The Wassaic Project: Grain elevator gets new life as art gallery

[Heidi]

I loved this article and the hope that projects like this offer for building community, supporting the arts and giving new life to old structures. Mornin', DU! :hi:
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Elevator for Grain, Reinvented for Art
The New York Times
Published: July 28, 2009
WASSAIC, N.Y. — When Sally Zunino’s husband and his business partner decided five years ago to buy the old grain and feed elevator here, a crumbling cathedral of agriculture that was raining siding onto the Metro-North tracks and the tiny hamlet below, Ms. Zunino would not even agree to go see it.

<snip>

But many tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of repairs later, the rambling old elevator, known as Maxon Mills, has turned out to be a different kind of folly, closer to Merriam-Webster’s definition No. 5 of that word: “an often extravagant picturesque building” used in the service of “a fanciful taste.”

A rare survivor among the stately wood-crib elevators that once towered over rural America, this 105-foot-tall structure has been reincarnated as one of the strangest new homes for contemporary art in the Northeast, a place that feels like a Lower East Side gallery transplanted into a treehouse, redolent of damp pine and the animal feed that once filled the spaces.

>snip>

Since last summer, after the bulk of the renovation was completed, the project has drawn dozens of visual and performance artists and musicians from around the country, most not long out of art school, to show work and to help with the upkeep. And, at least on occasion in the summer, to camp out and turn Wassaic — a sleepy town of 1,200 that is the end of the line on Metro-North’s Harlem branch (the town’s name is taken from an American Indian word sometimes translated to mean “land of difficult access”) — into a well-mannered art happening.

Read more

[SoCalDem]

1. Here's another grain elevator put into "new" service

http://www.loftsatglobemills.com/history.html

http://www.calgold.com/communities/Default.asp?Series=100&Show=1029
affordable housing for seniors
http://sacramento.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2005/06/06/daily26.html

[Heidi]

2. Very cool, SoCalDem! Thank you!

I lived in Nebraska through the mid-80s, when the farm crisis forced the closure of many small-town mills and elevators. As far as I know, those closed where I lived were either leveled or just left to deteriorate. :(

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. Very impressive!

But in reading everything (albeit quickly; time to go to work), all I found about the silos were that there was a rec room for seniors atop them. What did I miss? What will the silos be used for?

[SoCalDem]

5. There are lofts (for higher prices) in the silos themselves

There was a PBS piece on them, and the seniors have full access to the facilities, but their housing is not inside the loft area itself.

The rents were very reasonable and their units were very nice.. The pricey lofts & their association fees help keep the costs for the seniors down,.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

9. Are there windows in the silo lofts?

I didn't see any from the photo.

[SoCalDem]

10. The link has some pics & it looked like there was some natural light..

That pic may have been a "before" pic:)

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

4. Neat!

I love New York anyway, and seeing them preserve this structure makes me love the state even more.

They've renovated a grain mill in Fayetteville AR as well--office buildings and shops, mostly. Not as neat as an art gallery!

[Heidi]

7. Hey, that's cool!

I'll check that out with mom, granny and aunts next time I'm home. (I was born in Arkansas. :) )

Good morning, ayeshahaqqiqa! :hi:

[TexasObserver]

6. Recommend

[Heidi]

8. Thank you! I wish our little village /region would take a similar approach

to the many "rustici" (very old, rustic, farm buildings) that are falling down all over the place or being leveled entirely to make room for condominiums, vacation homes and rentals. It's difficult to explain all that is being lost. Just across the road from us, there's a beautiful meadow where sheep have been kept for the decade I've been here, and on that meadow are two rustici. The property is now being developed by a private party as a villa with large, one-level home, guest house, pool and tennis courts -- and along with the rustici go the apple and pear trees and the blackberry and raspberry bushes along the fence. We've noticed that the Greater Spotted Woodpeckers who've nested in the apple and pear trees have been driven away by the weekly mowing and presence of land surveyors, to the extend that they spent the spring eating from our hanging peanut-and-suit feeders (and these woodpeckers are woodland creatures, shy around humans, and insect eaters to boot).

Sorry for the rant. I just think some things are worth preserving or at least repurposing (and I hate the word "repurposing" but it fits). Why not give them new life when we can and preserve those deep cultural ties? :(

[TexasObserver]

12. That's the nature of civilization. Constantly plowing under history.

I lived in a community that used to have many fine, older homes. I had one that we renovated and restored. You should have seen the tacky carpet, drapes, and colors that had been used in the 1950s and 1960s to cover beautiful oak floors and beautiful oak window frames. I restored it to original condition, pretty much.

I wish communities would preserve more green space. Frankly, that's why I moved to the country and out of the big city, even though I still have my business in the city. With modern conveniences (phones, faxes, email, etc.) I can do most of what I do at the office from right here on the lake. Every day I am surrounded by the awesome beauty of nature, largely untouched.

[KatyaR]

11. We have an old grain elevator in downtown OKC that's been

turned into a rock climbing center:

http://www.rocktowngym.com/

I have a former work colleague who goes there a lot, especially in the winter. I think it's a great idea.