Hello! Here are a couple of updates around Kalamazoo:
1. Haymarket Plaza
Work is moving along on the Haymarket Plaza (the reimagined alley in-between the existing Main Street East Building and the new 180 E Water St. development). Frankly, I'm surprised it is moving this fast. They must be trying to get all of the concrete work done before cold weather sets in. CSM posted a photo on their
LinkedIn account. This will strengthen the small but unique alley culture that the downtown has been developing over the years, joining destinations like Bates Alley, Whiskey Alley, Farmers Alley, and Exchange Place.
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Once complete, Haymarket Plaza - a new downtown Kalamazoo destination - will include a pair of seven-story projection screens, decorative concrete, landscape-form furniture, specialty lighting, a snow-melt system, and an open area designed for entertainment events.
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2. WMU New Student Center & Dining Facility
Walbridge Group (CM) shared some interesting photos on their
Instagram account yesterday of the final pour for the new student center & dining facility at WMU. The structural design of the floor is a "voided biaxial slab" which involves the use of many small, hollow balls that result in a lighter structure and increased + irregular column spacing. They look like large, colored golf balls, though I'm not sure of the significance of the different colors - differently sized voids, loads... just random? Anyway, pretty neat!
3. City of Kalamazoo - Downtown Zoning
The downtown zoning revamp continues with a virtual town hall tonight (
September 24, 2020 - Live on Youtube), followed by a Planning Commission Review on October 1, 2020 (also will be cast on Youtube). This process is moving along at a fairly brisk clip, and it will be interesting to hear how satisfied the public is with the final plan in the coming months. Draft documents can be viewed
here.
Source
4. Updated Downtown Aerial Drone Footage
've been searching (hoping) that someone out there would do some new drone photography of downtown, since it has changed so much recently. And then I stumbled across
@whiskeyalphadelta's Instagram account. Here are two views of the city center, taken on the first evening of Fall, 2020. The first view is the portion of downtown that lies North of Michigan Ave. and the second view is the portion that is south of Michigan Ave. If you know where you are looking, you can spot every major downtown infill development from the past few years, including The Exchange, 180 E. Water St., 400 Rose, and the Hilton Hotels. Great views!
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