Regina Construction III

[Nathan]

Originally Posted by one_brick_at_a_time

I don’t mind the renaissance apartments at all. Why? Because it adds some colour to downtown. I actually find the BMO building uglier. Lol

My main contention is how much of a mish-mash the whole thing is in terms of how the sectionscome together...

And also the off-kilter nature of the windows. That's the most loathsome aspect for me. It looks sloppy and lazy.

[Festivus]

Originally Posted by JustACitizen

Does anybody know when the heck they plan on painting the lane lines on Ring Road between Vic and Wascana Parkway? It is getting downright dangerous at night now that the reflectors have all worn away. I am surprised they did not paint them when they had all the signs and cones out and they painted the outer marker lines, what 4 weeks ago?!?!

What makes matters worse is that the few reflectors that remain visible are not in the right places, and have changed how the lanes for the ramps work. So do you follow the 1/4 of reflectors that are visible, or the way that the lanes were before?

Before, traffic coming off the Ring Rd only had to move over a maximum of one lane to either turn left toward Sask Poly, or right into the Research side of the UofR. Now, priority is given to the Assiniboia off-ramp, and there are more lane-changes happening from Ring Rd. The problem is that the lines are so faded (and different from before) that people are driving all over the place on the off-ramp to Wascana Pkwy and it's dangerous.

Here's what I mean:



vs.

[Stormer]

Also when they expanded the Vic underpass a number of years ago, they added an acceleration lane extension for semis on the southbound ring road entrance ramp that extended well past the Arcola off ramp. There was a lot of fanfare at the time about how safe and useful this would be. They restricted the Ring Road for weeks on-end and spent a lot of money on the this lane. In fact it was never used. With the latest line repainting it has disappeared although all the extra pavement still exists.

former configuration:

[Stormer]

Originally Posted by Nathan

The BMO building? I don't mind that one too terribly; it's not great, but I don't think it's particularly atrocious.... There's another building at the edge of downtown that makes an appearance periodically in that thread, though. If you want something truly heinous look up the Renaissance Retirement Residence.

The BMO Bldg is nearing 40 years old so...

[Stormer]

Originally Posted by Nathan

My main contention is how much of a mish-mash the whole thing is in terms of how the sectionscome together...

And also the off-kilter nature of the windows. That's the most loathsome aspect for me. It looks sloppy and lazy.

Remember it is a repurposing of a long abandoned building.

[JustACitizen]

Originally Posted by Festivus

What makes matters worse is that the few reflectors that remain visible are not in the right places, and have changed how the lanes for the ramps work. So do you follow the 1/4 of reflectors that are visible, or the way that the lanes were before?

Before, traffic coming off the Ring Rd only had to move over a maximum of one lane to either turn left toward Sask Poly, or right into the Research side of the UofR. Now, priority is given to the Assiniboia off-ramp, and there are more lane-changes happening from Ring Rd. The problem is that the lines are so faded (and different from before) that people are driving all over the place on the off-ramp to Wascana Pkwy and it's dangerous.

I find I use the offramp the way it was before and find it rather confusing what they are attempting to do. It will be a disaster when school starts. That whole interchange is a disaster with accidents 4/7 days at least. I would love to know the exact stats. The traffic gets backed up during afternoon rush hour, that presses all the way north to Kramer at times and is getting worse not better. As well there could have been a 3rd lane all the way to Assiniboine to reduce the chaos merge that occurs when both lanes of Ring Rd.NB are congested. I realize the creek bridge is the restriction but seriously it is could have been doubled in length or even tripled as there seem to be weekly accidents there as well.

It seems the design of the interchange has severely been surpassed by new volume over the last decade. I had been hopeful the money spent last summer was adding a right hand loop on ramp avoiding the left turn traffic light but alas we must wait another decade.

[pappcam]

Originally Posted by JustACitizen

I find I use the offramp the way it was before and find it rather confusing what they are attempting to do. It will be a disaster when school starts. That whole interchange is a disaster with accidents 4/7 days at least. I would love to know the exact stats. The traffic gets backed up during afternoon rush hour, that presses all the way north to Kramer at times and is getting worse not better. As well there could have been a 3rd lane all the way to Assiniboine to reduce the chaos merge that occurs when both lanes of Ring Rd.NB are congested. I realize the creek bridge is the restriction but seriously it is could have been doubled in length or even tripled as there seem to be weekly accidents there as well.

It seems the design of the interchange has severely been surpassed by new volume over the last decade. I had been hopeful the money spent last summer was adding a right hand loop on ramp avoiding the left turn traffic light but alas we must wait another decade.

I find it shocking that a city the size of Regina has no clue on how traffic works or should work efficiently.

[Nathan]

Originally Posted by Stormer

Remember it is a repurposing of a long abandoned building.

Yes I remember. And they fairly thoroughly gutted it. They could have made a better attempt at getting windows centred and making spacing between them more uniform.

[Draftsman]

This was originally known as the Derrick Building. I believe it was built for Imperial Oil, hence the name 'derrick'. I worked in that building for 12 years. It certainly was nothing special inside. The tenants were RCMP 'F' Division, CBC, and Dominion Bridge, as well as a CIBC branch on the main floor. The original building was the north half, and the south half was built sometime later. The two halves were basically separate buildings that had a crossover link on 2nd floor (for RCMP) and a crossover in the basement so RCMP staff could access the cafeteria in the basement. All three major tenants moved out around the same time, leaving CIBC on its own until they shut that branch. The building was of no architectural or historic merit. I am surprised that someone bought it as it must have been a wreck inside after years of open windows and pigeons, etc. It's one of these renovations that makes you think 'wouldn't it have been cheaper to tear it down and build new?', although I have been inside Renaissance and think they did a pretty good job.

[CoR East]

Originally Posted by Draftsman

This was originally known as the Derrick Building. I believe it was built for Imperial Oil, hence the name 'derrick'. I worked in that building for 12 years. It certainly was nothing special inside. The tenants were RCMP 'F' Division, CBC, and Dominion Bridge, as well as a CIBC branch on the main floor. The original building was the north half, and the south half was built sometime later. The two halves were basically separate buildings that had a crossover link on 2nd floor (for RCMP) and a crossover in the basement so RCMP staff could access the cafeteria in the basement. All three major tenants moved out around the same time, leaving CIBC on its own until they shut that branch. The building was of no architectural or historic merit. I am surprised that someone bought it as it must have been a wreck inside after years of open windows and pigeons, etc. It's one of these renovations that makes you think 'wouldn't it have been cheaper to tear it down and build new?', although I have been inside Renaissance and think they did a pretty good job.

My favourite thing about the Renaissance is how the cornice below the red top floor addition wraps around the building and when it gets back to the south side where it started it doesn’t line up by at least a foot. You can see it pretty clearly from street view in the lane to the east of the building.

[Arts]

Originally Posted by CoR East

My favourite thing about the Renaissance is how the cornice below the red top floor addition wraps around the building and when it gets back to the south side where it started it doesn’t line up by at least a foot. You can see it pretty clearly from street view in the lane to the east of the building.

It jogs on the NE corner too, just how the architect wanted it for some reason (symmetry, spacing with windows on East face etc). I'm pretty sure it isn't a construction defect.

[Stormer]

Originally Posted by Draftsman

This was originally known as the Derrick Building. I believe it was built for Imperial Oil, hence the name 'derrick'. I worked in that building for 12 years. It certainly was nothing special inside. The tenants were RCMP 'F' Division, CBC, and Dominion Bridge, as well as a CIBC branch on the main floor. The original building was the north half, and the south half was built sometime later. The two halves were basically separate buildings that had a crossover link on 2nd floor (for RCMP) and a crossover in the basement so RCMP staff could access the cafeteria in the basement. All three major tenants moved out around the same time, leaving CIBC on its own until they shut that branch. The building was of no architectural or historic merit. I am surprised that someone bought it as it must have been a wreck inside after years of open windows and pigeons, etc. It's one of these renovations that makes you think 'wouldn't it have been cheaper to tear it down and build new?', although I have been inside Renaissance and think they did a pretty good job.

This reminds me that 30 years ago there were 5 CIBC branches downtown. How things have changed. Can anyone name the 5 locations?

[brithgob]

Originally Posted by Stormer

This reminds me that 30 years ago there were 5 CIBC branches downtown. How things have changed. Can anyone name the 5 locations?

One was in the Plains. Didn’t the Hamilton Building have a CIBC logo?

[Nathan]

Originally Posted by brithgob

One was in the Plains. Didn’t the Hamilton Building have a CIBC logo?

One would have been behind the pillars in the Cornwall (wherever the actual building was positioned).

[Draftsman]

Originally Posted by brithgob

One was in the Plains. Didn’t the Hamilton Building have a CIBC logo?

Yes, the building now known as 'The Hamilton' on Hamilton & 12th was originally the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce building, and had the bank's east-west logo on the top. I recall it was on at least the Hamilton Street and 12th Avenue sides. I don't think it was on the other two. I think they had replaced it with the new logo until this branch closed.

It was like this: https://goo.gl/images/gons9Y

Wasn't the building that H&M occupies originally a CIBC?

[Udon'tknow]

Speaking of unattractive buildings, the revamped Sasktel building is not particularly attractive..

[yveseluj]

It isn't, but the old concrete slab siding was at risk of falling off.

[Nathan]

Originally Posted by yveseluj

It isn't, but the old concrete slab siding was at risk of falling off.

As bad as this may sound, it's actually looking better than I thought it would (but that's still not really a compliment).

[one_brick_at_a_time]

Originally Posted by Nathan

As bad as this may sound, it's actually looking better than I thought it would (but that's still not really a compliment).

I agree as well. I don’t mind it.

[Festivus]

It's generic, but it's not revolting at all. I think Regina should strive for more interesting buildings, but it's certainly not as bad as it could have been.