Sheldon, You interested me to look into this, so I did a bunch of research into Underground Bus Depots. There is an excellent Finnish Architect called Pekka Helin whom has done such a project for Helsinki. It is truly amazing. Underground bus and rails, with green space at street level. The relevent imagry is here http://cic.vtt.fi/vera/Seminaarit/2001.03.27_Muuttuva_suunnitteluprosessi/Pekka_Helin/index.htm Cycle through them. And here is a map of the facility http://www.kampinkeskus.fi/images/en/800x1150_eng.gif
This is the best example of this concepts implementation in the world today. makes for good study. Ray Rolfe >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Date: Mon, 3 Oct 2005 10:37:22 -0500 From: "Sheldon Mains" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: RE: [Mpls] "Opus asks Mpls. to swap land" To: <[email protected]> The site OPUS wants is the old Nicollet Hotel block, just north of the new Central Library. A block the city has been unsuccessful at developing as a joint project with a bus transfer facility. At one time it was planned to be part of the Central Library but when it was not needed, the city restarted its efforts for a joint private/public development. In an ideal world, the block north of the new Library should be a park. It would tie the library with the river, it could be a fitting tribute to the old Historic Bridge Square (although I believe Bridge Square was one block closer to the river). The ideal could happen if the city used the $10 million federal transportation grant it has to build the bus transfer facility underground with a park on top of it (although I don't know what the costs are for that option--it may be more expensive than the $10 million). But the city wants (needs??) a mixed use development with a private developer. Also, the proposed OPUS land swap would put the bus transfer facility next to the light rail station--a good thing. So, since the city is only getting 2/3 of the square footage in the exchange, and is giving up one of the most visible blocks downtown, it seems to me that the city could put some controls on the proposed Nicollet Hotel site development--say keeping a green space on the Hennepin side to provide a pedestrian friendly entrance to the City and keeping the Hennepin side of the development very low rise (say 0 to 2 stories) to maintain a view of the library and planetarium. Also, getting the developer to pay for a skyway link to the Library and a skyway link from the library across 4th Street--the new library is designed for those links). (OK, I'm probably asking for a lot but might as well start with the ideal) sheldon ............................... Sheldon Mains DFL and Labor Endorsed Candidate for Minneapolis Library Board of Trustees http://www.MainsForLibrary.org [EMAIL PROTECTED], 612/618-7149 Mains for Library Committee, 2718 24th St. E., Mpls 55406 <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< __________________________________ Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005 http://mail.yahoo.com REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
