Dana,

If I was in the City Council, I would have a VERY hard time to vote either way. For one, I love this building and I think that as a fast-growing city, Raleigh needs these facilities to help our public servants do their job, knowing they have good backing. Never mind the price tag, since the needed “infrastructure” is going to be the factor more than any perceived “luxurious amenities”.

However, the question must be asked: Can we afford it right now? If I have to pay an additional $5 per month, then it is fine with me. We all need the services our policemen and firemen provide, and we must demand a “command center” that can support them well, but regardless of the savings in material and construction costs, we may not be able to afford this wonderful building right now. I truly want this, but I must say I am happy I won’t have to vote on it…

Merry Christmas to all!!!

I’m pretty sure that it was an intentional decision not to put an obvious point of weakness and vulnerability into the public safety building.

Exactly what CarnifeX said. While I am and HUGE fan of retail, there’s no way to add leasable retail space into a public safety center filled with a handful of government agencies, including the entire Police Department. Same goes with the Justice Center. No retail in it either for the exact reason. Sadly Nash Square will always stay government central, apart from the few spaces (to be filled one year) in the Hue and the up and downs of Martin Street storefronts.

Wow! All this money spend on police, military, occupying several countries and we are not safe enough to put a retail space in the bottom of our public safety center. Let’s all just cower by the brick wall and feel safe together.

I second Dana’s thinking on adding a blank wall to that area.

I forgot to write that I really LOVE the top of this building. In regards to Ernest’s point about costs, I don’t really know what the construction market is like right now (steel costs, concrete costs, etc), but it might be a great time to lock in on a contract. My assumption is that the companies need the work, so we’d probably get a good rate.

As far as the walled in canyon goes, I forgot to mention that this all started with AT&T’s decision to ruin their building (on the East side of McDowell).

I wonder what ever happened to the idea Thomas Crowder mentioned in a city council meeting: taking the former Reynolds tower site on Hillsborough and putting the new police and (later) city hall on THAT site, tearing down the current govt facility, and selling the prime real estate to developers who could put in residential/office over retail. It certainly would be better for Nash Square.

Also, I think that the renderings show a coffee shop scenario. This would not be owned by the city, but would be leased space to some person who wants to run a coffee shop there. IF that’s the case, then why not orient some of this stuff toward Salisbury. Also, if that’s the case, then why couldn’t one or two more retail spaces work there (NOT bars, BTW).

I wonder if Staples, OfficeMax, etc are interested in doing an “express” kind of store: something along the lines of a UPS Store (shipping, copying) plus basic supplies (no furniture, no tech hardware – only ink and small supples). Something like that, especially in the shadows of a law school and many legal offices nearby.

Dana,

The construction costs (labor and material) are definitely low these days and I hope that we’ll be able to lock some reasonable prices. Of course, we can expect the total cost to go way above the $205 million mentioned here, but that is normally anticipated and factored in the plans.

Also, I like the idea of an office supply store, or something similar. Even if the city cannot incorporate retail in this project, they may do so in the future, in the same block.