A Mansard Roof for the Cannery Project and other Infill Bits

Yesterday's announcement about removing a skybridge over Front Street at the old Truitt Bros. cannery complex suggested that the redevelopment project was moving along and worth checking on.

Indeed the file is thick and it's met some "completeness" milestones.

A Mansard roof for the main building

Maybe the most striking element is the Mansard roof proposed for the main building.

Capitol Flour Mill as design cue
(Detail, Salem Library Historic Photos)

The designers are clearly nodding to the long-gone flour mill buildings a block south on Front Street, just across the creek. Even the building height is about the same.

• See "North Front Street Study Likely to Reveal Interesting Archeology and History"
  

Other than what is a kind of post-modern rhyme with decorative detail, in basic form it looks like pretty standard 5-over-1 construction, five floors over a podium.

There will be more to say as the project moves along! The timeline is still hard to see with the question of reconfiguring Front Street. Even with the Federal grant to fund the study, actual construction remains a little distant. Probably we should not get too attached to any particular design details just yet.

An urban mode greeting the sidewalk,
but a flood-prone site

Separately, there's a small apartment block proposed for a long vacant lot on State Street. The homes are in front, and parking is in back, and that looks good. It might be the first new project on State Street after the corridor study with new zoning and an improved street design. But it's right at the diversion dam for the Mill Race, and in years like 1996 and 2012 it's flooded significantly. It will be interesting to learn more about what provisions are being made for flooding.

Also, just north of the Police Station and across the street from Grocery Outlet there are two mixed use buildings proposed for a different long vacant lot. 

These are nice to see and maybe there will be more to say later on these also.