Harney to Jackson, 10th to 13th
National Register of Historic Places as a Historic District
Designated Omaha Landmark: January 22, 1985
Designated Omaha Landmark: January 22, 1985
The Old Market Historic District was a warehousing/jobbing area that was active from the late 1800’s to the mid 1900’s. This district supported the Union Pacific Railroad which is headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska serving as a distribution center for goods destined for the west.
The Old Market District is located within the boundaries of downtown Omaha. There are historic warehouse buildings to the south and a new hotel and corporate campus for ConAgra Foods to the east. There is a mix of office/retail space to the north adjacent the city park/mall. A new convention center is located about four blocks north of this district. To the west is a mix of downtown building types with the heart of downtown roughly 4-6 blocks to the northwest. There is a perceived boundary to the district on the north, east and west. As I studied this area, I found the boundary on the south evolving. The warehouse buildings to the south are starting to be considered by some to be a part of the old market.
Today the Old Market buildings house art studios, shopping, dining and entertainment venues. Many buildings have loft apartments, condos and offices located above the commercial spaces. There are roofed overhangs over the sidewalks on the eastern side of the district. These overhangs are adorned with flower boxes and vines, which soften the built environment and add color. There are older established trees throughout the district. There are multiple dining opportunities located outside the restaurants, under the overhangs. There was a vintage railroad dining car that was used as a dining venue for a local restaurant recently removed to my dismay. There are horse drawn carriages located in this district. These carriages traverse the district and the park/mall to the north. The retail spaces are all unique to the area (artwork, pottery, glass, bookstores, etc). The farmers market is located on the southeast side of the district. The brick streets carry vehicular traffic during the day and are closed off during the summer nights for pedestrians.
The Old Market is used by a wide variety of people. During the day, you will find business people and visitors. Weekends and evenings you will find families and couples. Late night, the crowds are at the clubs, which feature mostly local musicians and jazz groups. Musicians and performers are frequent on the street corners at the focal point of the district. There are art galleries and studios; some of these studios are tucked back in out of the way places.This district is truly a unique space because of the older urban warehouse fabric mixed with the landscape elements and diversity of activities and patrons. The building materials are aged and worn yet honest and elegant. The brick streets are intact and show signs of years of traffic. Eating dinner or having a beverage on one of the sidewalk dining areas let you experience the area and people around you. Many of the buildings are composed of heavy timber construction with terra cotta and brick facades. The restaurants and shops have large expanses of glass at the street level and tall volumes of spaces. Wood decking, vintage doors and hardware and ornamentation are abundant. The interiors of many of the buildings have not changed substantially except to serve their current purpose.
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2 comments:
while the plans are great for understanding the layout, now that I see the perspectives, I am beginning to see what is unique / good abut the space. Sorry for jumping the gun on your earlier post.
I like the limited use of color in your altered images, This technique is particularly useful in conveying one or two simple ideas.
Too often I think we "architects" feel the need to over complicate matters, even the minimalists.
Scott,
The most striking quality of your analysis is your description of the atmosphere of the place created by the old charming buildings (based on the sketches and decription of the materials), the sense of history and the multitude of current activities, their smells and sounds.
Given that this happens in a relatively small area, there must be a high density of small scale "phenomenal" experiences that appeal to all the senses.
All of this adds a lot to the plan and sectional diagrams, which by themselves only provide the "shell" or "skeleton" for what you actually experienced.
Your analysis is a good reminder that as architects we need to consider our designs from both the abstracted and the phenomenal side.
At first I was a little irritated by the clock tower sketch (shown as an isolated object without context), but it not only points to the issue of street furniture, but is an important element (one of many I suppose) to create the atmosphere that your describing.
Overall you have described an intact piece of urban fabric, that has the quality embedded in the rules and history that created the district rather than the design of the individual buildings. This example will be relevant to discuss in relation to the more "nature" oriented places that were predominantly chosen and the Back Bay area in Boston, which is similar in its fundamental properties.
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