Industrial awesomeness and abandoned buildings

[JJEH]

I thought about this for quite some time before asking such a question. Perhaps I'm just a dreamer, but I would certainly like seeing our history going a bit of a different route…

As a car guy I have heard of Don Yenko course. I'm even a member of the sYc online forum, even though I might never be able to afford such vehicle. But I always wondered why no one is acquiring the building at 575 West Pike Street, Canonsburg, PA and does something with it. According to Google maps it's still abandoned. I'd love to see it being brought back to the old glory or being converted into a museum.

Speaking of sYc, please have a look at this link. Worth every second of your time.

Old Street Scenes | Lounge | The Supercar Registry Bulletin Board

Same with Mr. Norm's. Glad to see that he's still active, it's just sad for the building and the history that comes with it...

MrNorms.com - Vehicle Packages / Sport Club

Or what about the abandoned automobile factories? The Packard plant (Detroit, MI), Buick city (Flint, MI), Fisher Body (Detroit, MI), Studebaker (New York) and Highland Park Ford (Michigan).

Here's an interesting link:

The Ten Most Unbelievable Abandoned Car Factories

Wikipedia also offers nice info:

List of former automotive manufacturing plants - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It's good to see that some buildings were converted to serve a different purpose now, i.e. the Chrysler San Leandro Plant was converted into a mall and the FoMoCo St. Louis Assembly Plant is now the Aviator Business Park and so on.

I know it cost a hell a lot of money to do that, but isn't it worth it?

Two generations in the future and no one will remember anymore…

I remembered the episode where Anthony Bourdain visits Detroit. A guy told him that there was a skyscraper sold for $5Mil. Not sure exactly on how many stories it had but it was huge. It's a lot of money, but if an investor would put this building back into business… imagine… the possibilities.

Same with the Remington Arms plant located at Arctic Street, Bridgeport, Connecticut 06608?

Remington Arms, Bridgeport | Damned Connecticut

It's sad to see that kind of industrial history slowly fading away. I know, there are many more buildings that represent great American history. They all should be preserved.

I wish I had all the money and time to research and invest in such projects. I certainly have a trailer load full of ideas.

Like I said, perhaps I'm just sentimental and naive. Maybe not. Who knows…

 

[rwsmith]

Unfortunately many buildings.....

Contain asbestos or other hazardous substances that are expensive to remove, may not be up to fire, accessibility and other codes, difficult to upgrade Heat/AC and often they just don't suit what people need. We have a good many textile plant and warehouse buildings that have been converted and it's better than watching them deteriorate.

Our company resurrected an old Pre WWII headquarters building where I had my office a long time. Though it was a plain old government type building, the old light fixtures, the crank open windows, gave it a lot of class. Across the hall from me was the vault that contained code decryption machine. The old building had so much more character than prefab metal. I was built as a bomb shelter. We were wondering if the floors would be able to stand the weight of high density shelving (the kind that she shelves run on tracks and you crank open the section you need to see) Word came back from the structural engineer, "You ain't got a thing to worry about."

The Hysterical Society in Charleston (I wsa in the real deal, The Preservation Society) won't let people replace anything, so building are always recycled in the city.

When an area gets run down and unoccupied, it's hard to keep buildings nobody wants. There was an old 1960 shopping center that was defunct, but tried to exist until a few years ago when it was torn down. It had been the site of TB ward in old days. Now the area is so bad they can't pay anybody enough to put a badly needed grocery store there.

One particular example was a large Quonset shaped industrial building. In the 60s it became a 'Go Go Club' and later became a rock night club where I partied frequently. Later in my working years a friend opened up a machine shop/fabrication business there. I had a chance to get piece of the old lit 'psychedelic' dance floor, but I passed. I could probably cut it up into mementos.

It is surprising how many Pizza Hut building that shut down have been converted into everything. You can still tell the shape of the building. Remember the old 'steak house' facade with the front gable with high windows and the exposed beams? Somebody turned one of those into a funeral home. I guess it was already supplied with meat hooks.

 

[JJEH]

Indeed, asbestos and other hazardous substances are a concern. But the cost of removing it should be worth the preservation of American history. I say should since I don't pay for it. I know, it's all a numbers game.

Sadly but true, once such buildings become unoccupied they seem to become a scum magnet.

 

[NYlakesider]

A lot of abandon buildings in the city and immediate area I used to live unfortunately seem to serve as places to do drugs or other illegal activities. That means they sometimes get fires set by the "inhabitants" What results is most then get torn down.



As a long time gear head/ car guy I'm quite familiar with Yenko and Grand Spaulding.(others also), my buddy picked up a Motion Camaro 427 and we both drove it back to Albany.)

In fact as a Mopar car guy in the sixties I had a quick 67 Dodge RT 440 and did considerable racing both at the drag strip and on the street. I ordered a 4.33 geared "pumpkin" and a few other go-fast parts from G.S and had it shipped to me in Albany NY.