An opening where there was none before

The sidewall was opened today, with views down Main Street and onto the "court yard" next to the building. Beautiful! The opening is 9' tall and 4' wide.

This opening makes the space MUCH more appealing to potential tenants. Plus, light access from another direction makes the space look larger.

This photo shows the unfinished opening. On the left of the photo is the storefront framing for the door entrance off Main Street.


Here's a pre-restoration view from the exterior. The shrub on the left is the same as seen from the interior photo above.

Um, your backend is open

Compare this photo to the one I wrote about during "Easement" last July. The original openings are being punched back out and will be filled with new windows and doors.

On the far left, will be the door to my upstairs unit. The existing door in the middle will be moved over about 8" to align with the window opening that you see here above it. The opening on the right, where there are workers, will be a window into the downstairs space.

Amazingly, the brick openings (my walls) are 16" thick. Buildings are built like this today. The exterior facade might be brick, but the interior would be wood, steel or cinder block. 16" of solid brick just look weird. However, I think it will make the window sills and door openings look VERY cool.

All good surprises.

A View from Bull McCabe's

Nothing much to write except this is a view of my building from my local pub, Bull McCabe's. Click the photo to enlarge it and scroll to the bottom. There you'll see the top of my building behind & beside the green and white street sign.

Now, scroll back up and look at the sky. All this madness and concern are lost when we have days like this in Durham.

Let There Be Light......There was Light

My new favorite day was today........

Demolition officially happened about a year ago. But, back then we didn't remove the stairs from the first floor because, well, there'd have been no way to get up to the second floor. Two major events happened today:

1. The stairs were removed and
2. Windows that had been bricked up were reopened

So there's a temporary problem created now. You can't get to the upper floors unless you use a REALLY TALL ladder (there's 16' between floors so the ladder needs to be at least 20'; and even then I wouldn't want to climb it). This problem will be remedied when the new stairs are framed in.

The stairs were removed to make room for the brick masons. In the picture you can see them working, repairing the brick in the openings they created. It's amazing how much light gets in. And it's amazing looking at the wide open spaces. And the hyrogliphics/sayings that were written on the walls in places just now being seen again......some of that isn't printable on my family blog.

Oh, click on the photo to enlarge it and then look at the ceiling joists near the back of the building. Notice how many of them have been cut away over the years? That's not supposed to have been done. Floor/Ceiling joists should span the entire structure to support weight and prevent sagging. Wonder even more how there wasn't a major disaster in the building???!!!

Much progress today. It is my new favorite day.

And even more Storefront

OK. You must be tired of posts about the storefront. "When are you going to talk about some other bit of work, Barry?" I get it. I've heard you and here's your answer......"soon".

But for now it's more storefront. 7 weeks ago I wrote of work underway that would complete the storefront, produce new window openings and material and frame stairwells and access to the residential space. A project scheduled for 8 weeks has us still largely on storefront construction. But a cool storefront it will be. Here you see the steel framing that the actual storefront will be built to. I love the scale and view and get excited everyday at the changes.

The Festival for the Eno

The Festival for the Eno happens again on July 4th weekend. Kimberly and I went to the Eno park over the weekend and noticed a new trail and bridge to nowhere.

Well, it probably goes somewhere we just don't know where. Loving the idea that there's a new pedestrian/bike trail. I can feel an exploratory ride in the near future.

A Great Place to Live: US News and Durham Palooza

Durham's growth as a viable, sustainable city is upon us. Evidence is all around:

The week, US News and World Report ranked the 10 Best Places to Live in America. Durham made the list. Now, they appear on the list 5th but that's because the list was alphabetical. Maybe Durham is REALLY their choice for the best place to live???

Also, last weekend a group of musicians organized "Durham Palooza" where they assembled in the concrete park across the street from where I live and just played music. Banjos, mandolins, juice harps and accordions played past sunset making it clear that Durham has arrived.

OK, tongue-in-cheek doesn't write so well. This isn't evidence at all. But I don't need evidence.......Durham is becoming a GREAT place to live and I know it.