Florance SC Public Library cost to build in 2004 -15,000,000 with a 6 million doller foundation grant BTW that is real Indiana limestone-
http://74.255.101.82/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC_1033new.jpg
BTW a 15 min walk from the Amtrak depot.
Albany NY finished a Amtrak Station in 2005 that cost 50,000,000 dollers and here is what they got-
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/48/RensselaerRailStation_crop.JPG/300px-RensselaerRailStation_crop.JPG
That florence public library looks like it's worth every penny of the fifteen million spent on it! Just gorgeous!
The Amtrack station? Not bad, but for FIFTY million?
Are you sure that fifty "big ones" price tag is correct?
Firelock76Are you sure that fifty "big ones" price tag is correct?
It's in the capital of NY state (well, next door). What did you expect?
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
tree68 Firelock76 Are you sure that fifty "big ones" price tag is correct? It's in the capital of NY state (well, next door). What did you expect?
Firelock76 Are you sure that fifty "big ones" price tag is correct?
Well, I wasn't going to SAY anything.....
It COULD get political, and we'd all get in trouble. Again.
Firelock76 tree68 Firelock76 It's in the capital of NY state (well, next door). What did you expect? Well, I wasn't going to SAY anything..... It COULD get political, and we'd all get in trouble. Again.
tree68 Firelock76 It's in the capital of NY state (well, next door). What did you expect?
Firelock76
Railroading and politics have been intertwined since before the laying of the First Stone of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad - and every day since.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Firelock76Well, I wasn't going to SAY anything.....
It's a fairly general comment.
When it gets down to verbal fisticuffs, "my guy is better than your guy," etc, that's another story.
Since I admire and sometimes stroll around Albany station during my layovers there, and since I've always apreciated Greek Revival architecture, I feel as qualified as the next guy to venture an opinion on this matter.
Why the difference between $15m and $50m? I don't know for sure, but here's what I'll venture:
1. the station building project involved significant, if not total, re-configuration and rebuilding of the track work, for who knows how many feet or miles;
2. the cost of doing everything in New York is probably higher than in South Carolina for a variety of reasons. The Albany (sorry, that's my name for it, just as I call Emeryville, Oakland ) station was probably built with a large percentage of the labor force being paid a (living) union wage; I'll bet the percentage in SC that was non-unionized is larger. Probably not as many people were on the construction crews there, but I don't know.
3. The Albany station was built at the height of New York's recent corruption scandals. Shel Silverman and what's-his-name can naturally be expected to have contributed to whatever cost over-runs or inflated prices accrued. Just as in the days of Boss Tweed, graft and corruption cost citizens real dollars. I'll wager the cost of corruption in SC is lower than that of NY; their politicians cost less. Plus, the SC project doesn't lend itself as well to corruption and inflated prices because the over-lapping agencies that had to work together to build Albany Station were probably mercifully absent on the SC project.
Now, all that being said, I like both buildings very much. The Albany station has a neo-Dutch or Knickerbocker Revival sort of look to it. It's modern and attractive and as a station it's very welcoming to the traveler with all sorts of useful services and businesses inside. It's also a suitable station for the Capital City of the Empire State. It replaces a couple of cinderblock buildings that demeaned everyone who used them; they were a disgrace to such an important city as Albany. This new station is probably my favorite new station in the USA for the past 20 years (from what I know).
The Florence public library, in my opinion, is drop-dead gorgeous; the arcades give it just the right modern touch. This lovely building with it's human-sized scale, will be a credit to that city for many years to come. But I bet it has no extensive trackwork, no humongous parking deck, no significant union labor, and no need to keep services going without interruption during its construction.
Bottom line: both cities got really beautiful buildings that will be credits to them for scores of years to come. Besides, scrimping on such civic assets seldom pays any dividends.
construction in warms climates costs less than things built in the freeze/thaw part of the country. For example, the frost depth in New York probably goes down 4 feet. In South Carolina, I'd guess the frost line is about 48" less than that. Right there is a couple million off the cost of the concrete work.
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
While I personally prefer the clean lines of Miesian modern architecture, I also appreciate a well-executed restoration. What I could do without are the various new suburban stations and other buildings that are designed in a retro style that is a misguided attempt at nostalgia.
A city near me recently started to redo their City haul total cost is going to be over 3 Million dollars. Wal-Mart came into the city total cost for their Building was less than 5 Million. The city hall is 20K square feet. Wal-Mart put up a 140K square foot building from nothing and paved the parking lot for that amount. Who got a better deal the City or Wal-Mart for their money.
Shadow the Cats owner A city near me recently started to redo their City haul total cost is going to be over 3 Million dollars. Wal-Mart came into the city total cost for their Building was less than 5 Million. The city hall is 20K square feet. Wal-Mart put up a 140K square foot building from nothing and paved the parking lot for that amount. Who got a better deal the City or Wal-Mart for their money.
Johnny
Deggesty Shadow the Cats owner A city near me recently started to redo their City haul total cost is going to be over 3 Million dollars. Wal-Mart came into the city total cost for their Building was less than 5 Million. The city hall is 20K square feet. Wal-Mart put up a 140K square foot building from nothing and paved the parking lot for that amount. Who got a better deal the City or Wal-Mart for their money. I do not think that we can compare the two; each one had its own requirements which would not be met by the other's building.
I do not think that we can compare the two; each one had its own requirements which would not be met by the other's building.
Try this for math: What does it cost to renovate an old Walmart/other big store building into something useable for other than retail? Doing that would more than take care of any perceived price differential above. A Walmart is 4 block walls and a tin roof with a bunch of supports to hold it up on a big concrete slab. Easy to set up, easy to tear down. Definitely not built for the ages.
The Florance Library was 60% funded by a private fountation ( The Doctor Bruce and Lee Foundation ). I assume that one way to get around Public contruction costs is to have a private foundation or corperation take charge of the funding and management of the project and then lease or turn the project over to the public
https://goo.gl/maps/cgnLXpVFCEx is the Musuem and Headquarters for the Bruce and Lee foundations
CSSHEGEWISCH While I personally prefer the clean lines of Miesian modern architecture, I also appreciate a well-executed restoration. What I could do without are the various new suburban stations and other buildings that are designed in a retro style that is a misguided attempt at nostalgia.
Mies, Wright and other Prairie Schoolers, Arts & Crafts, Richardson Romanesque or Art Deco are just a few of distinctive late 19th-21st century architectural styles. The various revival styles such as the building in SC for me seem akin to looking at a contemporary painting "in the style of" (name your 19th century master). Not very original.
C&NW, CA&E, MILW, CGW and IC fan
Like Frank L. Wright architectural designs. Most Art Deco, and Contemporary designs. Non clutered. The building I just looked at on here is very nice in my opinion.
Quentin
Albany has a storied history of spending horrific amounts of money for little to no advantage.
One notable example is Empire State Plaza, complete with inadequate and deficiently built buildings, meaningless courtyards, and it even has tunnels for a totally unbuilt interstate highway.
Oh, and was built using eminent domain which resulted in the eviction of more than two important ethnic communities.
Lest we also forget that buildings like the defunct Penn Station and that Florence Library and other classical revival buildings actualy have steel or ironwork hidden behind their marble facades, let's not get too deep into that subtle deception. Or even Grand Central Terminal's imitation limestone walls.
Washington DC Union Station, which I adore, is also steel and ironwork behind marble facades and, as I recently learned, the much-admired statues of Centurions inside the station are actually made of paper mache and plaster.
Italians and Blacks but that was the age of emenate domain. BTW Empire State Plaza leaks and is falling appart,
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