bredlo
LOVES Wooden Canoes
"In this case, there doesn't seem to be much that can be done."
If you're referring to the town having their minds made up, seems you're right.
But if you're referring to there being no options for keeping the building... well no offense - but that's just silly. Everything from historic homes, churches and factories have become unique, dynamic cornerstones of new construction projects. The sole limitations are the imagination of the architects and developers, as demolition often costs the same as creative reuse.
Imagine if they removed the back half of the building, leaving the wooden facade in place - and perhaps a portion of the brick structure. You could step through a century-old doorway and into a 21st Century, glass-walled space filled with all the light, flexible floorspace, emergency exits, sprinkler systems, disabled access and other reasons this one theoretically "must" go away.
I'm not suggesting keeping things beyond their usefulness simply for nostalgia. But this community could rally around this place, which helped pioneer the transformation of canoes from birchbark to cedar, then fiberglass, and now lightweight plastics. That kind of thinking could be reflected in the factory, too.. figuring out how to keep it competitive and useful for changing times. Anybody can put up a boring, all new building.
But condo loft conversions, tech companies in carriage stables, and old brick factories with modern, glass additions are hugely memorable, tie a company to its community, and are in my view a big selling point that costs relatively little up front.
If you're referring to the town having their minds made up, seems you're right.
But if you're referring to there being no options for keeping the building... well no offense - but that's just silly. Everything from historic homes, churches and factories have become unique, dynamic cornerstones of new construction projects. The sole limitations are the imagination of the architects and developers, as demolition often costs the same as creative reuse.
Imagine if they removed the back half of the building, leaving the wooden facade in place - and perhaps a portion of the brick structure. You could step through a century-old doorway and into a 21st Century, glass-walled space filled with all the light, flexible floorspace, emergency exits, sprinkler systems, disabled access and other reasons this one theoretically "must" go away.
I'm not suggesting keeping things beyond their usefulness simply for nostalgia. But this community could rally around this place, which helped pioneer the transformation of canoes from birchbark to cedar, then fiberglass, and now lightweight plastics. That kind of thinking could be reflected in the factory, too.. figuring out how to keep it competitive and useful for changing times. Anybody can put up a boring, all new building.
But condo loft conversions, tech companies in carriage stables, and old brick factories with modern, glass additions are hugely memorable, tie a company to its community, and are in my view a big selling point that costs relatively little up front.
