kickazzz2000
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Famous..you mean notoriousHell, this building is probably more “famous” to people around the country than anything other than Biltmore and the Hatteras Light.
Most Famous Building in North Carolina?
- Thread starter donbosco
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lawtig02
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donbosco
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Here’s a Dorton Arena story that a friend sent me: “Jerry Reed was playing Dorton Arena during the state fair about 1987 (I think) as the Saturday night headliner. He was staying at the Sheraton Crabtree. The hotel shuttle took him to the fairgrounds that afternoon but about 4pm he realized he had left his big leather hat in the hotel room. He called hotel to bring the hat to the arena. They didn't have a vehicle available so they called Safety Cab. I was checking off in the office and my night driver Moose had already been dispatched in the cab we shared (#4). The dispatcher asked if I could get the hat in my car because all cabs were busy. He offered me $10 so I said yes. He told the desk clerk I was coming in my old 1962 Pontiac Bonneville convertible and off I went. When I got to the hotel the desk clerk gave me the hat then called the highway patrol to tell them it was coming. He gave my vehicle description to the highway patrol, a 1962 Pontiac Bonneville convertible in primer grey. When I got to the first intersection being directed by a highway patrolman I put on the hat. I had the top down and I thought that would be obvious. The patrolman waved me to the side as he spoke into his radio. Almost immediately two motorcycle officers arrived with lights and sirens to escort me to the Dorton Arena backstage entrance. I drove through the fairgrounds crowds with a police escort with the hat on. At the backstage entrance a very nervous manager in a black suit was pacing back and forth smoking a cigarette. He laughed when he saw me, took the hat and gave me $20. Then a motorcycle patrolman lead me out of the fairgrounds and I went home.
The next day the review of Jerry Reed's show mentioned that Jerry made a very stylish entrance to the fairgrounds driving a beat up old convertible.”
The next day the review of Jerry Reed's show mentioned that Jerry made a very stylish entrance to the fairgrounds driving a beat up old convertible.”
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No doubt about that. I detest that airport with every fiber of my being. It's always an overcrowded mess. I'm sure it's awesome for Charlotte residents being able to fly worldwide nonstop but anyone connecting there on AA is just caught in pure chaos.
maxcrowder
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Jimmy Hendrix and The Stones played at Dorton, for me that put's it at the top.
Memories of the most famous building in North Carolina? #OTD (August 31) in 1950 Polish Immigrant Architect #MatthewNowicki died in a plane crash as he was returning from India where he had been designing the Punjab city of Chandigarh. Before leaving his adopted home, North Carolina, he had sketched out the blueprints to #DortonArena. His wife, Stanislawa, also a Polish Immigrant/Architect collaborated with Raleigh architect William Dietrick and finished the plans.
PThe structure, originally intended for livestock exhibitions, is “More a cathedral than a cowshed,” according to the architect and author Frank Harmon. (See link below to ‘Walter Magazine’) The Nowickis had come to North Carolina as faculty at the then, new, NCSU School of Design. Once completed Dorton Arena became the Center and Showcase of the Fairgrounds and home to wrasslin, basketball, rock ‘n roll, and myriad Ag Events. The impetus for the structure’s futuristic look were the dreams of Fair Manager J. S. Dorton, who sought to make the fair the most modern in the world.
Dorton Arena Architect Matthew Nowicki
“The structure is made of two 400-foot-long concrete parabolic arches, tilted and crossing near the ground. Steel cables, made by the same company that built the Brooklyn Bridge, tie the arches together underground. A grid of cables was strung across the tops of the arches to form the roof membrane. Imagine a giant “Pringle” 300 feet long, and you’ve got the picture.” (More a cathedral than a cowshed - WALTER Magazine)
I’ve been inside many times - though I admit that the insides of the exhibition spaces Jim Graham Building and Dorton have blended in my memories over the years. To be sure the yearly trip to The State Fair meant a good wander through the building. It definitely had a certain hopeful Jetsons quality about it in those Atomic Age days of the 1960s in my youth. I remember at least two visits with Momma and Deddy during Hardware Conventions and
once I even spied creepy old Uncle Paul Montgomery (Nevertheless, a hallmark of my childhood remembered fondly in truth) march around the floor, top-hat and dark jazzy shades included, trailed by 20+ pre-schoolers. I got the autograph of Carolina Cougars center George Peeples after an ABA exhibition game there and sometime in the last 20 years I saw/heard Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys there.
I think I also saw a 300 pound pumpkin there too. What about you?
Indeed, the claim could be made that global fame considered, Dorton Arena, is the most famous building in North Carolina. Any rivals come to mind?
superrific
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Why isn't the Dean Dome the correct answer to this question?
donbosco
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And the acoustics sucked. Still does.
uncmba
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I worked for Wachovia, and our CEO when we built that building was Bud Baker. So we called it Bud’s Pud.No love for Winston-Salem's phallic building?
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Were you still there when the MBS and sub-prime tranches scheme caused the great recession and Wachovia's demise?
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Funny, I think it’s one of the easier airports compared to many others in major cities. There are so many others where you have to take a shuttle to get from one terminal to another. CLT is very easy to get around.
kickazzz2000
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Yea, I’d hate to connect here
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I hate flying in and out of CLT. Getting to the airport sucks, the traffic patterns and parking situation sucks. If you are checking a bag (I only fly for vacation these days so I am usually checking a bag) the check-in sucks. Baggage claim sucks. The cell phone lot sucks. The distance from the airport lounges to most of the gates is ridiculous. Maybe it will be better when they finish construction (if they ever finish construction) but I have been back here 3 years and the experience at CLT has been universally bad, whether I am flying or just picking up a visitor from the airport.
I flew for a living for 40 years and occasionally changed planes here (I didn't fly American very frequently) but I had no idea how bad the experience is outside of the security perimeter.
I flew for a living for 40 years and occasionally changed planes here (I didn't fly American very frequently) but I had no idea how bad the experience is outside of the security perimeter.
lawtig02
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It’s really unpleasant. The priority lounges used to help a bit but now even they’re way overcrowded most of the time. I still, however, love almost beyond description the ability to fly anywhere I want to go on a direct flight. Connecting is the absolute worst.
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I'm not sure I agree that connecting is the absolute worst. I fly to LA every Christmas and I prefer to avoid direct flights to LAX and connect in Denver or Phoenix to fly in to Burbank. The connection is less trouble than dealing with the double annoyance and aggravation of navigating CLT and LAX on the same day. (And I'm solely referring to the clusterfuck outside of security in both airports, especially around the holidays.)
lawtig02
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Yeah, I think it’s just a preference thing. I don’t like LAX either but I’d far rather fly direct there than connecting through Denver or somewhere. Unless a side trip to Vail is on the agenda.
Just wanted to echo that CLT blows.
The infrastructure of the airport itself is really bad. There’s not enough seating at the gates and in the common areas, no intra-airport transportation even though some of the gates (especially in the newer terminal) are an absolute haul from the security area (I never connect through CLT but I can imagine it’s even worse for that situation). I’m not sure what it is about the design of the drop off/pick up lanes, but it seems like they get completely bottlenecked even during less busy times.
American’s complete monopoly there also stinks depending on where you are flying from. My city has like 4 or 5 direct flights per day to CLT, but they are all on American and they are all absurdly expensive for a 2.5 hour domestic flight. I haven’t seen another direct domestic flight with a similar length to a similar airport cost anything close to what it costs to fly to CLT.
The infrastructure of the airport itself is really bad. There’s not enough seating at the gates and in the common areas, no intra-airport transportation even though some of the gates (especially in the newer terminal) are an absolute haul from the security area (I never connect through CLT but I can imagine it’s even worse for that situation). I’m not sure what it is about the design of the drop off/pick up lanes, but it seems like they get completely bottlenecked even during less busy times.
American’s complete monopoly there also stinks depending on where you are flying from. My city has like 4 or 5 direct flights per day to CLT, but they are all on American and they are all absurdly expensive for a 2.5 hour domestic flight. I haven’t seen another direct domestic flight with a similar length to a similar airport cost anything close to what it costs to fly to CLT.
GoHeelsweeeehoooo
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lawtig02
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I’ll say this — CLT is getting a LOT better as they finish more of the renovations and open the newly created spaces. Much better restaurants, access to the terminal, etc. Will be a while before it’s done, but this could be a pretty great airport for our kids.
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Yeah getting in and out isn’t fun at all. I think much of that is due to the ongoing construction. I’m not even sure where to go anymore. But I imagine catching a connecting flight is pretty easy.