The A63 Castle Street would never had been built on this alignment and would have never truncated what was the Old Town in its entirety (thus severing Princes Dock, now Princes Quay and Humber Dock, now the Marina) had it not been for Smith & Nephew using its then clout to prevent what is now the A63 Clive Sully taking a straight line nearer the Estuary and taking up some of their land. How ironic that the now American owned world wide company(Glaxo?) may well in time pull out of the city. That was then and this is now as they say. As for the new hotel - bring it on - the city is crying out for an iconic tall building and has been for years. Investment of this sort cannot be turned away - it will tie in well with the aspirations of the city once Siemens are up and running. Would have liked to see an equivalent of the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth also - maybe something for later? People have differing views on any sort of development - the Shard in London is coming in for quite a bit of stick at the moment - iconic or totally out of place in this part of London?
The alignment of the A1033/A63 is a bit odd but not unique to Hull. I would have thought the best option would have been a cut and fill method with a submerged section of road from Myton Bridge to Arco. Forget about a junction at Commercial Street from the through road and get on with it. People will mention the flooding aspect but there are products out there that could give a waterproof concrete system stopping ingress from the Marina and the Dock. A pump system could be put in to get rid of water from within in the event of flooding inside the road. Birmingham has a cut and fill through the city centre and we have numerous tunnels under the Thames etc. A proper tunnel would be the best option to be fair. Going underground at Arco and coming back up beyond Victoria Dock. I read during the construction of the massive **** pipe put in by Yorkshire water under the city that you could drive through it when it was built and its obvious that the ground can take such a development. Biggest hurdle with such developments is that tunnels cost about £170,000 a yard (see link) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-13924687 That sort of capital expenditure is not viable in the city at the moment and probably never would be.
Am I the only one who thinks a panoramic view of Hull isn't really a selling point? Even if you look out over the river you have Immingham slowly poisoning the skyline and a few mangy seagulls gasping for air? Having said that, you might be able to see into the KC on matchdays, which is a plus for guests with really good eye sight.
Whatever happened to out 'other' tower block that was going to be built in Hull City Centre? Or for a bigger picture: http://www.skyscrapernews.com/image...769FirstModernHighRisePlannedForHull_pic1.jpg
Well, Manchester has an Hilton, but do you think the guests want to see Moss Side, Ancoats, Hulme & Salford? It's about time we got some money pumped into our city centre. I noticed today in the paper, the government are giving places like Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester, & Newcaslte money to do up their cities- but nowt about Hull.
Was that meant to be where Edwin Davis' old store was? What's funny is that if you look at Kingston House Tower on the other side of Bond Street, at 1st/2nd floor level, there is what can only be a doorway........it was to give access on to a covered walkway which would have crossed Bond Street to the building directly opposite (i.e. where the 'Scotch Mist' tower of your pic was planned)...Hahaha
Whittling Stick pretty much answered your question for me... It's already been agreed and the funding passed - doubt they'd have got funding for a brand new hospital. They're spending a lot of money on it though. They're building a helipad at the back of the main HRI block. It was more based on what I've seen of what Hull City Council actually knocked down in order to build Castle St - they took the quickest, easiest and more importantly, the cheapest option. Myton Bridge had to be built, there was no way they were ever going to shell out for a second one. Seen pics of Georgian townhouses and medieval buildings that were torn down for Castle St - 'bomb damage' was used as an excuse to tear down some really nice looking buildings. Also, I doubt they'd have wanted the regions busiest road to come to a stand-still whilst a leisure boat pops out for a sail. Witness the sad destruction... taken in 1925: The current marina is the bottom dock, the upper dock is where Princes Quay is now. You can see Hull City Hall and the maritime museum just north of the upper dock. Almost top right is the Guildhall, central top is the chimney stack which I believe was that of Hull Brewery, the Luftwaffe used it as a point of knowing where abouts they were over Hull, which is the reason The Maltings and St.Charles Borromeo are all still intact today, as obviously they weren't ever going to bomb something that helped them. Half way along the bottom dock is Warehouse 13, which I'm guessing is where you live? Look at all the rest along the street! Then the top right corner of the bottom dock is where Ask restaurant is now...look to the left of it, all those warehouses where the patch of grass in front of Princes Quay is now. Look to the right of where Ask is and you can see how much had to be knocked down to build Castle St.
Great photo dazzar! Though it's interesting when you say W/Stick almost answered my question - the "Inner Ring Road" was originally planned to run from Daltry Street Interchange (S & Neph) up Rawling Way (which now has a constriction to it, by Anlaby Road end). It was going to run along the old rail lines (old Hull Botanic rail sheds), up the back of Jackson's Bakery, over Botanic on a flyover and follow the old Hornsea/Withernsea line from there to East Hull (what is now Mount Pleasant?). I lived off Prinny Ave, and the last thing the majority of residents desired was that monstrosity of a road ruining our lives! We organised, petitioned and forced the council to back down. I agree with the feelings of everyone who wished the old warehouses had been preserved. They were both beautiful and historic. Hull City Council has always had a lot to answer for, for continuing what the Luftwaffe did. No real planning but always either 'grandiose' projects, or last-minute stop-gaps. Someone - Paul Gibson? - should compile a dossier of the things which were lost from Hull, due to the stupidity, or worse, of Hull City Council.
Hull must have the best panoramic south-facing views of any waterfront in Britain. We are talking expansive sunsets and dawns, constantly changing waterscapes - not turds and yuppie boxes like Newcastle and London. Unfortunately the ****S who decide things in this city built a load of hum drum suburban Barratt hutches on Vicky Dock instead of imaginative multi-level buildings. To the West they ****ed up a prime location by building a big car park for Frankie and Benny's, and Comet. You don't get many chances to change a city and our lot always seem to **** up from the Abercrombie Plan onwards. So many squandered opportunities to build a memorable city.
Top of the list is Queens Hall and The buildings where the Hull Daily Mail Offices once stood on Paragon St ? The Cool Guinness clock
I remember at the time of that planning application at Vicky Dock, one of the objectors put forward a model from Holland(aimed at developments in Hull as a whole), that all interesting old buildings should be protected and all completely contrasting modern buildings should be allowed between them. If I wasn't on my iPad I'd try and find the link, I'll look next week, it was a brilliant concept(every house had to look completely different to the one next door and people were queueing up to live there).
A lot of demolition in the Hull area seemed criminal but to be honest some buildings, whilst could be saved and done up, would cost a fortune in later years to maintain. There gets a point when a building just needs to come down, I'm not particularly pointing the finger at the old HDM building, but people get all misty eyed at saving something that for all practical purposes should be pulled down. The maintenance costs alone can be astronomical, but if money is no option then yes preservation is better.
I bet it went down like a lead balloon! Hull has always held to the principle of "Extra Lands" - which means that they have to have the whole site, for clearance, and total redevelopment. However, I do get the feeling that it's beginning to change a little. Am I wrong (St Stephens was a total scheme)?
