The former Larkin Building U is being cleaned out by Rogers Foam Corp., the automotive parts manufacturer that bought out the now defunct Par Foam Products, Inc., a competitor. Par Foam Products, which occupied the historic factory complex at 237 Van Rensselaer Street for more than two decades, was closed late last year and its assets are now reportedly being shipped to other plants or discarded.
Larkin Building U is now getting closer by the day to a clean slate, a cleared, highly adaptable structure poised for a new economic purpose. While the future of the building is unclear, its potential becomes even more vividly apparent as the building is vacated. Read the rest of this entry »
This just in! The January emergency demolition of the Sacred Heart School at 198 Emslie Street not only broke hearts, it also broke the bank.
The emergency demolition of the landmark building reportedly cost taxpayers a cool $125,000. Economic return on the investment? Zero. While few doubt the necessity of the demolition in light of its collapsing brick facade and the imminent threat the building posed to human safety, fewer still believe the school’s “demolition by neglect” was inevitable. Read the rest of this entry »
O, boy, what an amazing door! The Larkin O Building, constructed in 1907 as one of multiple additions to the sprawling Larkin factory complex, contains an odd second-story door that appears more like one that would have opened out onto a ground-level sidewalk.
It’s not only an appearance. The door did once face onto a street – the Van Rensselaer Street viaduct, in fact. Until a couple decades ago, this section of Van Rensselaer Street from Roseville to Seneca streets was an elevated viaduct allowing the passage of trains underneath, along the tracks of the Erie Railroad that have since been removed. Read the rest of this entry »
You saw it here first! Rare interior photographs of the Kamman Building at 755-757 Seneca Street, set to be overhauled by a top-to-bottom renovation this year, reveal pre-restoration perspectives of the historic commercial structure only months before construction is set to begin.
The Kamman Building, designed by architect F. W. Caulkins around 1880, has been vacant for more than ten years, but like many structures of its vintage, has held up well against a tide of citywide disinvestment over the past half-century and stands well to benefit from adaptive reuse. Read the rest of this entry »
The popularity of window shutters is growing by the day and an increasing number of people are willing to buy them, thanks to the benefits and variety available. Though there are innumerable options to choose from, there are certain points you will need the keep in mind in order to ensure that you are buying the shutters which are right for your house. After all, you surely would not like to spend money on something that you cannot use, right?
Type of shutters
The first point that you will have to consider is the type of shutters you want to buy. While they are broadly classified as internal and external shutters, Read the rest of this entry »
