Blount St. Project

Post:National Geographic films moving of 350 ton house.

    

The orange light in the distance is the Krispy Kreme. (You may click to enlarge any of these pics).  The project is based on 21 acres purchased from the State.  This is just about an eighth of it, looking from Burning Coal’s new home.  We live across the street, so I thought I would follow the project.  I love watching construction. And house-moving!

 

This is a big, messy, complicated project that has been bitten badly by the downturn.  Their website, which RDUwtf called “one of the trippiest realty sites…ever seen”  has been changed since… no more helicopter ride into Victorian raleigh.. they say they are working on a new video.

informative post from The Raleigh Connoiseur

Indy article

WRAL video clip

recent news from GoGoRaleigh

bankruptcy and resumption of project

    

 The big concern for us – as it was with the state motor pool – is the water which collects on this high plateau extending from downtown.  It has nowhere to go except into a storm sewer which re-empties itself on to the surface and pours down Pell Street ( unless it is blocked and floods my next door neighbor’s front yard).  My kids played in the “Pell Street River” growing up, just after any heavy rains.  Nowadays the Pell Street River is red clay muddy, and a major concern for the former Neuse riverkeeper who lives across Pell from us.

The Pell Street River Story

     When my children were little and we had a quick big rain, they would play in the gutter on our side street, Pell.  Quite a flow of water collected on the plateau of Person Street and emerged at the surface on to Pell Street, which has no underground storm pipes oafter the first thirty feet.  We sent small sailboats down the flow, and experimented with sending objects down the storm drain above, and then watch them re-emerge.  The kids and I called it the Pell Street River.  With the new project in process across the street, we wondered how the Pell Street River would change.

This is what we were afraid of:

When there is significant rain, the plateau just south of the Krispy Kreme collects water over a large area and sends it into a small channel: a storm sewer on the west side of Person which sends it under the street to join the run-off coming down Person, and then transmits all this to the SURFACE at Pell Street, sending it washing down into Oakwood.

cloudburst July 6, 2008

Pell Street River descends

Pell Street River emerges on Pell

down to Bloodworth

 The management of water and the long exposures of clay are a problem. 

         

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Moving the houses is the truly fascinating part.  And for this project, they are moving them like checker pieces.  Check back for more as the project proceeds!

July house-moving post

                         

Huge House Gets Settled

                      

                       

          

Blount St. house settled on foundation

new construction