^ Right. This would be sort of a Ballpark Village for families but I also hope that it is executed in a way that would have appeal to adults, particularly in the evenings. Not just Rainforest Cafe, etc. but also more adult establishments. Dinner and drinks with the ferris wheel. I also hope they work with City Museum with cross-marketing, special ticket pricing, etc. to boost the profile of downtown family entertainment/tourism.
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Looks like Hard Rock Cafe stays. Attractions inside and outside. By the way, the Union Station Tower is 280 feet high. The Ferris Wheel will be 200 feet high.
Outside Plan:
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Union Station Plans by ZGare, on Flickr
Ferris Wheel:
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Outside Plan:
Union Station Plans by ZGare, on FlickrFerris Wheel:
Let's just rebuild the entire worlds fair! I'm sure that temporary "plaster of Paris" is just as sturdy as all of the EIFS walls seen on everything today! 
Should be cool. If Union Station becomes successful under this new iteration, and high-speed rail gets serious, maybe we do see some sort of mix of traditional/nontraditional use for the ol' beauty. Personally, I'd be delighted if Union Station received a few local heavy rail passenger lines (think Chicago's Metra) coming across the river from Illinois and from around the St. Louis region.
I'd still like to see a pretty, pretty sketch with my original idea though. Rather than having the Ferris wheel butting up against the trainshed's southern edge, instead I'd like to see it positioned within a 50ft. wide "slit" in the existing trainshed roof, perpendicular to Clark Street. Just imagine ascending through the roof to see the City, then back through it again and witnessing all the carnival-like activity going on below. Looking west, folks exiting Busch Stadium would see it lit up, beckoning them (and their kids!) to continue their evening downtown.
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Oh, and of course this...
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Imagine, if you will, this scene. Instead of the hard rock, you have a walk-in platform from which you board your enclosed (?) Ferris wheel capsule. Immediately east, depending on the season, you have an awesome ice rink...or a large public pavilion scattered with cafe tables, chairs, benches and potted plants.
Your group takes their seats in the capsule and the Ferris wheel takes off, rising up and out of an inch-perfect slit in the trainshed roof. Reaching the apex, you see points east, west south and north. The wheel turns again, moving you back into the trainshed, directly above the pond where there are new water features and art, or maybe even some remote-controlled boats for kids. To the south, the carousel and "roller coaster" are in full effect and a passenger/excursion train just arrived and settled at the trainshed's western edge.
I'd still like to see a pretty, pretty sketch with my original idea though. Rather than having the Ferris wheel butting up against the trainshed's southern edge, instead I'd like to see it positioned within a 50ft. wide "slit" in the existing trainshed roof, perpendicular to Clark Street. Just imagine ascending through the roof to see the City, then back through it again and witnessing all the carnival-like activity going on below. Looking west, folks exiting Busch Stadium would see it lit up, beckoning them (and their kids!) to continue their evening downtown.
Oh, and of course this...
Imagine, if you will, this scene. Instead of the hard rock, you have a walk-in platform from which you board your enclosed (?) Ferris wheel capsule. Immediately east, depending on the season, you have an awesome ice rink...or a large public pavilion scattered with cafe tables, chairs, benches and potted plants.
Your group takes their seats in the capsule and the Ferris wheel takes off, rising up and out of an inch-perfect slit in the trainshed roof. Reaching the apex, you see points east, west south and north. The wheel turns again, moving you back into the trainshed, directly above the pond where there are new water features and art, or maybe even some remote-controlled boats for kids. To the south, the carousel and "roller coaster" are in full effect and a passenger/excursion train just arrived and settled at the trainshed's western edge.
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^ nice point on how a north-south orientation for the ferris wheel would have a more striking impact on downtowners.... if the shed location wouldn't work maybe you could put it directly west of it.
Another thing that comes to mind is if we do get a riverfront stadium, how cool would it be to run short haul gameday excursion trains unloading passengers off at a renovated Cotton Belt Building that also is somehow incorporated into the stadium? Go bold or go home!
Another thing that comes to mind is if we do get a riverfront stadium, how cool would it be to run short haul gameday excursion trains unloading passengers off at a renovated Cotton Belt Building that also is somehow incorporated into the stadium? Go bold or go home!
We went to the Grand Hall the other night for a drink, and it's really impressive! A decent amount of people in there for a Monday night, good service, and the projection shows they have on the ceiling going are very cool.
...sigh...gary kreie wrote:Looks like Hard Rock Cafe stays. Attractions inside and outside. By the way, the Union Station Tower is 280 feet high. The Ferris Wheel will be 200 feet high.
Outside Plan:
Union Station Plans by ZGare, on Flickr
Get rid of parking under the shed, get rid of parking under the shed, get rid of parking under the shed
^Let's see how this goes. If it's successful, I could easily see them replacing the parking with more amusement park style attractions.
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I would like to see a German Biergarten in the outdoor part that resembles the one at the Standard in NYC.
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Cooler than a ferris wheel:
http://www.gizmag.com/new-orleans-trice ... gns/36519/
http://www.gizmag.com/worlds-tallest-ro ... ndo/32437/
http://www.gizmag.com/new-orleans-trice ... gns/36519/
http://www.gizmag.com/worlds-tallest-ro ... ndo/32437/
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NOLA video:
Orlando video:
I mean, if they want to build an amusement park, vertical coasters may be the solution to their limited amount of land area to build on. It's not like they have as much space as Six Flags. Besides, something like these could redefine the Downtown skyline. Imagine having that out your office or apartment window! In addition, it would be a huge draw for families and also pull tourists further west, allowing them to experience parts of Downtown further west than just the Arch.
Orlando video:
I mean, if they want to build an amusement park, vertical coasters may be the solution to their limited amount of land area to build on. It's not like they have as much space as Six Flags. Besides, something like these could redefine the Downtown skyline. Imagine having that out your office or apartment window! In addition, it would be a huge draw for families and also pull tourists further west, allowing them to experience parts of Downtown further west than just the Arch.
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^ I think it would be cool to have the Ferris Wheel at Union Station and one of these pole thingies at the top of the Gateway Mall... maybe let LHM mangage it as part of their amusement park.
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^ I suppose it could but I think the spot at the top of the mall is perfectly located for a prominent landmark -- and would allow for patrons to better enjoy the view of Union Station itself -- and help draw interest to that end of the park. Of course, I want a shiny new tower just to the west of it, too!
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I recall the McKee renderings showed a tower west of the station, but I'm sure that's just to try and create the illusion that his plan is much larger in scope than it's actually going to turn out to be.
Here, I've made a quick rendering of what it could look like with the tower in place of the proposed Ferris wheel, albeit much shorter than Orlando's 570 footer just because the photo of Union Station didn't have enough room at the top for me to make it look tall enough. The one in Orlando will be the tallest coaster in the world. They're building a shorter one in NOLA, which you can see a few posts above. If there's enough money, I think this one should be the tallest. Maybe 630 feet...Or 631? It's probably just a pipe dream, but here it is:
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Here, I've made a quick rendering of what it could look like with the tower in place of the proposed Ferris wheel, albeit much shorter than Orlando's 570 footer just because the photo of Union Station didn't have enough room at the top for me to make it look tall enough. The one in Orlando will be the tallest coaster in the world. They're building a shorter one in NOLA, which you can see a few posts above. If there's enough money, I think this one should be the tallest. Maybe 630 feet...Or 631? It's probably just a pipe dream, but here it is:
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^ you should send that off to LHM in an e-mail!
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Do you know of a better photo of Union Station I could put the tower on so as to properly portray its actual height? Would people here support or object to something like this being built? I think we could have both this and the Ferris wheel.
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^ if i had to pick one i'd probably go for the ferris wheel, mostly because it offers more unobstructed views and, IMHO, makes a bigger visual impact.
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How? Especially at only 200 feet tall.urban_dilettante wrote:makes a bigger visual impact.
Anyway, here is a video of what the tower will be like. It also has an attached building that sort of reminds me of BPV Phase I except with an arcade, which is awesome:
http://vzaar.com/videos/2286078
That's a neat idea and I'm all for creating attractions in DT but how about doing something different rather than copying some other city's claim to fame? That might work in Las Vegas, but I'm sure someone can think of something else to build in our city.
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Do you have an idea?ynot wrote:That's a neat idea and I'm all for creating attractions in DT but how about doing something different rather than copying some other city's claim to fame? That might work in Las Vegas, but I'm sure someone can think of something else to build in our city.
seriously, you don't see anyone else trying to make a gateway arch in their city do you? i live in DC now and they put a tiny ferris wheel in National Harbor just south of the city. it doesn't even rise high enough to make the view worthy in my opinion. instead of a me too idea, some thought needs to be put into things that are more unique... now if you do choose the copy-cat route, at least go big (not just talking size). what i see up there is just neat.