I know there’s going to be a glass bridge across S. McDowell, but what do you think the two white squares (over S. McDowell) in the plan rendering for? Underground tunnels maybe?
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That’s what I was thinking… and it almost seems that way, since there’s one on the upper left corner where it appears that tunneled entrance to the amphitheater would be… I have to imagine they understand this plan would be a hard sell to the city if it required closing off vehicular access to a public street, so I have to imagine they plan to tunnel Lenoir under the Amphitheatre which would be really cool.
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Seems doubtful that there would be a tunnel under the amphitheater since the amphitheater is already shown 1 level below the McDowell street level (308’) and then would also have to ramp up to 328’ by Salisbury St.
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Yea it only looks like an access road for loading and unloading into the convention center.
I found one piece of helpful timeline information on this. WRAL says “On June 20, the Board of Commissioners and Raleigh City Council will vote on if the funding for the expansion will be approved”
That’s good news, let’s hope it’s not discussed until we’re blue in the face, then 5 years goes by and nothings happened.
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Lenoir is going to become even more critical since the railroad wants to shutdown Cabarrus where it crosses the tracks.
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Would be a good opportunity to make Lenoir bike/ped only. Vehicles can use South Street without issue. 
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Based on the images above, it looks like Lenoir may go under the “Activity/Entertainment Area” between the CC and the amphitheater.
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I am very glad the current plan is to keep some version of Red Hat downtown. That was my biggest issue with the initial plans. That render looks pretty cool, but I think that is probably just a concept and it will likely look very different when actually designed.
I am also glad they are keeping the shimmer wall, which I think is one of the most recognizable parts of the Raleigh skyline. I am concerned that it will be much less visible with the convention center expansion directly across the street. For instance, from the way this seems, I think it would be blocked from the Boylan Street Bridge.
Sounds like they have received submissions for the hotel. We haven’t see those, right? Also, can anyone tell what phase they are in for the RCC Expansion Visioning Process?
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I hope it doesn’t close it. Would really change the Dix Strollway plans and really is our only full E-W connection. It shows some sort of underpass looking thing so hopefully it goes straight under. Also these are very high level sketch plans so the real thing would probably be way different.
But even if it was just made multimodal only, I think we’d be fine.
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I think those white squares are some overlay when they were taping the concept on the aerial. Very high tech lol
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So I’m guessing that also explains the random white markings on the other side of W. Cabarrus too then? Lmao
Tunnel interpreted it as that also I think it be extremely offensive if it was a bridge. They literally have to building the building upward and additional Pilar’s that would be more expensive.
Saw these numbers on page 10 of the presentation. Pretty impressive numbers as is and can only imagine they’d grow leaps and bounds once the surrounding hotels and RCC expansion is complete.
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I would think that they’d want to tunnel under McDowell instead of making folks go outside and cross a busy couplet road.
God help us when they close the road to do that work. It’s going to be a quagmire.
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This contrasts nicely with all the doom and gloom about convention centers not being needed anymore in a post Covid world. The size of the RCC is probably appealing. I imagine giant convention centers will have more issues.
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I’m hopefully hypothetically thinking out loud here but it would be such a big win for the city if they got this project moving in time for the 2029 World College games. Imagining accommodating some sort of ‘World’s Fair’ in the RCC + musicians from all over the world performing outside at the new Red Hat. Plus, there’d be all sorts of hotels in the downtown area for them.
One can dream…
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I think they could still achieve the feel of the amphitheater being connected to the convention center with the open space while also keeping Lenoir St open. I’d shift the amphitheater 1 block to the south and extend the railroad bridge from South St to McDowell St so that the space underneath could be opened up and feel more connected. And still maintain the skyline and shimmer wall views.
A new bridge would be another opportunity for a iconic / signature design to add to the gateway entry to downtown. Maybe like a modern version of the old steel truss Boylan Bridge.
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Looks great 
With all of the consistent questionnaires for all city projects, I do find it interesting that the city (to my knowledge) didn’t request public input on this particular project, did they? I would have loved to have offered my opinion but more importantly would have been more helpful to hear from the community 
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Looks like they do plan to close Lenior. Not much else here, other than Red Hat Amp is iconic and artist want to play at its cool urban setting.
https://www.newsobserver.com/entertainment/article272557730.html
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They probably will. Likely needed concepts first for people to react to. It’s a very specialized project as far as programming every inch to work and fit together (especially since it connects to an already existing phase of convention center), as opposed to a generic rezoning or, “tell us what you want to see at ____ park.”
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