Construction Mania!

Well actually, compared with the nineties, there's almost nothing maniacal going on in Belltown construction-wise. Back then, they built all kinds of stuff around the neighborhood, from boxy and ugly to tall and ugly. The two projects being built right now are a bit on the boxy side, but it's still too early to pronounce them aesthetically offensive. Both have a goal of helping people; the Recovery Cafe houses and trains the formerly homeless and the A.L. Humphrey House will house the homeless and mentally ill. While the A.L. Humphrey's purpose may seem a little dubious, I'll tell you that having the medicated and cared-for mentally ill in the neighborhood is much more preferable to the alternative of arresting them on sight. The two projects began this summer and continue, but I've been pretty fascinated by how fast they've gone up. Sure, if you're out working on them, it may seem to take forever, but for me, every time I walk by them, something is new. That's another reason why I like living in Belltown - constant change. Some of that change is bad, some is good, but it's always happening.

Let's have a look at how things are progressing. First, the Recovery Cafe at 2nd & Bell:


The top photo was taken mid-February and the bottom one was taken yesterday. Yeah, they've sure done a lot in just a few weeks. Likewise, let's have a peek at the A.L. Humphrey at 1st & Cedar:


The time span between these shots is the same. Maybe there has been seemingly less progress, but they're working hard to fill in all the interior stuff.

Me, I welcome both these new buildings into the neighborhood, but I know that not everyone does. I'm interested in getting your opinions of these new kids. Will these places be pleasing - or at least not offensive - to the eye? Will their operations disturb their neighbors? What do you think about these projects in general?

Thanks to Brad from the Grandview for his shot of the A.L. Humphrey at the very top. Sometimes it's nice to have a view!

Construction Report!

Well, things are really moving along quickly. Those guys at both sites are really building up a storm. And speaking of that, how miserable is it to work in weather like we had last Wednesday? In case you didn't get out of bed that day, it was steady rain pretty much all day. I'm guessing that it's not a lot of fun. Let's start with the Recovery Cafe:


Look at that! It's got a whole new level and everything! That's some substantial progress, I tell you what. It'll be done in no time. Here's how things stand at the A.L. Humphrey House:


Excuse the lighting on the bottom photo. It was getting toward the end of the day and the sky was weird. So yes, much building has been done to this...er, building. Their crane was taken down the other week, so there will be no more majestic shots of that. Sorry. OK, so that's it for construction.

Construction Round-Up!

Gather round and see how fast things are going up. I think you'll agree that they just charging along. Here's the Recovery Cafe a few weeks ago:

And here it is now:

They've added a floor and lots of other stuff.

Let's have a look at A.L. Humphrey then:

And now:

They haven't added any more floors, but they're filling out the interior structure. So yes, everything is being built super-fast. With all these rapid results, you might be thinking, "Hey, why can't they fix the McGuire as fast?" Well, the problem is that once it's built, it's a lot harder to undertake massive repairs, even if you've hired an entire dwarf army for the venture. That's why it's important to build it right the first time.

Oh, and here's the crane.

Yeah, it's really not impressing me any more.

The Rampage Continues!

Before I go on holiday hiatus, I would be remiss if I failed to feature Belltown's two construction projects. For those unacquainted, the two projects are the Recovery Cafe building and the A.L. Humphrey House. To say that construction is flying along is something of an understatement. Let's have a look:


Pardon those lousy trees blocking the view. Anyhow, this is the Recovery Cafe two weeks ago and now. Things are going really fast, but they done compare to the A.L. Humphrey House:


Ladies and germs, what we have here is a construction rampage, plain and simple. I hope that once it's up, it stays up. Usually, when I build something fast, whether it's IKEA furniture or a shrine to Vishnu, it falls apart quickly. It can't possibly be the case here, could it?

We close, as usual, with a shot of the A.L. Humphrey's crane, which is looking very non-majestic these days.

Construction's Great Leap Forward!

Well, there has been much progress in the two projects being built around these parts. As usual, we look at the Recovery Cafe first, two weeks ago and recent:


Gosh, I thought they'd added a floor, but I guess I was mistaken. Let's just rate their progress as "steady" and move to the A.L. Humphrey House.


I had to change the shot to include the whole structure, but I assure you that's the same building. Can you believe that? What did those guys eat for Thanksgiving? They're just flying through this job. I guess it's no fun working out in the cold, so they're hurrying it along. Well, I say that if it doesn't fall over, good job, guys!

And here's a shot of their crane:

Its stature is getting less impressive each day.

Construct-O-Rama!

Well, the last time we checked, not much was happening - or so it seemed. But things have really taken off these last few weeks. Let's have a look at the Recovery Cafe at 2nd & Bell. It's always first, because it is the way of things:


See? A whole new floor and no more potato chip truck! Yes, things are going very fast. But it's all very measured in comparison to the A.L. Humphrey at 1st & Cedar. Here's what's going on there:


Apologies once again for that tilted first shot. I was shooting into the sun. I haven't had that problem for quite a while. In fact, I haven't seen the sun for days. Well, that's non-summer in Seattle, sweet people. Anyhow, as you can see, A.L. Humphrey's got another floor and all sorts of other jazz. Ain't that spectacular. I originally predicted that they'd be done by Christmas, but now I'm gonna revise that back to Presidents' Day. Or possibly the first rainy day of spring. They have three more floors to go. Let's wish them plenty of luck.

And now let us close as we usually do, with a look up at the A.L. Humphrey's crane. You know, the Recovery Cafe also has a crane, but it's far less impressive, so I don't include it. Come to think of it, the A.L. Humphrey's crane isn't that compelling either - especially compared to what used to tower over Belltown. But it's the best we've got, so let's love it:

Construction Update!

I think I've hit on a really swell way to show how much work is being done on the Recovery and A.L. Humphrey: contrasting a current photo with a recent photo. Golly, where do I get the brilliance? Ok, so that's just what I'm gonna do right now. First, the Recovery Cafe:


Pardon that potato chip truck! So yeah, some progress in the last two weeks, not a whole lot. I certainly couldn't do any better. And now on to the A.L. Humphrey House:


Sorry about the tilt on the bottom photo. I was taking pretty much straight into the sun (back when we had it) and was confused by it - so high up in the sky and so forth. As far as progress goes, there hasn't been much over the last two weeks. I dunno, maybe everyone has just been sweeping up after the last few months of buildin' things fast. In any case, construction continues. And what progress report would be complete without a shot of the A.L. Humphrey's crane? No progress report at all, I tell you. Here it is:

The proximity of the sun makes it look like it's about a million degrees out, but I assure you it was not.

Konstruktion Kronikle

For the last few months, I've been doing quasi-weekly updates from the Recovery Cafe and A.L. Humphrey House sites. This was all well and good when they were getting things demolished or laying foundations and whatnot, but it's absolutely no good in showing all the progress they've made in just a short amount of time. So, with the aid of time lapsed photography (meaning that I took pictures one fine day, then returned two weeks later), I'll show you how quickly these projects are being built. Let's start with the Recovery Cafe:

Here it is two weeks ago. The level of construction is even with the sidewalk. And now currently:

They've built an entire story in that time. Can you feel the progress? Because I sure can! Three more stories to go.

Here's the A.L. Humphrey House two weeks ago:

Sorry about shooting (almost) directly into the sun. Here's what it looks like this week:

Yes, they've forged ahead considerably. Four more stories to go.

These buildings will continue to go up very quickly. They're simple, unadorned designs built for practical use. Yes, they are projected to be boxy, but that might not be a bad thing. We'll see about that when they're finished. Until then, we can only marvel at how quickly they're going up.

Of course, what post would be complete without a shot of the A.L. Humphrey's crane? Here is it:

Con-struction...

Let's check in on the A.L. Humphrey House and the Recovery Cafe, shall we?

As you can see, the first floor is in the works. Gosh, that didn't take long at all. I swear, this project is going at warp speed. But that's nothing compared to the Recovery Cafe. They're at something like trans-warp speed, which any Star Trek fan can tell you is way faster than plain old warp, by Spock. Observe:

OK, this might look like a tangle of construction-stuff, but that's exactly my point. Only a few weeks ago, this was just a hole in the ground. Now the foundation is finished and they're building upwards at an alarming pace. In fact, if I were a betting man (and I am), I'd say that even though the A.L. Humphrey has a head-start of several months, the Recovery Cafe will be done first. Anybody want to put some money on it to make it interesting?

Anyhow, here's the A.L. Humphrey site's crane. I love it more than I respect it.

Belltown Gets Another Crane!

Oh, happy day! We have another crane! This one is up over the Recovery Cafe site. The demolition is finished and now begins the construction phase. This is what it looked like when it arrived yesterday:

They unfolded it and this is what it looks like today:

Even though it's a little on the economy side, a crane is still a crane. It reminds me of the building boom during the nineties. Those were fine times. Titanic was big at the box office and nobody (except Texans) knew who the hell George W. Bush was.

So construction's just beginning for the new Recovery Cafe. Here's what they're starting with:

Good luck, guys! Please build something non-ugly, willya? Thanks!

Destruct-O-Rama

Let's face it, I'm really fascinated by the demolition of the Recovery Cafe. It's just as cool to see how things are brought down as built up. And bringing things down is more fun, because you can be as messy as you want in the process. I just thought I'd post a few photos from the project, starting with this from last week:

OK, rubble, great. This one is from earlier this week:

The Demolition Men are on the job! Finally, this is from today:

Don't dig too far down, guys, you'll get the mole people angry!

At this clip, they'll be done destroying in two weeks, which means that they'll start building soon afterward. Ooh, let's make it a race between the Recovery Cafe and the A.L. Humphrey House. It's always more sporting when there's money on it. I've got $20 on the A.L. Humphrey House. Sure, they've got a head start, but their building is bigger. So it's $20 - any takers?

The Past Comes to the Surface

They're almost done with demolition at the Recovery Cafe site at 2nd & Bell. One of the weird features of this neighborhood is that the past pops up to the surface when something is taken away. The ruins of the Recovery Cafe are a great place to see this in action. Take a look:

That wall belongs to the Wasabi Bistro these days. I thought it smelled like address machines in there! This would have been great for an installment of What Did This Use to Be? but honestly, nobody remembers. All I can recall is that before the Wasabi expanded into that space, it sold flat screen TVs. This was back when they were expensive and exotic. They aren't any more. I guess it was the same for address machines. I mean, if there's an entire store for them, they were probably, like all business machines of the past, expensive and bulky. There was no such thing as a small, expensive machine; if it was big, people felt like they were getting their money's worth. But times change. The addressing machine craze of yesteryear dies down. Flat screen TVs become cheaper. And your place of business eventually becomes a sushi restaurant. It is the way of things.

Demolition Update

Here's the yang to that yin.

They're slowly destroying the Recovery Cafe. It's a sturdy place, so it's taking a very long time. A while back, something like a week went by and you could barely see any progress. But now things are going a little faster. This is what it looked like two days ago:

Here's how things stand today:

Although everything is proceeding at a measured clip, it would have gone a lot faster if they'd just advertised the building on Craigslist as free to anybody who wanted to haul it away. It would have been gone weeks ago in a matter of hours. People would have been all over it with picks and crowbars knocking out huge blocks of concrete. It would have looked like a wheat field after a swarm of locusts had been through it. But hey, heavy equipment is another way of doing it.