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Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Farm and Home Building Looking Spiffy

Here's a brief follow-up on the ongoing renovation of the Farm and Home Building -- now dubbed the "411" after its north 10th Street address -- at 10th and Locust streets downtown (see "Farm & Home Building's Modern Slipcover Now Historic", March 9). The building looks great! Once again, Craig Heller and his LoftWorks company has accomplished a sensitive rehabilitation of a difficult building.

Now, work on the exterior is almost totally done. The 1954 slip-cover, once a dingy mask that even Heller wanted to remove, again radiates modern optimism. The message is the same as ever: what is old is new again, downtown is back in action and we'll beat the darned Soviets through our superior modern architecture. Okay, I jest, but the point is that few would have thought the Farm and Home could ever look this great. I can't wait to raise a martini (but of course!) at the grand opening, and to see what mid-century modern building will be the next to catch a clever developer's eye.

5 comments:

Brian said...

Watching this renovation unfold gives me a great deal of hope for the Mercantile Library complex. Hopefully Mr. Heller can land some more tenants now that the space is just about ready.

Doug Duckworth said...

Too bad there will be a suburban drive up across the street.

Brian said...

^
They need to scrap that ridiculous plan.

Doug Duckworth said...

If they do they need to board up the buildings because they've been exposed for quite some time.

Erica said...

Heck yes Farm & Home! My company has been doing environmental work there for over a year. So happy with progress thus far!