Nicollet Mall

[Chef]

What really gets me is that the City (planners, Planning Commissioners, City Council) probably already knew all of these lessons in the late 90s when these buildings were being designed. I'm pretty sure people knew about good urbanism and storefronts before the 2010s, but these 3 buildings still got it so wrong. It's really frustrating.

These issues were being discussed and written about in the Strib back when those projects were in the planning stage. The city made a conscious decision to remove the storefronts and replace them with towers, knowing full well what it would mean for the mall. On the other hand this was in the immediate wake of the Murderapolis era, a lot of people still thought the city was on its way to becoming another Detroit/Cleveland style basketcase. They wanted the tax base those buildings would bring. Nobody knew that a huge boom in urbanism was right around the corner.

[MSPtoMKE]

And even LaSalle! It's only a block west from Nicollet, but LaSalle always looks dead.

Yeah, LaSalle north of Grant is pretty sad. Being wedged between Nicollet and Hennepin, pretty much every building treats it as its backside to be ignored. The only thing even resembling an active use I can think of is the entrance to the DoubleTree Hotel. I live on LaSalle south of downtown, but I almost never walk on it north of Grant. Having to walk under the Loring Greenway doesn’t help.

[Oreos&Milk]

And even LaSalle! It's only a block west from Nicollet, but LaSalle always looks dead.

Yeah, LaSalle north of Grant is pretty sad. Being wedged between Nicollet and Hennepin, pretty much every building treats it as its backside to be ignored. The only thing even resembling an active use I can think of is the entrance to the DoubleTree Hotel. I live on LaSalle south of downtown, but I almost never walk on it north of Grant. Having to walk under the Loring Greenway doesn’t help.

Agreed, they should elevate the Lasalle sidewalks into ramps (so it's wheelchair accessible instead of stairs at least on one side} to go Up to the greenway on both sides, and then make the tunnel for cars only. Which would make more room for a protected bike lane in the tunnel southbound only of course.


Somthing kinda like...

[NickP]

^^ That’s a really cool idea! Thanks for sharing it. The only issue I can see is the need for access to the one apartment/condo building on Lasalle that has an entrance right before the Loring greenway tunnel.

[MNdible]

Providing access from LaSalle up to the Greenway is a good idea. Forcing all pedestrians to ramp up to the Greenway is not a good idea.

[Silophant]

Yeah, even if they're lightly used, there's definitely some people that take the sidewalk through the tunnel. So, ramp up and down on the west side of LaSalle, and leave the east side as is, which then maintains access to the condo building and hotel garage entrances.

As far as the protected bike lane goes, there's room for it as is - SB already has a lane with a 2' buffer, and NB has... a parking lane, which could be disappeared pretty easily.

[amiller92]

Yeah, LaSalle north of Grant is pretty sad.

One might even argue it's downtown's worst street: https://streets.mn/2015/01/08/the-worst ... nneapolis/

It's been rebuilt since then, and the bike lane is an improvement, but all the rest is still pretty much the same.

[MNdible]

Also, people always always always underestimate how much space an ADA compliant ramp takes up. If the surface of the Greenway is 15' above the La Salle elevation, you need 300' of ramp to get up to it. That's basically a full downtown block.

[sanguinic]

Star Tribune's Streetscapes column proposes the return of a public artwork to Nicollet Mall:
http://www.startribune.com/a-famed-cald ... 498035371/

[Oreos&Milk]

Star Tribune's Streetscapes column proposes the return of a public artwork to Nicollet Mall:
http://www.startribune.com/a-famed-cald ... 498035371/

Wouldn't it be kinda cool if the sculpture garden donated a piece each year to a metro project? That way they could get in a new piece from a brand new artist. Would keep sculpture garden fresh and exciting. I mean Valley Fair does that a new ride every year or so. Plus the State Fair new food every year..

I know the artwork on the inside behind paywall is the main focus but still.. just a thought, I'm sure everybody would hate it.

[Didier]

Didn't the sculpture garden leave some stuff at Gold Medal Park? I'm pretty sure they're still there. The sculptures really added to the park.

[NickP]

They are still there, and, I agree, they do!

Oreos, I really like that idea.

[Silophant]

There's a sign in the amphitheater saying that they're finally going to get around to installing Nimbus this week.

[mamundsen]

Is there an art installation happening across from the library? There is a massive something being built on scaffolding with lifts.

Answering my own question. It’s the installation of Nimbus.

https://nicolletmallart.org/blog-page/

In November, Nimbus, a sculpture by artist and architect Tristan Al-Haddad and the last public artwork for the new Nicollet will be installed in the forecourt of Central Library.

Constructed of weathering steel, the open elliptical form cantilevers over the Theater in the Round seating area. At night, Nimbus will cast a halo of light through perforations in its steel skin.

[Nathan]

Is there an art installation happening across from the library? There is a massive something being built on scaffolding with lifts.

It's called nimbus, the previous post has a link to some info about it, looks pretty cool

[Multimodal]

That looks totally cool.

[seanrichardryan]

Feature on the lighting:

https://www.architecturalrecord.com/art ... inneapolis

[John]

Feature on the lighting:

https://www.architecturalrecord.com/art ... inneapolis

I live on Nicollet Mall and IMO the lighting is the most successful aspect of the renovation , particularly the high mast light poles. The beacons on the poles are programmable and change/alternate colors to reflect seasonal holidays . Its very fun to look at, and adds liveliness to what is otherwise a greyish, if not somewhat drab coloration for the majority of the Mall's design.

[BBMplsMN]

It looks like the planters started being delivered last week. As far as I can tell, it looks like there are two sizes roughly the same size as the bollards outside the hotels at the south end of Nicollet. Not sure what kind of plants will be in them, but if I had to make a guess, I would expect something gray.

[SurlyLHT]

Hopefully they're kept up. The ones near the Convention Center on 3rd have become wild.