Yet another collegetown bar bites the dust

Sadness.
[cornellsun.com]

Not gonna miss the bathrooms though.....

I had no idea Dunbar's had only been open for 2 years when I first stumbled in there in 1981. I assumed it had been there since the 60s.

It is comforting, however, to know it looked like a shithole right from the beginning.



Farewell, youth.

And there goes the one of the last reasons to go to Collegetown. How long does Rulloff's have left?

Trotsky
I had no idea Dunbar's had only been open for 2 years when I first stumbled in there in 1981. I assumed it had been there since the 60s.

It is comforting, however, to know it looked like a shithole right from the beginning.



Farewell, youth.

I too arrived in 1981, and likewise had assumed Dunbars had been around for years. It may have always looked like a shithole, but it was our shithole.

scoop85

Trotsky
I had no idea Dunbar's had only been open for 2 years when I first stumbled in there in 1981. I assumed it had been there since the 60s.

It is comforting, however, to know it looked like a shithole right from the beginning.



Farewell, youth.

I too arrived in 1981, and likewise had assumed Dunbars had been around for years. It may have always looked like a shithole, but it was our shithole.

Hopefully the very last song on the very last night was "American Pie," split awkwardly across two recordings.

The bar was on the site for a while before Pep bought it and renamed it Dunbar's. When I arrived on campus it was called The Gin Mill. Before that it was called Maury's.

Pep and Lee bought it in '79 and changed the name to Dunbar's in 1980. It was named after Pep's dog. That's the date the article refers to.

It breaks my heart. I loved that place.

Rulloffs closed in late 2014, and then reopened in 2015.
[dining.14850.com]

Ben Rocky '04
Rulloffs closed in late 2014, and then reopened in 2015.
[dining.14850.com]

Food writers should be stabbed in the face.

Were there any significant changes to Rulloff's structurally?

Trotsky

Ben Rocky '04
Rulloffs closed in late 2014, and then reopened in 2015.
[dining.14850.com]

Food writers should be stabbed in the face.

Were there any significant changes to Rulloff's structurally?

Please check the byline on that article and report back, Greg.

ugarte

Trotsky

Ben Rocky '04
Rulloffs closed in late 2014, and then reopened in 2015.
[dining.14850.com]

Food writers should be stabbed in the face.

Were there any significant changes to Rulloff's structurally?

Please check the byline on that article and report back, Greg.

Well, food writers except for Mark should be stabbed in the face...

RIP Dunbars. I knew ye well.

Trotsky
Were there any significant changes to Rulloff's structurally?

I stopped in shortly after the re-open last winter, and while I didn't go to the downstairs seating area, it sure looked the same to me. A little cleaned up and polished, too.

I posted a list in another thread, and present it, updated as best as I know:

Current Collegetown spots with a bar:
Collegetown Bagels
Resurrected Rulloff's
The Nines
Level B
Jack's Grill
Loco Cantina


RIP:
Palms
Dino's
Johnny's
Johnny O's
The Chariot
The Connection/Bear Den (College Ave)
Little Joe's
Pixel
Stella's
Chapter House*
Dunbar's

*Shall Rise Again from the ashes.

RichH
*Shall Rise Again from the ashes.

Some part of me hopes that the closing of Dunbar's will speed this process along a bit.

(Never much of a Dunbar's guy, but I did have the worst shot of my life there… so that's something.)

Scersk '97

RichH
*Shall Rise Again from the ashes.

Some part of me hopes that the closing of Dunbar's will speed this process along a bit.

(Never much of a Dunbar's guy, but I did have the worst shot of my life there… so that's something.)

Worst shot of my life was at The Connection. Best popcorn I've ever had was there, too.

Scersk '97

RichH
*Shall Rise Again from the ashes.

Some part of me hopes that the closing of Dunbar's will speed this process along a bit.

(Never much of a Dunbar's guy, but I did have the worst shot of my life there… so that's something.)

What was the name of that shot? Salsa by any chance?

toddlose

Scersk '97

RichH
*Shall Rise Again from the ashes.

Some part of me hopes that the closing of Dunbar's will speed this process along a bit.

(Never much of a Dunbar's guy, but I did have the worst shot of my life there… so that's something.)

What was the name of that shot? Salsa by any chance?

I'll give you an acronym: FLDA. The D was Worcestershire sauce, I believe. Casting about the internets for a recipe, I'm pretty sure the ringleader of this foolish shot drinking business just added that in for good measure.

Trotsky

Scersk '97

RichH
*Shall Rise Again from the ashes.

Some part of me hopes that the closing of Dunbar's will speed this process along a bit.

(Never much of a Dunbar's guy, but I did have the worst shot of my life there… so that's something.)

Worst shot of my life was at The Connection. Best popcorn I've ever had was there, too.

Ah, The Connection! Which was open, strangely, once my senior year, that I'm aware of. Seeing those lights on was like sighting the Flying Dutchman.

Scersk '97

toddlose

Scersk '97

RichH
*Shall Rise Again from the ashes.

Some part of me hopes that the closing of Dunbar's will speed this process along a bit.

(Never much of a Dunbar's guy, but I did have the worst shot of my life there… so that's something.)

What was the name of that shot? Salsa by any chance?

I'll give you an acronym: FLDA. The D was Worcestershire sauce, I believe. Casting about the internets for a recipe, I'm pretty sure the ringleader of this foolish shot drinking business just added that in for good measure.

The bartender sent me across the street to the Universal Deli to buy Worcestershire sauce specifically for this terrible idea.

RichH

Scersk '97

toddlose

Scersk '97

RichH
*Shall Rise Again from the ashes.

Some part of me hopes that the closing of Dunbar's will speed this process along a bit.

(Never much of a Dunbar's guy, but I did have the worst shot of my life there… so that's something.)

What was the name of that shot? Salsa by any chance?

I'll give you an acronym: FLDA. The D was Worcestershire sauce, I believe. Casting about the internets for a recipe, I'm pretty sure the ringleader of this foolish shot drinking business just added that in for good measure.

The bartender sent me across the street to the Universal Deli to buy Worcestershire sauce specifically for this terrible idea.

Not the shot that I got accustomed too. The shot I'm thinking of is bacardi 151, tequila and tobacco sauce. Just thinking about the taste (and smell) turns my stomach to this day.

toddlose

RichH

Scersk '97

toddlose

Scersk '97

RichH
*Shall Rise Again from the ashes.

Some part of me hopes that the closing of Dunbar's will speed this process along a bit.

(Never much of a Dunbar's guy, but I did have the worst shot of my life there… so that's something.)

What was the name of that shot? Salsa by any chance?

I'll give you an acronym: FLDA. The D was Worcestershire sauce, I believe. Casting about the internets for a recipe, I'm pretty sure the ringleader of this foolish shot drinking business just added that in for good measure.

The bartender sent me across the street to the Universal Deli to buy Worcestershire sauce specifically for this terrible idea.

Not the shot that I got accustomed too. The shot I'm thinking of is bacardi 151, tequila and tobacco sauce. Just thinking about the taste (and smell) turns my stomach to this day.

Tobacco sauce? That really sounds awful!

Guess I should have checked my reply before posting. Haha. For the record, it was tobasco sauce. It was bad.

I stopped in at Dunbar's after lunch in C-town this afternoon. Lee was there doing a little bit of shutdown work,

There's not a lot left. A few ceiling tiles, the bar and the booths along the north wall, and a couple of cheap beer signs nailed to the walls. He mentioned they have a couple of signed hockey sweaters (one from Mike Richter) that they're willing to sell, but pretty much everything worth having is gone.

Lee told me that it came down to a landlord who made things difficult for them (he actually had some choice words to describe her). It just became too stressful for Pep to keep the place open. It started affecting his health (he's in Florida R&R-ing for the next couple months). And given what they're building in place of the Palms - another 6 story apartment block - it wouldn't surprise me if the whole goal was to shut them down so she could build something big and gaudy in it's place.

Damn shame.

Too many prairie fires at Dunbar's.....tequila and Tabasco sauce. The boys used to buy them for me and dare me to drink them. I usually did. I think my stomach still has a lining but I'm not sure.

Cornell Sun reports that a new bar, Hideaway, will open in Dunbar's old location "before the fall semester." They're writing the name using Greek letters that look like Roman letters, starting with a capital eta for the "H". I remember the location as home of Morrie's.

David Harding
Cornell Sun reports that a new bar, Hideaway, will open in Dunbar's old location "before the fall semester." They're writing the name using Greek letters that look like Roman letters, starting with a capital eta for the "H". I remember the location as home of Morrie's.

Regarding that old Sun article, that's quite the waggish caption to a photo with violent undertones.

David Harding
Cornell Sun reports that a new bar, Hideaway, will open in Dunbar's old location "before the fall semester." They're writing the name using Greek letters that look like Roman letters, starting with a capital eta for the "H". I remember the location as home of Morrie's.

When I arrived on Campus (1978) it had already changed to The Gin Mill. Pep and Lee bought it in late '79 or early '80 and changed the name to Dunbar's in the fall of '80.

It's not Collegetown and it's not closing, but Rogo is up for sale in an attempt to attract a new chef by offering part ownership. [ithacavoice.com]

Not in Collegetown and not a bar, but this is a reasonable place to mention Hal's Deli closing.

David Harding
Not in Collegetown and not a bar, but this is a reasonable place to mention Hal's Deli closing.

I certainly remember Hal's Deli and of course Hal, who was a fixture at Cornell basketball games in Barton Hall. His son, Mike who's pictured, was a ballboy for Sam MacNeil's team.

George64

David Harding
Not in Collegetown and not a bar, but this is a reasonable place to mention Hal's Deli closing.

I certainly remember Hal's Deli and of course Hal, who was a fixture at Cornell basketball games in Barton Hall. His son, Mike who's pictured, was a ballboy for Sam MacNeil's team.

My friends and I agreed Hal's had the fastest delivery. They once got us our food in 7 minutes, and we lived a couple miles away.

Which bars still exist in collegetown?

CU2007
Which bars still exist in collegetown?

From this very thread, which to the best of my knowledge is accurate. (Added Dunbar's replacement, Hideaway):

Current Collegetown spots with a bar:
Collegetown Bagels
Resurrected Rulloff's
The Nines
Level B
Jack's Grill
Loco Cantina
Hideaway


RIP:
Palms
Dino's
Johnny's
Johnny O's
The Chariot
The Connection/Bear Den (College Ave)
Little Joe's
Pixel
Stella's
Chapter House*
Dunbar's

Well clearly kids have stopped drinking...

David Harding
Not in Collegetown and not a bar, but this is a reasonable place to mention Hal's Deli closing.

Sad to see Hal's close. But ... Our fraternity at reunion three years ago (or was it eight?) went there Sunday morning for brunch. The place was a little dimmer and grayer than we remembered from undergrad years. One spouse used the ladies room and said that'd be the last time she did that. Once, Hal's was about the only place to get a good bagel. Hal's did not adapt to the rising competition or quickly branch to meet customer interests such as coffees beyond regular and decaf. Recalls the line from Inherit the Wind: Sometimes you can change by standing still. I feel disloyal saying that. If you haven't gone back, just hang on to your memories from the 80s.

Trotsky
Well clearly kids have stopped drinking...

Nah. Just no difference between drinking at home vs. a bar when you're just staring into your phone either way.

Robb

Trotsky
Well clearly kids have stopped drinking...

Nah. Just no difference between drinking at home vs. a bar when you're just staring into your phone either way.

Maybe the phone in public is a way to look busy not alone, the way you could fiddle with a cigarette a generation ago.

Image credit to Corey Ryan Earle '07

George64
Image credit to Corey Ryan Earle '07

I was going to say "What, the Chariot doesn't make the list?" but I then I remembered it's been closed for over a decade.

jtwcornell91

George64
Image credit to Corey Ryan Earle '07

I was going to say "What, the Chariot doesn't make the list?" but I then I remembered it's been closed for over a decade.

That was the beginning of the deep rot.

[www.msn.com] Clickbait, "The 51 Best College Bars in America." Cornell not among the winners. Apparently no other Ivy schools either. Checked by googling the story title and each school name one at a time. Otherwise you click through fifty-some screens.

Actually clicking through 50+ screens didn't take long and yielded better results: 21 Harvard, 32 Dartmouth and 41 Brown. Links provided for non-retirees who should be working.

And while the Dutch Goose is a nice place to grab burgers and beer and watch Stanford beat USC at The Coliseum, it's not really a bar in the classic sense (more of a bar and grill) and it's more of a local place that college students happen to go to occasionally rather than a student place.

French Rage
And while the Dutch Goose is a nice place to grab burgers and beer and watch Stanford beat USC at The Coliseum, it's not really a bar in the classic sense (more of a bar and grill) and it's more of a local place that college students happen to go to occasionally rather than a student place.

The Dutch Goose is clearly deserving, if only because of the deviled eggs...

Is the Nines the next to go? I saw links on Ithaca Voice about a project to replace the building with a 6 story apt. building..

upprdeck
Is the Nines the next to go? I saw links on Ithaca Voice about a project to replace the building with a 6 story apt. building..

Story here: [ithacavoice.com]

Rather than management retirement, poor business, or a fire, this is just out-and-out landlord greed and thirst to milk the "luxury highrise" market dry. Nevermind the views of the surrounding hills, soon you'll barely be able to get daylight on College Ave or Dryden Rd with the canyon that's slowly being pieced together.

one would wonder if the nines would come back to life in another location of the many places in college town that are long gone. its has a loyal following.

upprdeck
one would wonder if the nines would come back to life in another location of the many places in college town that are long gone. its has a loyal following.

Nines is running out of competitors to be loyal to.

RichH

upprdeck
Is the Nines the next to go? I saw links on Ithaca Voice about a project to replace the building with a 6 story apt. building..

Story here: [ithacavoice.com]

Rather than management retirement, poor business, or a fire, this is just out-and-out landlord greed and thirst to milk the "luxury highrise" market dry. Nevermind the views of the surrounding hills, soon you'll barely be able to get daylight on College Ave or Dryden Rd with the canyon that's slowly being pieced together.

Frankly, that was a similar reason to Dunbar's closing, too. The landlord just made life unbearable because she wanted to do something else with the space.

Jeff Hopkins '82

RichH

upprdeck
Is the Nines the next to go? I saw links on Ithaca Voice about a project to replace the building with a 6 story apt. building..

Story here: [ithacavoice.com]

Rather than management retirement, poor business, or a fire, this is just out-and-out landlord greed and thirst to milk the "luxury highrise" market dry. Nevermind the views of the surrounding hills, soon you'll barely be able to get daylight on College Ave or Dryden Rd with the canyon that's slowly being pieced together.

Frankly, that was a similar reason to Dunbar's closing, too. The landlord just made life unbearable because she wanted to do something else with the space.

Something else, like another bar?? My memory (2nd hand) is that Pep just wanted to move south and he gave several years notice that he was looking for a buyer.

RichH

Jeff Hopkins '82

RichH

upprdeck
Is the Nines the next to go? I saw links on Ithaca Voice about a project to replace the building with a 6 story apt. building..

Story here: [ithacavoice.com]

Rather than management retirement, poor business, or a fire, this is just out-and-out landlord greed and thirst to milk the "luxury highrise" market dry. Nevermind the views of the surrounding hills, soon you'll barely be able to get daylight on College Ave or Dryden Rd with the canyon that's slowly being pieced together.

Frankly, that was a similar reason to Dunbar's closing, too. The landlord just made life unbearable because she wanted to do something else with the space.

Something else, like another bar?? My memory (2nd hand) is that Pep just wanted to move south and he gave several years notice that he was looking for a buyer.

According to Lee, Pep wanted to get out mainly because running the bar became too stressful thanks to demands from the landlord. They felt she was trying to force them out. What those demands were, he wasn't specific about. But it was clear to me that he felt they would have kept the bar open if not for the landlord.

billhoward

upprdeck
one would wonder if the nines would come back to life in another location of the many places in college town that are long gone. its has a loyal following.

Nines is running out of competitors to be loyal to.

Ithaca Voice reports on latest news about The Nines.

wonder if the owner sells out or stay the course for awhile..

Not a bar, but a pending replacement in Collegetown has taken a step forward. [ithacavoice.com]

David Harding

billhoward

upprdeck
one would wonder if the nines would come back to life in another location of the many places in college town that are long gone. its has a loyal following.

Nines is running out of competitors to be loyal to.

Ithaca Voice reports on latest news about The Nines.

Another concept in the Nines replacement story.

David Harding

David Harding

billhoward

upprdeck
one would wonder if the nines would come back to life in another location of the many places in college town that are long gone. its has a loyal following.

Nines is running out of competitors to be loyal to.

Ithaca Voice reports on latest news about The Nines.

Another concept in the Nines replacement story.

I see nothing in that article about corn nuggets.

VP Market Development
Our goal is to approach redevelopment of 311 College with sensitivity to its context.

<gag> The context is Collegetown used to be a dump housing poor students en route to a comfortable life. Now the comfortable life starts sophomore year. If you can afford $2,000 for a one-bedroom in a new building.

David Harding

David Harding

billhoward

upprdeck
one would wonder if the nines would come back to life in another location of the many places in college town that are long gone. its has a loyal following.

Nines is running out of competitors to be loyal to.

Ithaca Voice reports on latest news about The Nines.

Another concept in the Nines replacement story.

Still another installment in the Nines building saga from [ithacavoice.com].

David Harding

David Harding

David Harding

billhoward

upprdeck
one would wonder if the nines would come back to life in another location of the many places in college town that are long gone. its has a loyal following.

Nines is running out of competitors to be loyal to.

Ithaca Voice reports on latest news about The Nines.

Another concept in the Nines replacement story.

Still another installment in the Nines building saga from [ithacavoice.com].

The end is nigh. Ithaca.com: Farewell concert at The Nines features local bands
Event poster

Not bars, but both Collegetown Pizza and Dunkin Donuts have closed abruptly. [cornellsun.com]

David Harding
Not bars, but both Collegetown Pizza and Dunkin Donuts have closed abruptly. [cornellsun.com]

Seems impossible that a pizza joint in Collegetown could lose money.
Times change when the closing of a Dunkin' in Collegetown is news. Or when it come to Collegetown. Maybe the coffee didn't cost enough.

Latest on the Nines. [cornellsun.com]

Sarah Skinner, Cornell Sun
The Common Council officially struck down the controversial proposal to declare the Nines building in Collegetown a local landmark. The tiebreaker vote followed a five-hour meeting Tuesday night that set a “record” for public comment.

The owners, Mark Kiel­mann ’72 and Harold Schultz, will be able to sell the property for development without the constraints of landmark designation, which would have required any exterior change to the building to be approved by the Ithaca Landmarks Preservation Commission.

I do not know why "record" is in quotes. Actually, I see it now: One of the aldermenpersons said he heard it was a record, 52 commenters.

Closing.

[cornellsun.com]

well that sucks

Current Collegetown spots with a bar:
Collegetown Bagels
Resurrected Rulloff's
Level B
Jack's Grill
Loco Cantina
Hideaway


RIP:
Palms
Dino's
Johnny's
Johnny O's
The Chariot
The Connection/Bear Den (College Ave)
Little Joe's
Pixel
Stella's
Chapter House
Dunbar's
The Nines

RichH
Current Collegetown spots with a bar:
Collegetown Bagels
Resurrected Rulloff's
Level B
Jack's Grill
Loco Cantina


RIP:
Palms
Dino's
Johnny's
Johnny O's
The Chariot
The Connection/Bear Den (College Ave)
Little Joe's
Pixel
Stella's
Chapter House
Dunbar's
The Nines

Isn't there something where Dunbar's was? Or did it close already?

gonyr

RichH
Current Collegetown spots with a bar:
Collegetown Bagels
Resurrected Rulloff's
Level B
Jack's Grill
Loco Cantina


RIP:
Palms
Dino's
Johnny's
Johnny O's
The Chariot
The Connection/Bear Den (College Ave)
Little Joe's
Pixel
Stella's
Chapter House
Dunbar's
The Nines

Isn't there something where Dunbar's was? Or did it close already?

Hideaway is in Dunbar's location. Google reviews It opened in the fall of 2016. [cornellsun.com] [ithacavoice.com]

First the Nines and now Napoli's..

not much warning for this one though. closing today

RichH
Current Collegetown spots with a bar:
Collegetown Bagels
Resurrected Rulloff's
Level B
Jack's Grill
Loco Cantina


RIP:
Palms
Dino's
Johnny's
Johnny O's
The Chariot
The Connection/Bear Den (College Ave)
Little Joe's
Pixel
Stella's
Chapter House
Dunbar's
The Nines

The "Sun" headline reads "Are Collegetown Bagels and Ruloff’s On the Chopping Block? Developers Plan Demolition for June 2020"
Also, in the Ithaca Voice.

the Green Market place? on the corner has been closed for a long time.

David Harding
The "Sun" headline reads "Are Collegetown Bagels and Ruloff’s On the Chopping Block? Developers Plan Demolition for June 2020"
Also, in the Village Voice.

I neglected to update that list until today to include the Hideaway, in the Dunbar's location. Also, that's the Ithaca Voice. The Village Voice shut down a year ago this week.

But wow, looking at the photos, the majority of that building is quite fugly, so I understand the desire to do a rebuild, especially considering the maintenance issues discussed in the articles. Even so, I maintain that the commercial spaces of it, CTB and Ruloff's most notably, are charming as hell, and I know the replacement won't come close to that feel.

And I'm expecting that the new rent structures will probably price out the current tenants. So what annoying chain isn't in Collegetown yet? There's already Starbucks and 7-Eleven. Dunkin F'ing Donuts?

RichH
But wow, looking at the photos, the majority of that building is quite fugly, so I understand the desire to do a rebuild, especially considering the maintenance issues discussed in the articles. Even so, I maintain that the commercial spaces of it, CTB and Ruloff's most notably, are charming as hell, and I know the replacement won't come close to that feel.

Yeah, looking at that picture I had no recollection of what the upper floors of that building were supposed to look like. I guess I've spent most of my time in Ithaca with my head down huddled against the rain/snow.

RichH

David Harding
The "Sun" headline reads "Are Collegetown Bagels and Ruloff’s On the Chopping Block? Developers Plan Demolition for June 2020"
Also, in the Village Voice.

Also, that's the Ithaca Voice. The Village Voice shut down a year ago this week.

Ooops.

An undergrad bemoans the loss of character in the Collegetown restaurant scene, CTB in particular. [cornellsun.com]

David Harding
An undergrad bemoans the loss of character in the Collegetown restaurant scene, CTB in particular. [cornellsun.com]

Spot on! I'll buy that kid a beer and tell him about the old days!

Oh, wait! He's a junior so probably not legal. Oh, wait! There are few (and soon to be fewer) proper bars left in Collegetown.

"Oh, it's too hot today…"

And Joes shuts down this week too.. Long past its prime but still a place around for like 50-75 yrs

the college town of 25 yrs ago was a great place..

How could such a big campus not actually support decent places anymore and why dont the new owners of these buildings realize that a vibrant night life just adds to people want to be there?

upprdeck
How could such a big campus not actually support decent places anymore and why dont the new owners of these buildings realize that a vibrant night life just adds to people want to be there?

You might need a planned economy and subsidies for the things that make Collegetown be Collegetown: scruffy bars, bagel delis. Put Cornell in charge ... they'd subsidize a 24-hour copy center and Italian restaurants not Asian fusion, or they'd get caught up in a never-ending debate about why is Eddy Street Pizza subsidized when it doesn't have enough variety of vegan pies and they can't prove the olive oil was sustainably farmed.

If there's one thing Collegetown needs, it's a supermarket that doesn't force you 1-3 miles away to Aldi, Wegman's, P&C. Okay, there's Greenstar so you've got something.

New York City has the same issues orders of magnitude bigger: an area is a dump, artists move in, it becomes cool, rents go up, artists forced out, your neighbors are young urban professionals, and then Taylor Swift moves in.

I think this is a problem all over the world: developers rush to build housing, but the service economy that makes a place livable (grocery stores, bakeries, restaurants, banks) always seem to lag behind. Of course I live upstairs from two supermarkets and a drugstore, and will be able to see a bakery from my kitchen window once the leaves fall off the trees, so I can hardly complain at the moment.

From the Ithaca Voice 37 people busted for fake IDs in Ithaca underage drinking initiative
From 14850.com Violations at four out of five bars checked in Ithaca

David Harding
From the Ithaca Voice 37 people busted for fake IDs in Ithaca underage drinking initiative
From 14850.com Violations at four out of five bars checked in Ithaca

Some of our finest protecting impressionable youths from the scourges of demon rum. Nothing could possibly benefit society more!

David Harding
From the Ithaca Voice 37 people busted for fake IDs in Ithaca underage drinking initiative

In a news release Friday, police said they found violations in all of those bars except Level B.

Level B!

The Sun kciks off its summary of the decade with an article on "A Foodie Farewell to the Top 10 Collegetown Establishments That Have Closed in the Past Decade".

really missing the Nines Pizza this time of yr. so many xmas office parties down there over the yrs

and losing Napolis wings too has probably been better for my diet,

[ithacavoice.com]

Collegetown Bagels will move across the street to the Cornell-owned Sheldon Court where they get a 10-year lease. Ruloff's is still up in the air. The nominal end date for both Collegetown Bagels in their current location and for Rulloff's is June 1. The owners are in discussion with their landlord, Student Agencies, for a one week extension to allow big parties with alumni in town for reunions.

it shows that the money is in the housing and none of the landlords really care about the experience they are creating.

you have a ready made restaurant thats been vacant on the 4 corners thats been empty for a decade and something like CTB never even thinks about moving in. no doubt they want to knock it down and build up when that lease is done. although i saw signs of some work around it last week.

upprdeck
it shows that the money is in the housing and none of the landlords really care about the experience they are creating.

you have a ready made restaurant thats been vacant on the 4 corners thats been empty for a decade and something like CTB never even thinks about moving in. no doubt they want to knock it down and build up when that lease is done. although i saw signs of some work around it last week.

This based on your knowledge of what is in the minds of the owners, your experience running eating establishments and your ownership of commercial properties?

my talks with with the owners of properties in college town and the crazy money some of those have. the buildings downtown went up and 2 places move into. on collegetown nothing and from what i hear it will get worse soon. the rents are killing all those places

worked at the next door location of collegetown bagels when i lived in sheldon court. still showed up late to work sometimes, somehow.

What monstrosity are they going to build on the Oliver's (fine, CTB) site? 20 stories? $3k starting rent?

Trotsky
What monstrosity are they going to build on the Oliver's (fine, CTB) site? 20 stories? $3k starting rent?

There are a couple of elevations shown in the Ithaca Voice article from last August, along with a bunch of history.

David Harding

Trotsky
What monstrosity are they going to build on the Oliver's (fine, CTB) site? 20 stories? $3k starting rent?

There are a couple of elevations shown in the Ithaca Voice article from last August, along with a bunch of history.

That looks... actually, pretty nice. The present building, for all its history, is a horrific eyesore. Pretty much anything they put there is going to be better. 5 stories is, well, inevitable until the plague cuts the population back to a reasonable level.

I'll allow it.

Trotsky
What monstrosity are they going to build on the Oliver's (fine, CTB) site? 20 stories? $3k starting rent?

The new building gains one additional floor, taking it from four to five. There is a confusing paragraph in the Ithaca Voice about how the number of apartments on the block will increase from 30 to 56, but it's not the only building on the block. If the first floor is retail, then going from four to five floors should increase the apartments by a third, more or less.

Meanwhile, Student Agencies, which I thought of as the people that rented you dorm refrigerators and maybe ran a laundry, now is a conglomerate. Among other things it produces the Cornellian yearbook ... priced "from $150.00."

I continue to be surprised the university hasn't been more aggressive grabbing land. Cornell can buy individual apartment buildings, keep them going for 10-25 years, until they amass enough land to put up something larger. The only downside is Cornell probably has a higher cost of doing business because it needs to actually maintain buildings to code. I used to assume Cornell as a Collegetown landlord is a good thing, now I'm uncertain. It may be that Cornell would see a need to build collegetown apartments that are more affordably priced, if Cornell can do it and not lose money.

I lived for a decade in a two-family apartment bordering Smith College in Massachusetts and in 1980 Smith had a standing offer to buy the house. It's now in a next generation of the landlord's family. And I believe the offer still stands. It's probably like that in every small town collegetown.

Trotsky

David Harding

Trotsky
What monstrosity are they going to build on the Oliver's (fine, CTB) site? 20 stories? $3k starting rent?

There are a couple of elevations shown in the Ithaca Voice article from last August, along with a bunch of history.

That looks... actually, pretty nice. The present building, for all its history, is a horrific eyesore. Pretty much anything they put there is going to be better. 5 stories is, well, inevitable until the plague cuts the population back to a reasonable level.

Meh. Looks like a prison block on top of an oversized office park building. It turns the Oliver's corner very, very corporate. And you know that brick is going to be that ugly, big, over-grouted crap they use everywhere because no one does quality masonry work anymore. It'll all look uniform and plastic.

What I'll miss most? The oversize shopfront entrance. You know, a detail meant for humans.

Not quite so venerable an establishment, but more turnover in the Collegetown resatauant scene. Miyake has closed, another one is set to take its place on Eddy Street.

Scersk '97

Trotsky

David Harding

Trotsky
What monstrosity are they going to build on the Oliver's (fine, CTB) site? 20 stories? $3k starting rent?

There are a couple of elevations shown in the Ithaca Voice article from last August, along with a bunch of history.

That looks... actually, pretty nice. The present building, for all its history, is a horrific eyesore. Pretty much anything they put there is going to be better. 5 stories is, well, inevitable until the plague cuts the population back to a reasonable level.

Meh. Looks like a prison block on top of an oversized office park building. It turns the Oliver's corner very, very corporate. And you know that brick is going to be that ugly, big, over-grouted crap they use everywhere because no one does quality masonry work anymore. It'll all look uniform and plastic.

What I'll miss most? The oversize shopfront entrance. You know, a detail meant for humans.

Whaddya want? The last beautiful building in the US was erected 80 years ago.

Trotsky
Whaddya want? The last beautiful building in the US was erected 80 years ago.

Do you mean this?


I'll agree. 1939 was still a good year. The problem was in residential architecture, where Miesian steel/glass boxes took hold, knocked off by architects who didn't have the originator's command of openness and light.

To be honest, something in me likes some of the Stalinist architecture from the 40s and 50s…


I'm probably attracted by the exuberance of ornamentation, something that became anathema in the west because the Nazis loved it and we had to be darn sure to prove we weren't Nazis. Or Socialists.

Even brutalism has its place. (Not in the middle of Boston, but I digress.) But, geez, you need talent to pull it off! Most of the time, the money behind whatever project is being built doesn't have the aesthetic chops to force the architects toward creating something great, that is, if they have the ability to do so in the first place.

I actually stayed in one of those Stalinist Skyscrapers when it was the Hotel Ukraina. It didn't have air conditioning at the time, which in a Moscow summer is critical.

IMO the TWA terminal at JFK is an attractive building. I actually slept in that one, too, but only because of a blizzard in NYC on the way back to Ithaca from a senior year interview. It wasn't a hotel at the time.

Jeff Hopkins '82
I actually stayed in one of those Stalinist Skyscrapers when it was the Hotel Ukraina. It didn't have air conditioning at the time, which in a Moscow summer is critical.

IMO the TWA terminal at JFK is an attractive building. I actually slept in that one, too, but only because of a blizzard in NYC on the way back to Ithaca from a senior year interview. It wasn't a hotel at the time.

(Eero) Saarinen's TWA Terminal (1962) was/is a masterwork. Yet, even a master can put out a clunker or two. I give you:


the Earl V. Moore Building of Michigan's School of Music (Eero Saarinen, 1958), the halls of which I had the relative displeasure of haunting for [unprintable] years.

Functional for about five months: May, June, July, and August, when pretty much no one is around; and February when the pond (sometimes) freezes enough to permit skating. Like everyone else who goes there, I spent hours gazing cock-eyed out those window slits at (sometimes) the outdoor beauty or (most of the time) the normal Michigan grey overcast muddiness. The rest of the time, I was shuffling about the sepulchral corridors.

Big patio! Never usable, and you're on display for and blocking the view of those using the classrooms. Big windows! Only in classrooms, three sides of one level of the library, and (only) some (very few, actually!) offices. Sound proofing? Nah…

Going back to your point and Saarinen citation, we're still just talking about monumental projects. Residential and commercial architecture in all countries took a nosedive starting in the mid-50s. On the scale of the single-family house, I even have a soft spot for the venerable ol' split level, but then it all mostly got worse from there, ending where we are now with McMansions.

Brutalism is a long way to go for a joke, and those Cyclopean Stalinist structures only look good from a distance, if that.










Though to be fair this is so spectacularly stupid it's kind of enjoyable:



"The North's gonna do it again!" They should put that fucker in Potsdam.

Trotsky
Brutalism is a long way to go for a joke, and those Cyclopean Stalinist structures only look good from a distance, if that.

That tower? Bradfield? I admit I had to look twice or three times. (Et tu brutalist?)

But that's not a joke; count on postmodernists to make dubious jokes:


I give you Lurie Bell Tower (Charles W. Moore, 1996), Michigan North Campus. I leave its shape as a proof to the reader. (That "corpus" running up one side is not mirrored on the other one.)

Trotsky
Though to be fair this is so spectacularly stupid it's kind of enjoyable:

[snip]

"The North's gonna do it again!" They should put that fucker in Potsdam.

I like it! Couldn't be more classically gothic inside. But, as a Lutheran church, I suspect siting it somewhere in Minnesota might be more appropriate.

To put a real question out there, has anyone thought of a good residential or commercial building built past, say, 1955? A good skyscraper might count, but something less monumental in the five- or six-story range would be more interesting.