University of Minnesota - News & General Topics

[Tom H.]

Nope, definitely not being replaced. There is a permanent railing blocking off where the walkway used to be. On the plus side, it looks like the sidewalk underneath the walkway is being upgraded. I'm a little confused as to why this was removed. It was well-used, and (if I recall correctly) was once the site of a NiceRide station.

[talindsay]

It was in terrible shape and looked even worse. I doubt they're planning simply to remove that connection altogether, though it may well become a street-level sidewalk with a stairway up to the decking or something. It would be nice to see plans for what they intend to do.

[Silophant]

Well, I guess that's one way to force bikers to use the bike lane between Kolthoff and Smith instead of staying parallel to Washington.

What I'd like to see is a ramp up to the bridge level there, rather than shunting bikers from Washington over across to the mall. There would have to be a second ramp by the museum for eastbound bikers, though, so its probably not feasible.

[lordmoke]

Man, that's going to be super convenient for people with disabilities.

[martykoessel]

From the U's website:

Sidewalk Closed Near Kolthoff Hall
Posted 3/27/14
The sidewalk along Washington Avenue on the south side of Kolthoff Hall has been closed to allow for deck removal.
Fencing has been installed to keep pedestrians out of the designated work space. The detour route is move north around Kolthoff Hall and back down to Washington Avenue to cross the bridge to West Bank.
The sidewalk deck will be demolished by the end of April. After spring finals, workers will re-construct the west side of the Kolthoff sidewalk, adhering to ADA requirements and implementing some bicycle lane improvements.
The west side sidewalk is expected to re-open late this summer.

My guess is that the U decided that access around the back side of Kolthoff Hall is sufficiently good, even by ADA standards, to allow for demolition of the south side walkway, which will allow more light to enter the hall and make the street level on that side more attractive, depending on whether or not they do much to landscape at that level.

Does anyone have solid knowledge to build from or demolish my conjectures?

[Didier]

Anybody know why there is a tower crane at Williams Arena?

[Tom H.]

Yeah, I saw that yesterday as well. I also have no idea what it's for.

[MNdible]

They are finally getting around to removing Tubby's jacuzzi.

[go4guy]

I have no idea, but I would assume for the roof repairs or replacement.

[FISHMANPET]

Yeah, a lot of cranes go up over summer for roof work on various buildings.

[Anondson]

Doran selling entire university housing stock.

http://m.bizjournals.com/twincities/new ... tml?r=full

Interesting quote from the story implying supply is low...

"Its urban location means land is scarce and causes the U of M to house only 12.7 percent of its student population on campus, versus an average of 25.1 percent at other Big Ten schools."

[FISHMANPET]

We've been a commuter campus until the last few years (maybe the last decade). I think the high end brand new luxury market is saturated, so we'll have to wait a few years for these new units to filter in before we begin building again. I'm seeing rent reductions like crazy as I walk around.

[twincitizen]

A makeover for Pleasant St: http://finance-commerce.com/2014/07/u-o ... nt-street/ (locked)

Anyone have more information on this?

[Silophant]

Cool. I wonder if it'll include that roundabout they tested out last summer?

[Anondson]

University buys up land to keep from being hemmed in by developers.

http://m.bizjournals.com/twincities/mor ... 558&r=full

[mattaudio]

I'm not sure this specific purchase is a concern, but in general I've noticed that universities have gotten on the sprawl bandwagon. Not sure if it's to protect against sprawl, or to sprawl themselves. Yet it's common for colleges and universities to buy every piece of land / house / building that comes up for sale within a few blocks of their campus. It's happening in small towns across the state and it's happening here at the U, St. Thomas, etc. Not sure it's healthy, because often these campus uses aren't as compatible with public street life as their predecessors.

[RailBaronYarr]

Not sure it's healthy, because often these campus uses aren't as compatible with public street life as their predecessors.

Not to mention they pay no property taxes so they see no disincentive to, say, plowing down a bunch of homes and leaving it as a parking lot for 9 years.

[exiled_antipodean]

Freely available Daily article with map.

http://www.mndaily.com/news/campus/2014 ... university

Both of these are vacant lots, and not particularly attractive ones: https://flic.kr/p/owEkzp

[EOst]

UMN is actually quite compact for a university of its size, particularly an R1 school. It's true that some of its choices have been pretty questionable (those parking lots, for sure) but expanding outward geographically is probably their only option, since the way these research buildings are funded makes it a lot easier to build a series of 5-story buildings than one 20-story.

[exiled_antipodean]

Not to mention that the trend in academic architecture is generally towards shorter buildings with more horizontal circulation. A lot of towers were put up on a lot of campuses (worldwide, I might add) in the 1960s and 1970s and they're generally sub-par for their intended purpose of research and teaching. People really like the circulation and informal encounters that come with more horizontal space.

It looks like these parcels have been purchased from the railroad or holding companies, who weren't exactly making good use of it.