I Heard a Frankenstein Lives There
Nothing seems to piss people off worse in the CTW than what has been affectionately dubbed "The Hole in the Ground" Any argument against any development in town somehow circles back to this spot. "Why don't you leave those cherry trees alone and build your river walk park in the hole in the ground!" Which isn't too far off because one of the rumors I have heard about the spot is that the original excavation encountered an underground river thru the spot which caused some construction issues. (I'm not endorsed a park here!) I've also heard the family that owns the spot is willing to just wait it out until they can make the most money possible. They supposedly bought up up land along the above ground L Train in New York and made a fortune selling it after the train came down and property values skyrocketed. Same idea with Stamford, wait it out until the city develops more. Take these with a grain of salt, they could very well be urban legends.
In the past the spot has been looked at as an extension of the mall and a Wal-Mart. Gaping hole in the earth vs. suburban sprawl type development not fit for a developing, pedestrian friendly downtown... I'll stick with the former.
I am not as bothered by the spot mostly because I haven't heard anything really compelling that can go there yet. This is the largest untouched canvas downtown. Piecing together and swath of land this large would require a great deal of wrangling, eminent domain, etc. Whatever goes in here should be a game changer for the city. It needs to be more than another office or condo tower. Stadium, conference center, something on that level, its too early right now to think creatively. With its walking distance to the train, the traffic impact might be cut down by any "event" centric development like that. Or maybe our infrastructure isn't there yet. In any case, I'd hate to see the largest untapped potential downtown just used for anything.
8 comments :
The hole in the ground has been here for a long time, but I seem to remember that it was a location similar to the west side, with many rental homes, all was torn down to make the mall and the hole. Does any one remember that? It occurred just about the time I moved here (1977).
JT, you are so right. That hole is on everyone's mind. It's a little embarassing that we now have two holes in town on major thoroughfares.
What's the second hole?
joey, I think the hole is 20 years old.
Is the second hole the one on Washington Blvd. that was supposed to be City Place?
I agree that the hole needs to be filled with a "statement" building like an arena or something similar, rather than another half-empty office building or super-mega-deluxe-luxury condo starting at $5.5 million.
Is City Place dead? I wasn't impressed with that building anyways. Something mixed use in that spot could make that into a little neighborhood. That corridor is just a strip of condos now.
Was that the one that was the site of "Tower 2000"? And they didn't take that sign down until around 2003?
Manager Mom: Where was "Tower 2000" supposed to be? I remember big blue signs with Wal-Mart's name in the background, and I remember signs around the future RBS site, but I can't remember which were which.
The one issue concerning the 'underground' river is not a deterrent. Every building with significant underground levels have pump systems because of high water level. I have an engineer friend from Canterbury Green who maintains those pumps and without them the lower parking areas would be flooded. BTW, he had me test the water and it is fresh, ground water, not saline, sound water.
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