Even though I initially didn't like the design of the Civic Building at first, I'm really excited to see it completed. It's sleek but also inviting, and it'll hopefully be a stage for many great public events in the future.
Three months after first installing the ice rink, the canopy above is coming together. What looks like an ordinary open truss now will eventually be clad in a neat translucent . . . thing. I don't know what it is, but it'll glow at night.
You can see with the canopy how the rink will complete the "urban room" in front of Baja Fresh, visually enclosing the space and giving outdoor diners something to watch. (Will people eat outside at the same time of year when people are ice skating? Probably not. But the rink will double as a stage when it's warm.)
It's always gratifying to see a building come to fruition. We'll hopefully celebrate the opening of the Civic Building and Veterans' Plaza on July 1, just in time for summer. In the meantime, let's take a trip through the past year of construction with this slideshow.
So this will be an outdoor rink, yes? Do we know if they will cover the rink with a stage completely in the summer or will people be able to rollerblade on it? I'm sure Silver Spring officials want to downplay the attraction for rollerbladers and skaters. And it looks like it will be smaller than a standard-size rink
The rink will be too small for hockey (but hey, that's what The Gardens are for), but Gary Stith proudly boasted back in 2007 that it'll be close in size to the famous rink at Rockefeller Center in New York City.
In the summers . . . my understanding is that the rink will be covered up (like for Wizards games at the Verizon Center) and be used as, like, an amphitheater. I don't know if it'll be set up well for rollerblading/skating. But the kids could find a way.
Something I just noticed in passing by. The whole civic center should have been mirrored. The Ice Rink really hides part of the facade. It could'a been in front of the apendage part of the elevation. I love it all the same!
I'm wondering if putting the ice rink at the corner of Ellsworth and Fenton would have blocked the view of the civic building from the corner, or in theatre terms, "upstaging" it.
@Kathryn
"Fenestration" was rarely used even when I was in architecture school. I don't know why. It's a great word to have around.
@ Reed, I would have left the rink there and flipped the building. That would also have made the Civic building more prominant from the fountain space up Ellsworth. I think the original renderings showed a grade issue off Ellsworth which from the looks of it, isn't there, thankfully, but now it looks like the rink is crowding the civic building facade. It'll be cool none the less.
I can see that. I also wondered about the grade change along Ellsworth (there was a rendering of it on the project website that I can't find), though I'm not sure if that's been resolved. The plaza itself hasn't been built yet, so we might get a little surprise in the near future.
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So this will be an outdoor rink, yes? Do we know if they will cover the rink with a stage completely in the summer or will people be able to rollerblade on it? I'm sure Silver Spring officials want to downplay the attraction for rollerbladers and skaters. And it looks like it will be smaller than a standard-size rink
The rink will be too small for hockey (but hey, that's what The Gardens are for), but Gary Stith proudly boasted back in 2007 that it'll be close in size to the famous rink at Rockefeller Center in New York City.
In the summers . . . my understanding is that the rink will be covered up (like for Wizards games at the Verizon Center) and be used as, like, an amphitheater. I don't know if it'll be set up well for rollerblading/skating. But the kids could find a way.
Something I just noticed in passing by. The whole civic center should have been mirrored.
The Ice Rink really hides part of the facade. It could'a been in front of the apendage part of the elevation. I love it all the same!
I like that you found a use for the word "fenestration", one of the oddest words in the English language.
@Melanie
I'm wondering if putting the ice rink at the corner of Ellsworth and Fenton would have blocked the view of the civic building from the corner, or in theatre terms, "upstaging" it.
@Kathryn
"Fenestration" was rarely used even when I was in architecture school. I don't know why. It's a great word to have around.
@ Reed,
I would have left the rink there and flipped the building. That would also have made the Civic building more prominant from the fountain space up Ellsworth. I think the original renderings showed a grade issue off Ellsworth which from the looks of it, isn't there, thankfully, but now it looks like the rink is crowding the civic building facade. It'll be cool none the less.
Melanie,
I can see that. I also wondered about the grade change along Ellsworth (there was a rendering of it on the project website that I can't find), though I'm not sure if that's been resolved. The plaza itself hasn't been built yet, so we might get a little surprise in the near future.
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