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In this week’s podcast we meet up with David Meleca, the President of Meleca Architecture, who was the firm responsible for the design of the I-670 cap project over High Street. David talks about the history of the project, as well as what the future could hold with additional highway caps in the upcoming 70/71 Split Fix project.
You can use the player below to listen to the podcast, click here to download an mp3, click here to subscribe via iTunes, or click here to subscribe to the rss feed.
[audio:http://blip.tv/file/get/ColumbusUnderground-ColumbusUndergroundcomPodcastEpisode07632.mp3]
Photos courtesy of Meleca Architecture.
Is something wrong with the player . it keeps coming up error
Weird. Seems like the file name was changed on the server side. Was working earlier this morning. I just updated the file name though, so it should work again now. :D
Haven’t listened yet, I will, but I assume this wasn’t discussed.
When the initial renderings of the cap came out, there were two statues atop either side of the cap. Two greek-like women holding staffs facing South. It was pretty dramatic looking.
If you look at the top of the buildings near the south-end, you can see the pedestals where these statues were supposed to be. There are even lights at the bases of the pedestals that, I imagine, were supposed to illuminate them.
What ever happened to these statues? Any clue, Walker?
All apologies if you guys actually covered this in the talk.
It now only played until the 8′ mark and only downloads to the 47% mark
MBeaumont: Nope, that wasn’t brought up. I had no idea about that, but will be following up with a few interesting things like that.
ColumbusDreamer: I’m testing it right now and it works fine. Anyone else having any problems?
Walker, is it possible for to you upload those photos from before the cap? As a relatively new resident and someone who lives in the area, I would be very interested to see how it looked pre-cap. Thanks.
I’ve been hunting for them and can’t locate them. They’re probably on an older computer or a CD backup of old photos. I did manage to find a few other photos from an archive.org cache of the old 670 site:
Here is a photo of High Street over 670. You’re essentially looking at the backside of where Hyde Park is now located: PHOTO
Here is a look at 670 going over Neil Avenue. You’re looking north into Victorian Village and can see Westminster Thurber in the back: PHOTO
Same bridge, but taken from on top of 670 looking westward. Neil Ave is below: PHOTO
Further westward, this is the old Harrison Ave bridge that connects Goodale & Vine together: PHOTO
I know I’ve still got old photos of High Street. Will have to dig around some more.
Here’s a bunch of construction photos too:
http://www.roadfan.com/670cons.html
Thanks a lot for posting those. I honestly did not know why it was called “the cap” when I first moved here. It’s really amazing to me to see the before, as I really just take the after for granted. I would love to see something similar on the eastside and from downtown into German Village.
Those old photos are crazy to look at now. Thanks for posting them, Walker. Also, in the top pic of the finished cap, you can see those lights I was talking about that were supposed to highlight those statues.
If anyone has the original artist sketches of the cap, you’ll see them on there. I remember when it was almost finished, they had a big sign on the cap with the original sketches, and that’s where I remember seeing the statues.
David just emailed me a rendering that includes the statues. Will be following up with him soon to answer some more questions.
Click to enlarge:
Awesome! Thanks so much for following up on this, Walker. I really appreciate it. :)
St. Louis likes our cap – http://stlurbanworkshop.blogspot.com/2009/06/how-to-hide-interstate-and-connect-city.html
Cap mix shrinks as dining expands
Business First of Columbus – by Dan Eaton
Friday, September 18, 2009
Restaurants and bars always were part of the plan for the Cap at Union Station but, as time has passed, restaurants and bars have become the entire plan.
The Cap opened in 2004 as a dining and retail destination and five years later, there’s plenty to eat and drink there. There is, however, no space dedicated to anything else – and that shift is fine with Continental Real Estate Cos., the 27,000-square-foot project’s developer and owner.
READ MORE