Vintage structures recycled.

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Some new uses for old unwanted, but well constructed structures.
http://homes.yahoo.com/news/10-unexpected-buildings-architects-turned-homes-182943707.html

 

[splintercellsz]

I wish this would happen more often. Makes me fall apart inside when I see a perfectly sound old house with character demolished to build a conformist style box house. Bleh.

 

[Stanley Doble]

In the town of Cobourg 3 solid brick, late Victorian structures were repurposed. A firehall ca 1870 made into a theater. A church turned into a library, since turned into condos. And a large school turned into condos.

All were done with sympathy and turned out great. Not to mention, saving a lot of money.

When you have a solid old building it is possible to rebuild it completely with new wiring, plumbing, everything, for about half the cost of new construction. Not to mention the savings in time and the cost of demolishing and hauling away the old building.

..........................................

Canada seems to do this sort of thing rather well. For example, the Distillery District in Toronto. 13 acres of a former Gooderham and Worts distillery. The largest collection of Victorian era industrial architecture in North America.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distillery_District

 

[JonnyO]

Good link, my dream has always been to live in an old firehouse. One popped up for auction locally last year, unfortunately my friend and I didnt have the funds and a developer won the bid.

 

[LizzieMaine]

A couple of 19th Century Methodist churches in my area have been repurposed like this -- the congregations moved to a modernistic new building out in the middle of nowhere leaving their downtown buildings abandoned. The one here was turned into part of the local art museum, and the one the next town over was turned into high-end condos. I have to say I prefer the museum usage -- which was very sensitively done and preserves much of the character of the original building. But all I can think of when I pass the condo-ized one is "the Son of Man has no place to lay his head, but there's plenty of room for the yuppies."

 

[Feraud]

For many years NYC had the Limelight club in an Episcopal church. I think it's currently slightly less offensive as a retail space.

 

[JonnyO]

That has happened a lot in this area as well. One has been used as an art center, it is pretty cool what they do there. The others are near Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and have been repurposed as frat houses. Luckily RPI students have, for the most part, embraced the City's history and have done renovations respectfully.

A couple of 19th Century Methodist churches in my area have been repurposed like this -- the congregations moved to a modernistic new building out in the middle of nowhere leaving their downtown buildings abandoned. The one here was turned into part of the local art museum, and the one the next town over was turned into high-end condos. I have to say I prefer the museum usage -- which was very sensitively done and preserves much of the character of the original building. But all I can think of when I pass the condo-ized one is "the Son of Man has no place to lay his head, but there's plenty of room for the yuppies."

 

[tonyb]

While I'd much prefer old buildings be repurposed than torn down (most of the time, anyway; some structures are worthy of nothing but a wrecking ball), I'm quite irritated by some of the uses to which those buildings are put. In Seattle a landmark structure, the old Queen Anne High School, was long ago converted to condos. It was as if we were saying -- all of us taxpaying residents of the city -- that that grand old structure, with those fabulous views (it truly is a gem of a location, high atop the hill) is too good for school kids, so let's shut down that school and move 'em to some nondescript building in a less desirable location and get some serious money out of the old place.

I have similar sentiments about the Pike Place Market, which was saved from the developers in the early 1970s, and the Pioneer Square district. Sure, it's great that the structures are still there, but the places are so darned cleaned up and gentrified now that you may as well put a lid atop it and call it a shopping mall. (Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but the soul of the Market in particular was pretty well scrubbed away when it got "saved.")

Accepting that nothing stays the same, that the world is always changing, doesn't mean that some things (many things, from my way of seeing it) ought to be preserved in ways consistent with their original characteristics. What San Francisco has over most all other U.S. cities, besides a quite fortunate geography, is all that splendid architecture. I bemoan that Seattle, in contrast, has knocked down so much of its architectural heritage.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Very neat! I've always thought buying an old firehouse would be great for an auto garage/car dealership, because of the big doors that were already there for fire engines.