Projects & Construction:
Broad Branch Distillery:
After being in contact with industry experts, such as Sherman Owen, Nancy Fraley, and Frank Williams, Broad Branch is ready to sell it's first product. Nightlab 1.0 uses hops, along with the traditional corn, malted barley, rye and sugar. John Fragakis said "The processes are crude and ancient, but the nuances are hard to believe." The mash cooker and still were custom designed designed by famed Appalachian distiller Frank Williams and manufactured in Portland by Global Stainless Systems. This is designed to be a large distilling operation. It will use non-GMO corn and rye from Western N.C., artesian well water from from the Sauratown Mountains area of Winston-Salem, and sugar from the Lula Sugar Factory in Louisiana. Broad Branch has rum aging and is preparing for their first batches of bourbon. This will be a farm-to-glass distillery. Fragakis said "We just felt we definitely wanted to be part of what's going on downtown. We wanted to be part of an urban setting."
Credit: Covington - TBJ / Business Journal
Credit: Covington - TBJ / Business Journal
Credit: Covington - TBJ / Business Journal
WSSU - Best HBCU in N.C.:
Winston-Salem State University is among the top five best Historically Black Colleges and Universities, according to College Choice. Winston-Salem State is also ranked as the best HBCU in North Carolina.
WSPD South District Station:
This is now under construction! City Council awarded H.M. Kern the contract to renovate the historic 1834 Nissen Wagon Works building into a police station for the 200 District. It will have a public space, offices, and a roll call room. It should be completed in Spring 2016. #CityOfAdaptiveReuse
Credit: Wake Forest University Library
The Variable Wins Advertising Age Award:
The Variable, which is moving to downtown's IQ District, won Advertising Age's Silver Award for Southeast Small Agency of the Year. This is the company that makes the Johnsonville Brats ads, along with many others. I've tried to find construction photographs of their new headquarters; which is an adaptive reuse of an old one-storey warehouse, built in 1916, into a two-storey office building. However, no one is sharing any progress updates. Construction should be completed next month. There are several advertising firms moving into the IQ District, including two nationally known firms. It's becoming the southeast's version of the old Madison Avenue.
Mullen Advertising Agency:
Continuing with the theme... This is our first update on this project! Yes, this is a block away from the project above.
Credit: Jordan Rowell
Grubb Properties / 641 West Fourth Street?
Looking toward Grubb Property's site. What will we see on this site? According to the rumors, it will be something tall. We still haven't seen an official announcement, though.
Credit: TowniesWS
Alta Vista Skate Park:
Last month, City Council awarded a contract to Creative Design and Construction Inc., to create the concrete slab, sidewalks, fencing, and a bike rack. A second phase will add equipment from American Ramp and restrooms. The park will be constructed for all skill levels and will be free (no admission). The signature attraction will be a pump-track that will wind in a 120-foot circuit with banks and humps to challenge the skateboarders. “You roll over a series of rollers and berms to propel yourself forward,” said Tim Babcock with American Ramp Co.,. Construction will be completed in the fall.
Trade Street Market:
The adaptive reuse project at Sixth, Liberty, and Trade streets (in the downtown Arts District) is called Trade Street Market. This will become an arcade, created from two formerly vacant historic buildings. One of the buildings is a multi-storey Neo-Gothic structure from 1923. Since this is a large project, we can add it to our list and follow it. While most downtown projects are luxury, this should be a more affordable place to eat and shop for the artists living and working in downtown's Arts District neighborhood. Tenants signed include a cigar store, a barber shop, a Mexican buffet restaurant, a clothing store, a UPS Store, Pulliam's hot dogs, an ice cream shop, and a Thai buffet restaurant. I've heard the alley beside the project will be used for outdoor dining. It's projects like this that add to the creative and fun feel of the district.
Since we have seen the exterior on a previous post, why don't we look at the basement!
Original Furnace:
http://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townn...pg?resize=1050
Credit: Andrew Dye / JournalNow
http://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townn...pg?resize=1050
Credit: Andrew Dye / JournalNow
Fallout Shelter:
http://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townn...pg?resize=1050
Credit: Andrew Dye / JournalNow
Kimpton's The Cardinal Hotel & Residences:
HVAC Installation from last week.
Credit: David Heckler
McHugh Sisters Flats:
An update from DWSP on Salem College's new downtown residence hall.
Credit: Jason Thiel
This building was designed to look similar to the Victorian Second Empire rowhouses in the neighborhood.
It looks great with the neighboring Second Empire rowhouses on the left side of this photograph:
Credit: Jason Thiel
Technology Infrastructure:
City of Winston-Salem Fiber Optic Network:
The City of Winston-Salem has decided to install a stand-alone fiber optic network. City Council approved buying the equipment and will complete this project later this year. NWN will supply the equipment and Performance Cabling Technologies will install it. The city fiber optic cables will piggyback with the fiber optic cables the state is installing for a massive city-wide transit, emergency services, and traffic management project in the city. This is separate from the AT&T Gigabit Network and the North State Gigabit Network. I think another company has fiber in Winston-Salem and is preparing to also compete with AT&T and North State for gigabit speed internet customers, too? With all of the competition in Winston-Salem, I expect gigabit speed internet to become very affordable in the near future. It's great to be a "tech city."
Alternative Transportation Infrastructure:
East-West Expressway Bike & Pedestrian Path:
We have renderings for the bicycle commuter path from the North Carolina Department of Transportation. This project includes everything from tunnels to bridges to a flyover ramp! Cyclists in Winston-Salem are saying this will give them equality with cars. Due to the path exiting to sidewalks in some locations, they must open the bicycle commuter path to pedestrians, but it is being designed for bicycle commuting. You can also see the bicycle flyover ramp. I would love to try that! I think this is also a 1.1 mile (1.8 kilometer) segment U.S. Bicycle Route 80?
Read about U.S. Bicycle Route System:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United...e_Route_System
View of the Bicycle Commuter Lane from driver's point-of-view: (the lane is on the right with the railing)
Credit: NC DOT
The view from the bike & pedestrian lane:
Credit: NC DOT
A view of the Flyover Ramp and Proposed Bridge (the blue bridge is not the final design - see final design in next image):
Credit: NC DOT
The blue bridge is just a place holder generic image. This is the actual bridge proposed with the bicycle flyover ramp:
Credit: NC DOT
That is likely the best image I've seen of Walter Hood's Land Bridge for bicycles.
Big Announcement This Week:
National Black Theatre Festival:
The National Black Theatre Festival is happening in downtown Winston-Salem right now! If you're in Winston-Salem this week, be sure to buy tickets and see some of the world's best artists/performers. This week, the NBTF will officially announce their Hall of Fame project in downtown Winston-Salem. It appears as if it will be built near the Stevens Center? We could have all of the details on this project on our next update! You can see part of the exhibits that will be in the Hall of Fame by visiting the New Winston Museum.