Walker Library

Calhoun-Isles, Cedar-Riverside, Longfellow, Nokomis, Phillips, Powderhorn, and Southwest
Mdcastle
Wells Fargo Center
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Re: Walker Library

Postby Mdcastle » April 5th, 2013, 2:31 pm

It would be interesting to do an origin / destination study to find out where the traffic is coming from. My bet is a lot of it is traffic from outside of the area that's heading to point southeast that's cutting through on surface streets because they Lowry Tunnel and I-394 are such disasters at rush hour.

I do like the one-ways, when I drive to go to Lake Calhoun I tend to drive through Uptown one direction and 100 the other direction just for variety, but if they were two-ways I'd probably just stay out.

From an engineering standpoint, another factor is you'd probably have to have some kind of signal where Lake and Lagoon meet, which would tend to negate any advantage from dispersing the right turns.

mattaudio
Stone Arch Bridge
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Re: Walker Library

Postby mattaudio » April 5th, 2013, 2:36 pm

I think you could just have one westbound lane from Lake, and two westbound lanes from Lagoon, that merge at Calhoun Pkwy. No need for Lagoon to have eastbound traffic, so it would actually not require an additional signal.

seanrichardryan
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Re: Walker Library

Postby seanrichardryan » April 24th, 2013, 12:42 pm

Quite a lot of steel has risen on the site. I', starting to wonder how they're going to get that boom crane out of the basement at this rate.
Q. What, what? A. In da butt.

seanrichardryan
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Re: Walker Library

Postby seanrichardryan » April 24th, 2013, 12:48 pm

Image
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John
Capella Tower
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Re: Walker Library

Postby John » April 24th, 2013, 1:14 pm

Wow, this has grown significantly since the last time I went by it. I'm excited about this project. The large, sweeping clear glass facade at the street level is going to contribute wonderfully to the pedestrian experience of Uptown.

mullen
Foshay Tower
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Re: Walker Library

Postby mullen » April 25th, 2013, 6:27 am

yes i agree...vincent james architects do great work. this is going to really class up that corner.

ECtransplant
US Bank Plaza
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Re: Walker Library

Postby ECtransplant » May 12th, 2013, 11:47 am

Any word on when the sidewalk and turn lane will be re-opened?

Wedgeguy
Capella Tower
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Re: Walker Library

Postby Wedgeguy » May 12th, 2013, 9:08 pm

Any word on when the sidewalk and turn lane will be re-opened?
I'd say late summer or fall once all the steel is up and the windows are in. Where they don't have to have machinery running along side the building.

Yourpalborno
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Re: Walker Library

Postby Yourpalborno » May 15th, 2013, 10:30 am

I was told by Meg Tuthill's office that the lane and sidewalk will be closed all through the winter. Bummer.

bapster2006
Foshay Tower
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Re: Walker Library

Postby bapster2006 » May 29th, 2013, 6:26 pm

From the Uptown Cafeteria rooftop.

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Nick
Capella Tower
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Re: Walker Library

Postby Nick » June 8th, 2013, 7:12 pm

Image
IMG_3623 by UrbanMSP, on Flickr
Nick Magrino
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John
Capella Tower
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Re: Walker Library

Postby John » June 9th, 2013, 11:46 pm

I like the low, horizontal profile of this building in relationship to The Uptown Theater. It helps maintain the theater as a very visible landmark of the neighborhood. This is going to be an awesome building.

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FISHMANPET
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Re: Walker Library

Postby FISHMANPET » July 4th, 2013, 11:45 am

Haven't seen any new pictures of this one, so when I was in Uptown last weekend I took one
Image

artful-dodger
Block E
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Re: Walker Library

Postby artful-dodger » July 10th, 2013, 7:33 am

The new library may be nice, but it's actually a shame that they tore down the old one. A Ralph Rapson oddity (originally designed as a bank by the way) whose loss will be lamented twenty years from now. In a landscape full of sameness, we should be doing more to preserve uniqueness wherever it exists, especially when it belongs to our only renowned modernist practitioner.

seanrichardryan
IDS Center
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Re: Walker Library

Postby seanrichardryan » July 10th, 2013, 8:30 am

You're thinking of the SE Library, which was the a State Capital Credit Union designed by Rapson.
Q. What, what? A. In da butt.

David Greene
IDS Center
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Re: Walker Library

Postby David Greene » July 10th, 2013, 9:38 am

The old library had to go. In addition to the numerous mechanical and moisture issues discussed _ad_nauseum_, the old building had really poor street presence. In spite of the big L-I-B-R-A-R-Y letters, when walking by one would not realize it was a library. The letters were up on the raised roof/plaza and were placed such that one wouldn't even know they spelled a word, much less what the word was.

I really wish we could construct a tunnel from the new building to the old Walker library and use the old building as study/social space. It would have a great atmosphere. I used to love studying in old libraries.

lordmoke
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Re: Walker Library

Postby lordmoke » August 4th, 2013, 5:28 pm

Although it doesn't yet have any finishings on the exterior, it appears that almost all of the mass is in place. It felt good to walk past, and I think that the finished structure is going to do a fantastic job of engaging with the street.

Have any actual plans been announced for the Top of the Mall yet? It's being used as staging for construction and is in pretty bad shape now. I thought I heard there were plans to re-do it, but I haven't heard anything other than that.

thatchio
Nicollet Mall
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Re: Walker Library

Postby thatchio » August 5th, 2013, 6:01 am

There are plans to redo it but I believe the Walker project just will reseed the lot to bring it back to preconstruction conditions

John
Capella Tower
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Re: Walker Library

Postby John » August 5th, 2013, 6:00 pm

The new library makes a fantastic two way connection between the library itself and the surrounding community. The clear glass walled street level along Hennepin reinforces this neighborhood's pedestrian friendly character and reputation. A great addition to Uptown.

seanrichardryan
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Re: Walker Library

Postby seanrichardryan » September 13th, 2013, 8:05 am

Windows are going in today.
Q. What, what? A. In da butt.


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