City Center takes center stage
Anyone who has questioned the design that officials with the Saratoga Springs City Center released last month would all but certainly have taken even stronger objection with some of the earlier concepts officials considered during their 18-month design process.
City Center Mark Baker gave a rare glimpse of some of the the architect’s earlier ideas during the Design Review Commission’s hearing on the proposal last night at City Hall.
One version, assigned the moniker “the bunker,” showed a largely concrete facade. Others included copper finish, louvers and glass with metal fins, a wrap-around canopy and one that essentially turned the corner into a great big glass aquarium (Update: there’s one example; for the rest, follow the link at the bottom of the post).
“Some of these ideas are very half baked,” Baker said during his presentation, which elicted many a raised eyebrow from the audience.
After his speech, around 15 people spoke about the proposal, including several downtown business owners, Joe Dalton, the president of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce and Dave Zunker, the president of the Saratoga Convention and Tourism Bureau. The consensus: whatever revisions that need to be made need to happen fast.
Dalton suggested the state’s $12 million contribution to the $16 million effort isn’t exactly ironclad. The state is looking for every penny they can take,” he said. “That money can be taken back if we don’t proceed.”
Still, that didn’t keep some residents from offering up some unique ideas of their own.
Pam Higgins suggested the building incorporate “living walls” and a green roof, providing a distinct “architectural stamp” of the 21st century. And Kyle York, never bashful with his input, threw up several images of buildings around town before melding them into a design he likened to the Midwest Air Center in Milwaukee.
I’m going to try to get images of the earlier concepts, and those York put out to give some context.
But in the meantime, use your imagination and answer this question: if you had the ultimate say on the City Center expansion, what would you make it look like?
Update: At right is the design York pitched. Note the arches. It’s supposed to draw on the Romanesque features so prominent in the city’s landscape. His inspiration: The Midwest Airline Center in Milwaukee, Wisc.
Update II: Here are some images from the presentation that Baker gave during last night’s meeting.
Also, DRC chairman Pat Kane informs me today that the commission made no decisions at their meeting last night. They plan to discuss the project again at their May 6 meeting. The effort, he said, is “not lined up to be derailed, it’s lined up to be enhanced.”
– Drew Kerr
I like Kyle York’s design.
If the NY State has money they should spend it on saving the tree nursery rather than a building. Many more people will benefit from trees rather than a building in Saratoga.