Repurposing Historical Buildings

With my son, one thing is for sure there's never a dull moment!

When the little man and I were out exploring one of the days recently, where we were looking for a rock climbing gym for him and I to go to so we were checking out different ones in our vicinity and noticed there was a different kind, although it was a little further out so we decided to give it a try!

One of the things that I really enjoy is when cities throughout America don't do the stupid thing and tear every single historical building down. These buildings withstood the test of time! We need to leave as many of them up as we can, with the caveat that some are indeed just dangerous and contain dangerous chemicals and stuff. Those I don't have as much of an issue with but at the same time, a lot of those buildings did have chemicals but people did the right thing and cleaned them up.

With the building that the little man and I were in, they had some of the awesome stuff in the lobby from the history of the building! Like many cities in the early 1900's one of the things they were all trying to do as quickly as they could was build up their industry infrastructure. This meant trying to get all of the latest technology into them so they can support big factories and people can work in them. I see strange parallels to today's society if I'm going to be honest! Lol this one had all kinds of cool stuff like pulleys that used to be used for who knows what.

There were also these cool really old machines like this one here that was apparently a burlap bag weaver. I don't know for sure if it was berlap but it was definitely a machine that was used to sew things together! There were all kinds of crazy gears and things all over it. It's remarkable to think that someone designed the thing and made nearly all of it by hand! They didn't have precision cut machines back then and had to figure out the dimensions they were going to need for the different parts, then go make them! Crazy but amazing, I think!

Only until I looked underneath did I realize (wow, talk about an appropriate metaphor for 2023, lol) that this thing sewed some types of bags. I had a fair idea that it was some type of sewing machine but I couldn't exactly be sure what kind it was. Was really cool to see and touch it though! I'm glad that people are respectable enough not to ruin it but likely most people don't even care lol sadly.

To the point of the post though! Rock climbing was on the agenda and we checked this place out. It was quaint and small and one of the places that I would go to in a pinch if I had to but it wasn't a gym that I overly enjoyed. I know there are varying levels of business when it comes to these things so I know the money is tight but this one felt a little more outdated than I wanted it to be. Not to put down old things, as in many parts of the post I fawn over them lol but the different climbing settings were falling off the wall and stuff. It was a good place to check out and have if we need to use it. I kind of feel like a little kid again in a way because we used to always go to different skateparks as kids and check them out, seeing what ones we liked and what ones we didn't care for. This one falls into the category of a gym I would go to if need be but didn't hit the top of my list. Pretty interesting to think that it comes full circle when you get older lol

After we conquered the gym for a few hours, the little man and I were satisfied with the trip and went for another walk down the ancient halls.

One of the things that was funny is the little man isn't used to older buildings like this and how they make a lot of noise. When we were walking on the floors they were making all kinds of noises and he was getting very nervous hahaha he was holding my hand pretty tight because he didn't trust the floor could hold his weight. I on the otherhand loved the old hardwood flooring! This stuff was incredible and you won't get hardwood flooring of this quality much anymore these days. These were old growth trees for the most part, since we've cut almost all of them down in favor of ultra-fast GMO trees that shoot up in 5-7 years to harvesting height.

I also love the brick in these old buildings! Brick can be a little difficult to work with because of the weight and all that but damn is it an efficient building material for various things like temperature control. It can get cold in the winter but it stays relatively cool in the summer which is great! I wouldn't mind exploring these buildings more if we can find a way to check some more out!