Worcester Approves $583M City Square

CDubs said:
Here are the renderings at the WPI dorm site. I like it. It will bring some much needed color to the area. It would be fantastic if some of the ground floor ended up being retail, I don't know what the plan is. Currently, there's not much in the way of lunch food choices around there, though I've heard that something is in the works on the ground floor of the new business school building.

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Rofl. LEGIT, the MassArt Tower tipped over. Looks like ADD Inc is establishing a signature design style.
 
I stopped at the common yesterday and took a few pictures.. .they are kinda dark.

The future front street extension, supposed to open tomorrow.
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New Skating Rink
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A view of turtle boy from each side!
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I did first night Worcester last night... yeah i know... it was ok but the big news is the re-opened front street! Its great and really ties the common back to the rest of Worcester. There are still a bunch of building under construction there and empty lots waiting for a building. This CitySquare thing just might be a success.

links:
story about re opened street
http://www.telegram.com/article/20130101/NEWS/101019946/1116

New student housing downtown and good summary of new development down town
http://www.telegram.com/article/20130101/NEWS/101019947/1246
 
Oh. also the Worcester Art Museum is doing some really interesting stuff. The "Kennedy to Kent State" exhibit is amazing. Not ot be missed. The big news/ teaser that the people on this board will like is in their directors report from November...

http://www.worcesterart.org/Information/directors-report/presentation-report.pdf

Pay special attention to slide 15... They are about a year out of starting a capital campaign to redo the Lancaster st entrance to the building. A really tantalizing but obscure rendering can be found on page 15 of just the slide presentation that goes with the directors report.

http://www.worcesterart.org/Information/directors-report/ar-presentation-2012-web.pdf

I am really interested in this idea of "acupuncture" doing small physical changes to areas of the museum to make big changes in flow and patron experience. The few things they have done recently (re-opened late 20th century gallery, 2 re-installed Asian art galleries, newly conserved chapter house, etc) There are a few other things hidden in that report such as a new area for visitors to see works being conserved. This museum is definitely on its way up. I've always loved the WAM and this new director really seems to be getting alot of stuff right.
 
Major Worcester news:

THE HIGGINS ARMORY IS CLOSING!

It looks like all of the Higgins collection, the second largest collection of Arms and Armor in America behind the Met in NYC, will be transferred to the Worcester Art Museum. The musuem will renovate its current Library and turn it into a new "Arms and Armor" wing. They are also going to move their awesome Spanish ceiling from the first floor to this new wing. The Armory isn't going to close until the end of the year so you still have a few months to see the art deco building designed to house the collection. It is a bittersweet thing as the museum is closing, but the entire collection will stay on Worcester and stay in view. Apparently in 1985 the MFA in Boston tried to buy the collection but was turned down. They must be pissed.

http://www.telegram.com/article/20130307/NEWS/130309688

http://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/201...-art-museum/3Y4p45OpkfMrQxSGmlP3NP/story.html
 
I'm rather concerned about the building. Is this one on a national historical register somewhere? Can it get funding for repairs/upgrades? Hell, can it be cut up, moved to Boston and rebuilt somewhere in the Fens?
 
It is on the National Register of Historic Places and is an awesome building. I just hear that it is horrible to heat. there are jokes that Different parts of the building have different climates. That is the only worrysome part of this that no one will ever see the great hall again after the museum closes.
 
First time poster here :)

Just thought I'd share this as well, looks like the DCU center is going to have some redesigns;

"The exterior redesign is aimed to complement the CitySquare project currently under construction. The exterior changes to the DCU Center, specifically the arena, will unite these major structures into a single aesthetic experience for the public."

Full article: http://shrewsbury.net/?p=19843
 
found5dollar said:
Major Worcester news:

THE HIGGINS ARMORY IS CLOSING!
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I was absolutely bummed when I heard the news.

A couple years ago, there were some mumblings about moving the Armory to the War Memorial Auditorium in Lincoln Square. I wonder if that's out of the question now. The Auditorium's pretty close to WAM (like, a block away), so I think even if WAM is gaining control of the collection, it would still be feasible to exhibit it at the Auditorium.

http://www.worcestermass.org/upload...ditorium-Adaptive-ReUse-Study---July-2008.pdf
Check out the pics of the interior of the auditorium, majestic, but only being used for the storage of court records.

As an aside, freshman year at WPI, Professor Jeffrey Forgeng gave me and my fellow classmates a tour of the unexhibited materials in the collections, as well as articles still being restored. Then he gave us a quick sparring lesson in one of the practice rooms. Really cool guy.

I should think that a loft conversion of the current Armory building would be quite a hit, between the spectacular great hall, and the wonderful views the building has being up on a hill.

Dan Shure said:
First time poster here :)

Just thought I'd share this as well, looks like the DCU center is going to have some redesigns;

"The exterior redesign is aimed to complement the CitySquare project currently under construction. The exterior changes to the DCU Center, specifically the arena, will unite these major structures into a single aesthetic experience for the public."

Full article: http://shrewsbury.net/?p=19843
Click to expand...

Looks pretty good. I went by there on Sunday, and they had already started work on it. It will be much nicer than the blank wall currently there.

http://goo.gl/maps/jzfZD
 
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From a couple weeks ago in the rain:

New local bus station next to the Peter Pan terminal at Union Station:
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City Square progress:
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The new UNUM building is attractive and blends in well with the surrounding structures. The Telegram and Gazette tower needs a little exterior freshening, surprised the remnants of the Mechanics "M" is still visible after all this time.
 
I'm pretty sure the 'M' is carved into the cement. And yea, downtown Worcester is about as soul-less as Kendall... except 24 hours a day.
 
Downtown Worcester is coming back for some strange reason. If you stopped by any day this winter and saw how busy the skating rink was, and how beautiful it was next to city hall, your comment about downtown being "soulless" may be different. Also there are tons of bars and clubs just on the outskirts of down town near Kelly square and the Palladium. Instead of saying it was soulless, I would say it has regained its foothold. It was truly soulless when there was the giant dead mall.
 
The bus station is attractive enough and looks to be built with good materials. The new brick lowrise is terrible though. Dull, comatose design and a street wall no better than that god awful, street murdering parking garage. No lessons learned here.
 
The new bus hub had its ceremonial opening yesterday with the first bus leaving this Saturday. It has covered bicycle parking, a dunkin donuts, chargers fro the new all electric busses, covered waiting areas, 24hour ticket vending, real time bus tracking boards, and the WRTA will accept charlie cards.

this is all in all a big win getting all modes of transportation at one hub in Worcester.

http://www.telegram.com/article/20130529/NEWS/305299933/1116

http://www.telegram.com/article/20130529/NEWS/305299933/1116
 
^ This is great. I head out there a couple times a month in the winter and it was tough finding the bus and how reliable the schedule could be. Charlie card use is a great plus too.
 
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