I’m okay with losing that one as long as it doesn’t remain a gravel parking lot, or a parking lot of any manner.
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Another empty park in a neighborhood already full of empty parks.
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There’s finally a livestream set up for this and I don’t think it’s been shared here yet. Idk how to post links properly in this forum and don’t want to get yelled at for doing it wrong. Someone please post the livestream if you can
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Just throw that link in here, you can blame me
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Damn, comments are turned off. Too bad because I was legit going to comment “WHAT THE F&#K ARE YOU BUILDING???”
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I emailed the NC Department of Administration to see if they will share some specs, drawings, schematics, something(!) on this structure that we the citizens are funding with our money.
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Anyone know if the Archdale building is definitely coming down?
Probably (still) an unpopular opinion here – but I hope not! When I first saw it I was mildly repulsed. Now it is probably my favorite. It has character.
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Someone should file a Freedom of Information Request.
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I don’t know either but I’m with you - I find it to be so-ugly-it’s-cute. I wouldn’t mind a fun paint job, though.
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I suspect that if it comes down, it won’t be because people think it looks good or not. I suspect that it would come down because the building isn’t viable for needs and/or its renovation doesn’t pencil out.
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It is slated to be demolished. The 2023 state budget allocated $11 million to do just that. .
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Superb. Tear down all of the Brutalist buildings and wipe out another era of historic buildings so Raleigh continues to feel like a bland, history-free city. At least the State Archives and Legislative Building seem safe.
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Who ever could have predicted that an architectural style that intentionally tries to look hostile and imposing would not age well?
In truth the Bath Building is perplexingly awful to behold. Unsettling is the best word I can come up with. There are examples of brutalism that are more balanced and relatable, and have aged better.
Archdale may not exactly be “relatable” but at least it has a certain elegance. It fate is not yet sealed, right?
And then there’s Poe Hall. It’s slated for renovation to mitigate its problems with cancer-causing PCBs. I hope that at least its exterior architecture can be maintained as-is. I’ve always had a soft spot for that building. Sadly I fear they will renovate it into some generic modern-ish thing that looks like it belongs at Centennial Campus.
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I think the Bath Building is endearingly weird. It’s biggest problem has been that it’s dirty and in pretty bad shape, which makes it feel much worse than it would of it was clean.
I loved the Jones Street Administrative Building. Elegant, restrained, just very nice. I doubt the new one will have half its style.
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The problem that I have with the Bath Building is that, IMO, it does a horrible job playing with its mass in a way that is interesting. I’ve always thought that it would be way more compelling if its mass at the top of the building appeared as if it was supported by its thin perimeter columns/fins with the space under the mass being largely transparent.
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Also hasn’t it been vacant for like 20 years? Not a bad thing to be rid of if you ask me. Now I feel differently about the archdale because of its prominence I would prefer it be repurposed.
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I know you like the brutalist buildings and don’t like the slightly off-kilter stacked cube buildings. I’m the opposite, even though I agree with most of the things you say on here. I’d be happy to see all the brutalist stuff removed for all of the trendy glass whatever is in fashion buildings going up around the world. But I don’t get to choose so no worries.
Side note, I went down an email rabbit hole for a couple weeks trying to get someone to actually deliver a rendering, but everyone just passed the buck and basically no one has anything themselves to share. So it’s gonna be a surprise! (that we’re all paying for…)
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