My new job at 10 Missions Media recently took me to Detroit, an appropriate destination for my foray into the automotive industry. I’ve been in the Detroit airport countless times, but never before had visited the city. I was so excited to check it out, and the reality was better than I imagined. Incredible, ornate old skyscrapers, people excited to talk about their city and the wonderful, amusing People Mover train. I can’t wait to get back to this great city!

The limousine Kennedy was shot in at the Henry Ford Museum

This is the chair Lincoln was shot in – at the Henry Ford Museum

The actual Rosa Parks bus

This is great ambiance – Lafayette Coney Island.

I ate 4 of these dogs while I was in town – at Lafayette Coney Island.

Nice little statue at a People Mover station

Inside the Renaissance Center

The Renaissance Center as viewed from inside the Cobo Center

Looking toward downtown on Woodward Avenue

A distant view of the Ambassador Bridge.

My friend Anna checking out the Rosa Parks seat on the bus.

Inside the Cobo Center.

One of my favorite sights while riding the People Mover.

4Marq Modernism

August 16, 2014

Cities, Minneapolis

Nic on Fifth Progress

August 12, 2014

Minneapolis

2 Comments

I’m very excited about The Nic on Fifth, a strangely named luxury apartment high-rise replacing one of the most blighted blocks on the north end of Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis. Here is its progress as viewed from the Fifth Street Towers – thanks Clifford! Below that, you’ll see a rendering of the finished product. When Opus is done, they’re building the new Xcel Energy headquarters directly to the north. While many wanted this building taller – or even its originally proposed 33 stories – it will be a huge upgrade to the city.

Again, a big thank-you to my friend Cliff for taking the aerial shots! Click on the images to view them larger, and for the captions that contain some engineering knowhow that I do not possess.

A few quickies – August 17, 2014:

As of March 15, 2014, older pics are below

March 15, 2014 – give or take a few days

Some detail is becoming evident along the podium.

Here’s a bird-eye view of the crown. Thanks, Clifford.

The crane footing – Or at least that’s what we think it is. They’re building the rebar mesh at the bottom of the form, and you can see the first section of the crane is going to be set right into the form. I’m not sure that they’ll pour concrete to the top of the form walls, but maybe.

I think they auger the hole, drop one of these in, then fill it with concrete.

Note crane footing at middle-right, piling rebar at lower-right, poured piling (covered with black tarp) at upper-left.

You can see the top nub of the piling covered with the black tarp. Note the different attachments for the auger boom scattered around the auger crane. They had this set up over the piling yesterday, but I didn’t get to see them finish it. Like I said, I suspect they drop the rebar cylinder into the hole and fill it with concrete, but I’ll keep an eye on the next one to verify.