The top floor of the power plant is a stunning space, one that no longer exists in present-day industrial construction, as a reader of this site noted last week.
I am strongly suspecting the power plant was built after the brewery closed; carefully looking for sign scars on the smokestack, I can only find the International Shoe Company logo. Surely the Lemps would have put their name on the smokestack first?
I love the steel trusses in this room, and how they were left exposed to show the structure of the building.
I have no idea what this room was used for, or how it functioned in the use of the brewery as a warehouse for shoes. Supposedly, shoes were also manufactured here as well, but I don't have a reliable source to confirm that.
The top floor of the power plant is a stunning space, one that no longer exists in present-day industrial construction, as a reader of this site noted last week.
I am strongly suspecting the power plant was built after the brewery closed; carefully looking for sign scars on the smokestack, I can only find the International Shoe Company logo. Surely the Lemps would have put their name on the smokestack first?
I love the steel trusses in this room, and how they were left exposed to show the structure of the building.
I have no idea what this room was used for, or how it functioned in the use of the brewery as a warehouse for shoes. Supposedly, shoes were also manufactured here as well, but I don't have a reliable source to confirm that.
Ok, first thing: Wow, those trusses are GORGEOUS! However, the builders in those days were probably just as cheap as they are in our day, thus there was no effort to conceal them with plaster or brick. I would guess that there was alot of cheap labor in construction then, too. As well as cheap labor in Mr. Carnegie's and Mr. Morgan's steel mills. At the time this building was constructed (you give no timeline, but I would guess anywhere from late '90's to late '10's, certainly for the brewery facilities, basing that on type and style) steel mills were most often not unionized, and the horrid working conditions and low pay reflected that. So, cheap steel and cheap Italian/Slovenian/Serbian/Swedish/what have you labor et voila!, beautiful space. Man, I have GOT TO get in there! Take the wife, too. She geeks out about this stuff almost as much as I. Thanks for posting this set. A feast for the eyes.
ReplyDeleteThere is a postcard of the brewery floating around that features the smokestack prominently. Maybe it has an airplane as well. Anyway, the smokestack clearly says LEMP on it.
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