The site plan review drawings (including plans & elevations) for the new downtown justice facility have been posted to the city's plan review site. I will work on converting & posting the images here later, but if anyone is curious and wants to see these now, just follow the link below -
https://www.kalamazoocity.org/docman...e-12-3020/file
I totally overlooked the fact initially that the front of this building faces Eleanor St. and not Kalamazoo Ave. Instead, the back faces Kalamazoo Ave. with mechanical / utility enclosures and sparse activity along the street edge. There have been some comments on Facebook about how this symbolizes the county government's turning of its back to residents of the north side. That's a bit too literal of an interpretation for me, but it's just an interesting point of view that I had not thought about, and perspectives matter when it comes to a civic building of this magnitude. I think the design team did a relatively good job of addressing the "arse-end" of the building, all things considered. And there's no arguing that the more pedestrian-focused corridor is to the south / southeast, not the north.