New science building at UAA

The ConocoPhillips Integrated Science Building on the campus of UAA is finally nearing the completion of its exterior facade. Construction for the building broke ground in 2007 and is expected to be open in time for the fall semester of 2009. At 120,000 square feet, the building will house departments focused on chemistry, astronomy, geology, environmental science, physics, and a few other disciplines under one roof. A parking garage to accommodate the building will be built in the rear with spaces for over 400 vehicles. Now for those wondering, the new building will NOT be part of the campus "spine"-- the network of buildings connected via skybridge walkways. Yes, that's right; If you're planning to major in bio-chemistry or physics next fall, be sure to wear a thick coat come winter. The Nothern Light (the school's paper) is also reporting that the parking garage will be far from the new building and will therefore offer shuttle rides to and from the ISB from the garage entrance. Besides the Integrated Science Building, UAA recently held a ceremony for the ground breaking of its new Health Sciences Building which will be built across the street from campus next to Providence Hospital. Interestingly enough, this building will have a skybridge attached to it so that it can be accessible from the main campus without students and staff having to step outside. It'll be pretty cool to see a skybridge hanging over the busy Providence Drive. Now to make things clear, I personally don't like the idea of skybridges when it comes to crowded urban areas. I'm against the idea that has been floating around for the last few years of connecting the new Dena'ina Center to the Performing Arts Center via City Hall. Don't like it, don't want it. It takes away potential foot traffic from the street while disfiguring the architectural sovereignty of each building with the connection of a non-conforming bridge. Most importantly, in a crowded area such as Downtown, destinations are much closer. The campus of UAA on the other hand is a relatively low density area in which buildings are surrounded by acres of surface parking. With its extremely tight availability of available parking near the building along with the bitter winter temperatures early in the year, it can make for a living hell when doing the walk to and from your car. Now I understand the skybridges wont fix this particular problem, but UAA has got to realize when doing its longterm planning that it has to start doing infill construction. Until then, skybridges will remain a solution for at least part of the low density problem. My $0.02. Anyways here's a vid from UAA on the new ConocoPhillips building:

ADN editorial on Anchorage's new Title 21 codes

The staff at the Anchorage Daily News just recently published an editorial in which the newspaper takes the side of city planners and looks forward to the implementations of the Title 21 Rewrite which is in the homestretch of having its remaining sections approved by the Anchorage Assembly. For those still not in the know, Title 21, which covers zoning and planning, was ordered by the Anchorage 2020 Comprehensive Plan to be rewritten after decades of no alterations so as to address the need for alternative transportation, traffic calming, and having more sustainable use of land for the increasingly shrinking amount of available land in the Anchorage Bowl. Changes included in the rewrite of Title 21 range from small things such as having commercial properties with entrances accessible from the sidewalk, to designating Downtown and Midtown as hubs for which commercial and residential should be intermixed to give people greater freedom from having to rely on their car to make their errands or go to work. By the way, I'll always be sure update the joop and let readers know in advance whenever a public Title 21 Rewrite meeting is taking place later in the week. Meanwhile, check out the editorial:

ADN editorial on Title 21

Dena'ina officially opens to the public

So over the weekend the Dena'ina Civic and Convention Center officially opened its doors to the public to show off what capabilities the new building can handle for future events that the much smaller Egan Center just couldn't take on. I wouldn't say it was as crowded as I initially feared, but there was a good showing by the public, most of whom were just impressed with the interior of the new civic center. As I've said in an earlier post, the Dena'ina Center is blessed to have been built in the 21st century and not the previous. The Egan Center's purple walls, stale art, casino-like carpet, and total absence of natural light in the main exhibition room (along with obviously the second exhibition room underground), was not aging well, to say the least. Thank goodness they at least took down those bicycle-like streamers that once hung over the main room from the ceiling. Now those were really gaudy. The Dena'ina, on the other hand, is a breathe of fresh air that took me back to the opening of Concourse C at the Anchorage International Airport with its abundant amount of natural light, clean and minimalist design, and use of a narrower Native color palette whenever color was needed. I think it's safe to say the rest of the public saw what I saw and were pleased with the results. Just to restate some basic info, the Dena'ina Center broke ground in 2006 after the public approved use of bed-tax to fund the entire project. The Center contains 200,000 square feet and has increased the city's capacity of convention space by more than 300%. Recently, the ADN reported that the Dena'ina will operate at a loss for its first year (scroll down for the post on that story). The building is roughly the same height as the Hill Building (aka City Hall... but it will always be Hill Building to me) across the street. Some pictures from the weekend opening (click to view): By the way, I was pleased to see that the new convention center has a concession stand built into the main exhibit room. That was clearly the make or break for me...

Tikahtnu Commons

Monday saw the opening of the new Target stores in both Anchorage and Wasilla. While Wasilla's Target store sits on the former location of the Cottonwood Creek Mall, Anchorage's first Target sits on fresh land and is the first in a number of future retail and entertainment to open in the $100 million plus Tikahtnu Commons mall. Being developed by the CIRI Native Corporation in partnership with a Californian developer, the "big box center" as one CIRI spokesman put it, will sit on 95 acres on Muldoon Road across the street from Bartlett High School and near the Alaska Native Heritage Center. Developers behind the project have touted that the mall will offer five times the amount in retail space that the Dimond Mall currently has. More importantly, the Tikahtnu Commons hopes to separate itself from the image of messy suburban sprawl by offering heated and possibly covered pathways linking from store to store. The mall is also expected to offer space for over 70 small local businesses while a street with large sidewalks will cut straight down through the mall's huge parking lot and act as sort of a Main Street with retail buildings built up to the sidewalk with parking in the rear. Besides Target, tenants already signed up to later occupy space in the new mall include Best Buy, Lowes, Regal Cinemas, Pet Smart, and Kohl's. Of course Tikahtnu Commons will not be the first "lifestyle center" type of mall to hit Anchorage as Glenn Square, just minutes west of the Tikahtnu mall, will also offer a variety of national chain stores, space for local retail, and more pedestrian friendly design -- most of which have already opened.

The question I have however is will the Tikahtnu Commons live up to what it's promised to be in terms of urban design? Judging by the looks of its competitor, Glenn Square, the answer would be no. Back in 2006 when Glenn Square was only a name, developers behind the project announced that the mall would set itself apart from your typical strip mall by offering a sort of village setting that would play host to an active public space complete with retail and dining within walking distance. Instead, Glenn Square has come to resemble the parcel of land in Dimond in which big box stores sit side by side with an ocean of asphalt in front. The only difference here is that the long row of big box stores has been snapped in half so as to have the storefronts face each other with a large swath of parking in between. After all, there's not a lot of space in Mountain View like what Dimond could offer. Also, despite Michaels, Petco, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Old Navy being open for a while, the mall was always eerily quiet during my few visits to the mall this summer. Should we expect this fate to happen with the Tikahntu Commons? Could it be at even more of a disadvantage due to its lurking location on the edge of the city? Or will the larger number of retailers and its Main Street design (which Glenn Square doesn't have) give Tikahtnu a niche? Unlike what we see in sprawling suburbs of the Lower-48, the Tikahtnu Commons will not be able to sprout cookie cutter homes around itself to sustain good business as the mall will sit right next to Fort Richardson. Acres of untouched forest in the area is also off limits as it sits under Fort Rich claim. Now I'm not saying the Tikahtnu Commons will become a mini ghost town, but it really seems that both this mall as well as the Glenn Square mall have seen their time come and go. That time being the 1990's. We'll see how this will all unfold in the coming months and years.

Dena'ina Center opening celebration

Just thought I'd remind those interested that the new convention center will have its official opening this Saturday and Sunday. As someone who has walked through much of the new place, it's definitely worth a visit. Included in the opening ceremony will be all kinds of displays and stuff for sale from snow machines and cars, to wedding event decor demos (sounds like something for me to avoid).

From the Anchorage Convention and Visitors Bureau

Boston Globe reports on Palin's anti-planning record

The Boston Globe just recently published an article on Sarah Palin's stand against development zoning and regulations as mayor of Wasilla -- the latest in a number of nationally syndicated articles to be published on the subject since Governor Palin received the VP nod by Senator John McCain in late August. The article delves in a bit as to how Palin successfully gouged the Mat-Su Valley's libertarian/conservative emotions which included trumpeting the warning calls of creeping government building regulations that were seen as toxically mixing in with the continued economic growth Wasilla was seeing in the 90s. The article also interviews a local advocate who reveals that two reps with Fred Meyers were laughing in the hallways at a planning meeting as they were amused with how easy they were able to get their company's first store to be built with so little if any revising of their plans.

link to the article:
Anti-zoning key to Palin's early record

Project in Profile - ANMC expansion

Just thought I'd cover some of the lesser known projects well under way throughout the Anchorage Bowl to make up for the lack of fresh developments coverage as construction progress citywide starts to slow now that the grass is turning crunchy with frost in the morning and people rush to Johnson's Tire Service in a last minute panic to get their studded tires on. One project that took me by a bit of surprise when driving west down Tudor recently is an expansion of the Alaska Native Medical Center. Okay that's not so surprising, especially considering the new building is rising next to the new parking garage. That area of town has certainly become a high-density free-for-all over the last 7 years or so. Kinda like Midtown in the 70s and 80s. One of my favorite restaurants, 'The Last Frontier' fell victim to this progress three years ago as the building was demolished to make way for the now just completed garage. Anyways the new building currently going up will serve as an expansion to the existing Alaska Native Primary Care Center across the street from the Native Medical Center and will be operated by the Southcentral Foundation (which also runs the existing ANPCC). According to the Foundation, the expansion will be 80,000 square feet and will serve to the needs of the growing number of patients relocating from the villages to Anchorage. The new building, or "Phase III" as they call it, is expected to be completed in late 2009. Of course we haven't seen the peak yet. In an article last year for the Alaska Business Monthly, the administrator with the Alaska Native Medical Center mentions plans in the future for a parking garage north of the hospital along with a $123 million dollar expansion. (click to view)

7th and C traffic lights flick on

The intersection of 7th Avenue and C Street wasn't so much an intersection as it was more of an alley going through a highway. That was until late last week when the traffic lights which were installed later in the summer were uncovered from their protective sheets and put into operation. Since the discussions of an expansion to the Anchorage Museum of History and Art came to the forefront some years ago, the topic of reconnecting the museum to lively West Downtown also became part of that discussion. As my local Anchoragites can attest, while the Egan, Dena'ina, and Performing Arts Center as well as other attractions enjoy a close pedestrian friendly proximity from one another, the Anchorage Museum of History and Art paired with the Federal Building across the street have for many years become excluded from the "in-crowd" of downtown attractions as they sat on the other side of a busy three lane artery that is free of stop signs and where cars coming from the Glenn Highway or the port of Anchorage often accelerate up to 40 mph south toward Midtown. If you're not catching on, C Street is such a wide and divisive road that it has become the unofficial boundary line between West Downtown and East Downtown. Though the city has been making an effort for years now, East Downtown continues to lag way behind the lively West, and I think C Street may be a factor. Now of course a set of lights will not cure all the problems, rather there is still a long way to go; but it's start. Besides the lighted intersection, the proposed controversial Highway to Highway project would keep commuters on the Glenn Highway and direct them into the Seward Highway rather than having traffic leave the highway in large numbers and flooding into C Street like a gush of water breaking through a dam. And it's not just C Street that is a problem. It's also A Street, 5th Avenue, and 6th Avenue. In the meantime, it will be nice to see how things are next summer once the new museum is open and pedestrians are no longer having to make a mad dash to the other side so as to not become roadkill.

Title 21 public discussion

This Thursday at noon the Muni will be hosting a brown bag discussion on the Title 21 Rewrite that is open for all who are interested. From the email:

"This is an opportunity to ask questions and learn about Anchorage’s recommended new off-street parking regulations relative to the other site development provisions in Title 21 that are now going forward to the municipal Planning & Zoning Commission for deliberation and action. The brown bag agenda includes a 20-minute presentation and 30 minutes for dialogue, Q and A. Participants will get an overview and have opportunities to ask questions about topics such as:

* How the required number of parking spaces is (and is not) changing;
* Flexible parking standards that recognize different project locations and characteristics;
* How the number of spaces affects user convenience, development costs, location, and Anchorage 2020 policies;
* Balancing quality and quantity: parking space dimensions, landscaping, and lighting; and
* Balancing trip choice: placement of buildings near sidewalks; maintaining driver convenience; required walkways; bicycle parking; share-a-ride and transit"

"The Brown Bag will be from 12 noon to 1 p.m. in the Planning and Development Center's Training Room, 4700 Elmore Road, Anchorage".

For those not in the know, Title 21 is the Municipalities guide that deals with planning and land use codes. It's been 400 years since it was last updated, but with the city adopting the Anchorage 2020 Comprehensive Plan back in 2001, a rewrite of Title 21 is needed in order to carry out what Anchorage 2020 calls for. This includes greater pedestrian friendliness, alternative uses of transportation, and more sustainable use of land. To respond to this, Title 21 is being rewritten with codes that include zoning changes, restrictions on surface parking lots, financial benefits for developers of mixed-use projects, and other new standards. The large stack of papers that is Title 21 is to be reviewed and possibly amended chapter by chapter by the Anchorage Assembly. Several chapters have already been passed, and if I'm correct, there's only a small amount left.

As you can see, I provided a link to the Muni's page on Title 21, but consider yourself warned! Any attempt to read every document relating to Title 21 without getting off your chair is certain to create severe blood circulation problems. If you must read it all, please take breaks and stretch every once in a while.