MSP Headquarters

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  • 20 months would be pretty quick for completion if they haven't started doing basic site preparation work yet. I'd like to see what the design looks like.
  • edited March 2007
    Yeah, they were supposed to approve it last Tuesday, but something came up. I was almost sure the local media would jump on this, but nothing more than a news story last Tuesday. Hood, see if you can dig up some information/renderings.

    EDIT:

    I was able to find this:

    http://www.gongwer.com/programming/new_NewsSearchResults.cfm?submit=false&locid=1

    But, you need to be a subscriber to view the article.
  • I asked my dad to try to find out more, besides that I don't think there are many more places to look for info.

    Lmich, what was that link to, it's just coming up with a login screen.
  • LMich, what did you find at that link?
  • edited March 2007
    Hmm, interesting. Anyway, the link simply linked to news blurbs for the government:

    TRIANGLE PROJECT TO OPEN IN 2009
    Date: Thursday, March 15, 2007
    Volume: #46 Report: #51

    Despite harsh criticism from some Republicans, the proposed new headquarters for the Department of State Police won relatively easy, bipartisan approval Thursday from the Joint Capital Outlay Committee.
  • edited March 2007
    Iguess I filed a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act), because, I got some information back concerning the Triangle Project from the State Building Authority. I have what I guess was submitted to the committee, and let me just say I'm VERY disappointed. I'll post some of the crudely-copied renderings/elevations, later.

    Let's just say the design looks like a prison, and I'm not kidding. I'm talking cheap architecture, parking on the river, walls and fences along Kalamazoo, etc...just about everything any urban enthusiast would hate to see.
  • edited March 2007
    I'm genuinely angry that this was allowed to pass. I was willing to accept that we wouldn't get a quality, mixed-use project on site. I was willing to accept a nicely-designed state office building, but it seems they can't even do that, and 7-foot walls and fences along Grand and Kalamazoo to add insult to injury.

    I present to you 150,000 square feet of crap:

    site1024.jpg

    site1025.jpg

    site1026.jpg

    site1027.jpg

    site1028.jpg

    And, Hobbs & Black (the architects) usually do such a good job with state office buildings.
  • That is entirely disappointing with everything that the city has been talking about trying to do. Can we get any development to focus on the river?

    I read an article in the New York Times a while back about how new office buildings (public and private) are building in anti-terrorism mechanisms like this 7-foot security wall, but the article talked about how architects were designing the walls to appear as part of the design of the structure and not just a wall. Some of these examples used many steel benches and/or stairs surrounding the buildings with large planters near the road.

    The use of a 7-foot wall may just be asking for vandalism and a worse perception of downtown Lansing. Lansing doesn't need any walls, there's nobody we need to keep out. If the architects are worried about a terrorist threat, couldn't they have spent a LITTLE more time and came up with a creative solution?
  • While the fencing could have been a lot more creative, I find the actual design of the building, far worse. I mean, couldn't they have at least done something like Constitution Hall. It's also a huge, squat box, but with an interesting atrium. It looks as if the architects didn't even try. This is bland beyond belief.
  • This will be the worst building in downtown if built this way. It is low and sprawling with a huge setback. It is ugly beyond beleif, and leaves no room for futere development on the remainging portion of the site. I'm just glad this is a coneptual design, I can only hope they make some changes. I would rather have an eternal parking lot than this.
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