Ithacating in Cornell Heights

http://www.ci.ithaca.ny.us/vertical/Sites/%7B5DCEB23D-5BF8-4AFF-806D-68E7C14DEB0D%7D/uploads/%7BDF57AF0F-5E85-427B-88A1-72ED7A93962D%7D.PDF

Watch the hippies flip when they find out Walmart is proposing an expansion. It’s not like someone didn’t try to bomb it or anything. Oh wait:

(May 2005) Ithaca, NY: Federal officials say the package found last month behind the Wal-Mart in Ithaca was an improvised explosive device. It had a battery on the bottom and a kitchen timer on top. The Wal-Mart and surrounding businesses were evacuated and a bomb dog called in. Authorities destroyed the package by shooting it with a shotgun. It broke apart, but did not explode. Nine officers came in contact with a liquid from the package that forced them to be quarantine for a short time [1].

Also notable is the expansion of the Cayuga Place Condos (a reduction of units from 45 to 30, but an increase from six to seven floors).

And, from an article in the ithaca times about the Collegetown Vision statement:

…That’s everything,” said Mallis. “How the whole area is to be treated both in terms of new developing and preserving the existing character of the place. As you see in reading the vision statement, this is very important to a lot of people to preserve Collegetown, but at the same time to create opportunities for undergrad student housing in ways that do not continue to invade communities like Bell Sherman that have single family homeowners living in it. That will mean increasing densities along College Avenue, but also increasing densities in a way that are not at all like Dryden Road in the mid-80s where you had six story apartment blocks that were put up and didn’t do a lot for the quality of the place.”…

“…The goal for Collegetown is to have all buildings be mixed use, meaning that retail will be on the ground floor with a visibility from the street of 75% to avoid teeny tiny windows. If all goes well, once a developer is named who has a similar vision, there could be a retail store on the ground floor of an apartment building or office space. ” [2]

Well, the article is a little off on its years. Let’s go through a list and some dates of construction for the major apartment blocks of C’Town.

-Collegetown Plaza (the flatiron) was built in 1989.

-312 College Avenue was built in 1999 (and inspired the 2000 moratorium).

-Collegetown Court was built in 1980.

-The Ciaschi Block (where Stella’s is) was built in 1988. Collegetown Center was built in 1997.

-Sheldon and Casca were extensively renovated in the 1980s (1983-84). Sheldon gained one floor, Casca two.

-307 Eddy, The Fontana Building (Dunbar’s), 217 Linden, 301 Eddy, and 305 Eddy  are 4-5 stories, and were built in the late 1980s onward, 301 being the last in 2002.

-The building where Student Agencies is was built in 2000 to replace a four-story building that burnt down in 1998 [3]. The former building, the Rulloff’s Building and the CTB building (415 College) date from the 1800s (renovated at various points).

-More recently, the Starbuck’s building (404 College) was completed in 2005/06. And at 320 Dryden are the new Top-of-the-Hill Apartments, which are 4 1/2 stories.

The only building that falls into their categorization is the Eddygate Park Apartments building at 110 Dryden. The curved building was built in 1986.

(Collegetown in Sept. 1985 – courtesy of “Upsilon Andromedae” on flickr.)

So yeah…I’m really curious to see where they pulled that statistic from. and I’m looking forward to the final presentation by Goody Clancy.

[1]http://www.carrollcitizens.com/files/WalmartCrimeandSaftey.pdf

[2]http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19854197&BRD=1395&PAG=461&dept_id=546876&rfi=6

[3]http://cornellsun.com/node/392