I was taken aback when I saw the new East Ave. Wegmans construction. Approaching the store on East Ave. from the east, it looked like a giant wall along Winton.
Big Box, welcome to the neighborhood.
Rendering of view from East & Winton
Indeed, the renderings of the final design of the east side of the building look very wall-like. There will be plants and a nice sign, but the back of the building is to a major arterial.
I get why the neighborhood fought to have architectural elements included in the design, but there’s only so much you can do to dress up a big box. I shop at the East Ave. Wegmans and I’m very much looking forward to the new store, but I can’t say I’m happy at how this is progressing.
The south and west sides of the new store will be quite attractive. But when you get off the highway at University/East/Winton, you’ll see the Wegmans Wall.
Rendering of east side of Wegmans East. Ave.
Links of the Day:
- A developer broke ground on Brooks Court, a 29-home subdivision near Brooks Landing. A cul de sac will be built on the 4.5 acre parcel. The layout and the homes are positively suburban. It seems like a weird fit for the 19th Ward.
- The developer of BayTowne Plaza in Penfield thinks he can “replicate a traditional town center combined with a massive Super Walmart and an ocean of parking.” That’s simply not possible.
- Buffalo and Rochester have the lowest percentage of underwater homes in the country.
- Syracuse has a large mural made up of QR codes that can only be seen on cell phones.
- The New York State Fair discovered outsourcing bathrooms doesn’t work.
Looks much better than many of the buildings around the are still though. No complaints from me.
Isn’t this a huge improvement over the old store?
The Winton-East-University intersections are so busy, with turning lanes, merges, and a high volume of traffic, that sightseeing is almost out of the question for motorists. You had better concentrate on driving. Very few hardy pedestrians pass by, and they have to focus on the traffic as well. The car is the problem, not the architecture.
You mean we’re not going to get the faux window look they put along the wall on Monroe Ave. in Pittsford?
Sort of like that beautiful wall at University and Culver? We do like walls in this town. Must be our mural gene.
I don’t get the reasons for any concern/ Have you looked at the many eyesores all around that area? The Wegmans installation is vastly superior in quality and aesthetics to the mish-mash of ugliness all around it. I see it as a major improvement, wall or no wall. Seems like grasping at straws to find some negatives when one should applaud Wegmans for constructing yet another state-of-the-art facility that will serve the community in myriad ways.
Sometimes it’s not what you do, it’s what you won’t do. Like develope mini-stores in the inner-city.
I can’t recall the last time Wegmans did something really bad and when hearing about it, did not take action. Considering all they do for this city and their commitment to this area I think we owe them the benefit of the doubt and let us see what the final product looks like before we put up complaints. If it ends up ugly, they will make it pretty.
I am amazed that Wegmans went through the bother with East Ave store. They could have kept it the way it is and put the millions in another area super store in Boston Philly etc. Their net gain would have been far greater w/new store in a major city. As a city, we need to get off their backs and support their new investments in this area vs constant opposition by a few in the minority. .
we should declare it a landmark like folks wanted for the buildings that were torn down for the site. We could say it was representative of post-modern box architecture.
“Must be our mural gene”
I’d rather have a blank wall than those “works of art” on St. Paul! The mural on the wall behind the Purple Plaza at Winton and East has got to be the most boring (albeit non-scandalous) mural I’ve ever seen. If we must have murals, let’s keep it to flowers, fruits and vegetables. And butterflies. I like butterflies.
isn’t it cool when a blank wall is deemed better than one with a mural on it?
Cul de sacs are terrible. Why did the city allow this? http://www.theatlanticcities.com/design/2011/09/street-grids/124/
First of all, Those aren’t the final design renderings. Unfortunately the final design doesn’t exist anywhere on the internet, but can be seen hanging on a the wall at the East Ave. Customer Service Desk. I can still think so many ways it could be improved.
I wish people would stop being so ridiculous about Wall Therapy. The Project was a great gift to our city and the murals are world-class. Although I personally think our local FUA Krew does better work on North Clinton. Blank walls must go!
Yes, those are the final designs. The bottom pic was dated 6/11, the same week the city gave final approval. The upper pic was dated 3/11 and doesn’t differ from the bottom one.
I believe the bottom, but the upper pic is quite different than the ones posted up at Wegmans.
Hmmm, these are the ones submitted to the city for its approval, so I can’t imagine they can legally deviate.
Link to story about Buffalo being rude goes to BayTowne story.
Thanks – it’s fixed
That tidal wave of a wall is an insult to the neighbors. “Here, look at my naked back side while I put lovely clothes on the front bits.” There is a solution, though. Tear down the Wendy’s and Buckman’s on the other side of the street, for parking, paint the wall white, and make it the first urban drive-in theatre ever built!
“That tidal wave of a wall is an insult to the neighbors”.
No its not. A minor insult would be to keep the East ave store the way it was. A major insult would have been to close that store.
That supposed ‘wall’ insult to the neighbors here, is a begged for ‘insult’ by over 25000 letters asking for a Wegmans to be built in their area, nation wide.
Hopefully, when the East Ave. Wegmans is finished it will look like the artist renderings. I think it will because Wegmans usually does what they promise.
Guys we all Know Rachel Barnhart is just playing Devils advocate.This new Wegmans will be awesome! So good for that area!
Not Awesome…
Oh god…. I was under the assumption that Brooks Court was going to be new urban housing, but why am I not surprised?
Did you notice the schools link from Brooks Court web page was to:
http://www.pittsfordschools.org/
Now that’s funny.
Amen
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Thank god that claustrophobic dump is gone.
You guys are complaining about a “wall”! Try living in the capitol of New York State, which is Albany by the way and having to travel 120 miles to get to any Wegmans. With gas edging towards $4 per gallon that has significantly decreased my trips to the Dewitt Wegmans (closest location). But now I can look forward to driving 180 miles and shopping in Boston!
NOTE to Wegmans delivery trucks – feel free to stop in Albany as you drive by our exit on the Thruway – we’ll treat you to a coffee!
I don’t know what the Wegman family has about our area but if it relates to the Golub family, enough! There don’t appear to be any qualms about going into anyone else’s backyard, i.e. Shaw’s and Stop and Shop in MA.
Would love to have someone from Wegmans respond to this as no one from the company ever responds to the numerous emails and letters we send on a regular basis!