Author / Leo Suarez

by Leo Suarez

Baseball in Downtown Sketch

[UPDATE #5: Another submit by Will]

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[UPDATE #4: Will has submitted another round of sketches.]

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  • Railroad tracks remain unmoved, serve as backdrop for center field and soccer goal. (“Railhawks” takes on a new meaning)!
  • Single stadium provides for both baseball and MLS while fitting nicely into the footprint.
    -Dual-purpose stadium provides building funds from two teams instead of one.
  • I’ve measured, and both fields are regulation size. The soccer field is exactly the same dimensions as WMSP.
  • Multi-modal transit station–train and bus–serving stadium, Red Hat Amp, Convention Center, DECPA, and plaza.
  • Baseball stadium is inspired by an amalgamation of other parks: “Boxy” shape (Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia), sweeping outfield upper decks (Polo Grounds, NYC), home plate rotunda (Ebbets Field, Brooklyn), rooftop stands beyond tracks (Wrigley Field, Chicago).
  • Above CF/goal wall will be the tracks. Above and behind the tracks will be restaurants/bars with porch seating. On top of those restaurants/bars is stadium seating a la Wrigley Field.
  • Field itself could be artificial turf, as well as the dirt areas. Artificial infields are becoming popular in newer baseball parks (WFU, Duke, Holly Springs), and would make for easy transitioning between sports.
  • Backstop netting would also protect spectators from kicked soccer balls.
    -Outfield plaza features office and apartment high-rises, restaurants/bars, grocery, retail, and yes, the displaced rink!!

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A big thanks to reader Will who submitted this sketch of how to convert the southern gateway site, called Gateway Center in the downtown plan, into a possible baseball stadium. Will adds the following bullets:

  • New transit station @ South and McDowell to serve the ballpark, the convention center, RHA, DECPA, new hotels.
  • Parking at Union Station or Dillon with some kind of “tram” shuttle service from Union Station to new transit station.
  • Utilization of other existing nearby decks a la DBAP in Durham.
  • Railroad tracks would be wrapped around ballpark but integrated into the structure itself…imagine the tracks abutting the right field wall just above the fence…”hit train, win steak!”
  • Ballpark (capacity 6,000 – 7,000?) is drawn to same scale as other minor league parks, so it would fit here. It would, however, be “cozy” to fit in existing footprint and maximize fan proximity to field and players.
  • Grandstands wrap the infield, large patio area down 3rd base line, upper deck luxury boxes would wrap 1st base line for best skyline views.
  • Grass berm behind left field bullpens enhance fan access (HR balls, close to warming relief pitchers).
  • Outfield plaza would be zoned for restaurant/bar, retail, office (for those offices that would be displaced), and would include other family attractions: ground-based fountains, carousel, and the wintertime skating rink that will be displaced by Charter Square North.
  • City’s desired extension of Salisbury St. could still be achieved.

What do you think?

[UPDATE #1: Will has submitted another sketch with the view from South Saunders]

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[UDPDATE #2: Will has submitted a revised sketch based on your comments]

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-Stadium was moved toward the SW, allowing for the tracks to remain unmoved.
-Stadium was expanded to show what a MLB park might look like in this space.
-I removed the MLK-McDowell on-ramp to make room. Traffic would be re-routed in the following way: westbound MLK traffic wishing to go north on McDowell would instead turn left at the existing light onto the existing ramp, wrapping under the MLK overpass. You see the same configuration in Cary where westbound Walnut St. traffic turns left onto a ramp to enter US-1 north.
-The “home plate” corner would be snug against the MLK/McDowell intersection, a la the new Busch Stadium configuration in St. Louis (picture below).
-Plaza enlarged, more retail, restaurants, new parking deck, and a grocery store.

[UPDATE #3: Reader Stew has submitted an overlay of Carter-Finley stadium over the Cargill site, called “Cargill-Finley Stadium. This is similar to an overlay I did awhile back with the PNC Arena over the state jail site. Thanks Stew!]

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by Leo Suarez

RalCon Turns Nine

Downtown Raleigh seen from Peace and West Street, April 2008

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Today marks nine years of blogging here at ye olde blog. The most notable accomplishment in the last year was hitting 1,000 posts but nine straight years of keeping this thing moving has been pretty rewarding.

For those that don’t know, this blog is a side project, a way to flex my writing muscle, play with my camera a bit, tinker with web development, and just get conversations going about our city’s urban core. This site is fueled by passion but also by those that participate by commenting and your emails.

Thank you, readers for sticking with me.

Above is a photo from the vault. It’s a view of downtown Raleigh from West Street, north of Peace, taken in April, 2008.

by Leo Suarez

First Rendering of One Glenwood

It seems the Downtown Raleigh Alliance is sharing a rendering of One Glenwood on Twitter. The building is planned for the corner of Hillsborough Street and Glenwood Avenue.

The stats:

  • 219,500 s.f. of office space
  • 14,500 s.f. of retail
  • 10-stories

by Leo Suarez

Heck-Andrews House Sold By The State

The Heck-Andrews house in a 2009 photo.

After being owned by the state for about 30 years, the elegant Heck-Andrews house has finally been sold. The N.C. Association of Realtors will pay $1.5 million for the house.

Important to note is that this sale is part of the governor’s plans to revitalize the state government area, Project Phoenix as it’s called. The sale of more state-owned mansions along Blount Street is planned in the near future.

For more on the Heck-Andrews house itself, I highly recommend this fantastic read on Goodnight, Raleigh. A Storied Structure: The Heck Andrews House — Inside Out

by Leo Suarez

Feedback on the Wake County Transit Plan

I wanted to share the feedback I submitted about the Wake County Transit Plan, which all readers should take a look at. I think a whole discussion could come about the idea of an invisible east/west barrier that goes right down Raleigh. I am hoping that an upgrade to transit could break down that barrier and really expand mobility choices and access to all areas of the city. Does anyone else see these barriers to mobility around our city? -Leo

Feedback

Hello,

I’ve taken a good look through the latest Wake County Transit Plan update and wanted to share some thoughts I had about it. I’ll admit that this may be more detailed than the document shows but maybe it is something that the planning team could consider.

I believe there is this invisible “divide” between east and west Raleigh, where Capital Boulevard, McDowell/Dawson in downtown, and South Saunders create a sort of barrier. Going from parts east to west, and vice versa, by any travel method meets a “resistance” when you hit this divide.

Driving a car across Raleigh, the options are slim due to Capital Boulevard’s lack of cross streets, downtown’s more urban nature, and south Raleigh’s lack of east/west streets. Cycling is in a similar situation. Currently, none of the GoRaleigh bus routes go between east and west Raleigh but rather terminate in downtown’s Moore Square Transit Station for a transfer.

I see this Transit Station as contributing to that same invisible barrier.

My feedback as part of this new transit plan would be for the planning team to discuss this and see if transit could break through this barrier and connect east and west Raleigh more directly. For example, a bus route that does not stop in downtown Raleigh but uses both Hillsborough Street and New Bern Avenue/Edenton Street.

Thanks a lot ahead of time and I very much look forward for the successful implementation of this plan!

Response

Mr. Suarez

Thanks for taking the time to review the Recommended Wake County Transit Plan and for submitting your comment.

Your comment fits very well within the key goal of the Transit Plan to make transit “useful” to as many people as possible. Divides and barriers, real or perceived impact how and if people use transit and the focus of the transit plan is to address and solve these types of issues.

The project team has specifically looked at BRT and bus line corridors that flow through rather than to downtown. The New Bern Avenue to Morgan St /Hillsborough Street alignment has been specifically studied. That said, there are different perspectives on how BRT should flow through Downtown Raleigh and connect with the various destinations. The perspectives differ in how radically they would change existing streets, how vehicles would interact with bus stations and how the different BRT corridors would interact with each other. Moving forward we hope to have a clear community dialogue on the options, benefits and costs of the various ways to implement the different projects shown in the recommended transit plan. We anticipate this dialogue will be open to public ideas and reactions on solutions.

Some of the service realities we are asking decison-makers to consider are: (these parallel your comment)

1) As vehicle frequency increases there is less need to stop and wait at big stations and street based platforms (that allow vehicles to keep moving) make more sense.
2) Routes work best by collecting and combining multiple trips – routes that stop in downtown rather then flowing through downtown limit their usefulness for certain trips.
3) Frequent routes tend to be used for shorter trips and riders on shorter trips tend to have a low tolerance for delay (i.e. they will switch to other modes).

Please keep in mind that the transit plan is positioned to provide vision but also to allow a start and evolution approach if that is needed or best for the community. One question we asked staff from all of our partner agencies to answer on each of the projects was “are there multiple ways to accomplish that and still meet the goal?” The recommended transit plan takes this approach not to get “watered down” versions of everything but to keep an eye toward the larger goal and allow the system to change as needed as community perspectives change. National and local positions on transit, what street should be used for, and what creates a great place to live are changing and evolving in ways we have not seen in previous decades and these positions may/will likely continue to evolve.

If you have further questions on the Recommended Wake County Transit Plan please respond to this email, call 919-856-5477 or visit www.waketransit.com