residents in the surrounding community ("we must recognize that Pittsburgh is a city of neighborhoods") do not seem to feel that the development will service their needs in any way.
The Planning Commission may not be able to address those grievances, but it is charged with addressing design and its related civic impacts.
Considering the developers' religious non-engagement as to resolving any of the other concerns, I hope the Planning Commission addresses the stuffing out of the design problems. Yes the structure looks passable from up above -- perhaps in a helicopter -- and it probably will light up real pretty at night. Yet from a ground-level perspective there looks to be room for drastic improvement.
On The Lighter Side: The Pittsburgh Comet has obtained exclusive video from tomorrow of the developers making their pitch to Commission members:
This (something I endorsed) is what we should be doing.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.glasscathedral.com/
The Rooney Family is closed minded and worse. Same too with URA and mayor's office.
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Concept: A gathering space integrated with the scale, order, and program of the adjacent Cathedral is formed by running three golden cables over a steel and glass triangle on axis with the fountain. The cables span the road and reach for something greater, become golden streaks of light shooting toward and emanating from the fountain, and form a new perspective civic space of great power. The image of these golden strands and the triangle is also one of an instrument with the cables being like strings running over the fret, and the ensemble becomes an appropriate metaphor for an amphitheatre.
Also on the lighter side:
ReplyDeletehttp://whyareyourunning.com/
"Yes the structure looks passable from up above -- perhaps in a helicopter -- and it probably will light up real pretty at night. Yet from a ground-level perspective there looks to be room for drastic improvement."
ReplyDeleteImprovements like...? Are there any ideas there in your brain, or are you only about opposition? When you're done bitching about the ampitheatre, why don't you bitch about an issue of REAL importance, like the parents who don't value education.
I'm not a design nerd, but City Water is.
ReplyDeleteLINK1. LINK2.
Both great suggestions.
I also think retail development like T.J. Max, a Kohls, or maybe restaurants like Eat n' Park and Red Lobster would have made a lot more sense over there, since the city is already betting heavily on carnival tents during this cycle, but I can tell that issue has flown the coop. So I'll settle for a genuinely inspiring amphitheater along with a cut of the action going to several grassroots neighborhood orgs.