This isn't the first time the store has moved for new development at 7272 Wisconsin Avenue - it was moved a short distance when the Apex Building was constructed in the late 1980s. But this move will be significantly farther than the first. Its new destination is a public parking lot on Middleton Lane. There are some concerns about the clearance on the streets the store will have to travel. Will traffic signals or trees have to be moved or trimmed, respectively?
I need some of our resident construction experts to weigh in on what exactly they are doing here to prepare for the relocation. They've excavated around the foundation, and you can see rebar sticking out of the rubble alongside the building. The move is to make way for the massive mixed-use project at 7272 Wisconsin by Carr Properties.
These photos are interesting! Especially considering the fact that I actually saw a person with blonde hair taking these photos yesterday evening...Do you in fact of a staff of interns as well Dyer?
ReplyDeleteI'm sure other people are taking photos of the store, too. I often see people photographing notable things around town that I'm taking pictures of, sometimes with very expensive cameras.
ReplyDeleteI remember when it was an active hardware store......regarding the relocation prep:
ReplyDeleteBuildings are supported by perimeter footings (bands of concrete about 2' wide and 1' deep) that support the structure loads to solid ground. Down the center of the building may be another footing or a series of individual footings called piers.
The contractor will expose and remove these footings (undermining) a bit at a time and insert large steel beams to replace the concrete footings and this steel now becomes the structural support for the entire building.
This new matrix of steel is then hydraulically lifted and moved, with trucks like under a skateboard, to it's new location.
Simplified explanation, but that's how it's done.
Robert avoided the question and no he does not personally take the photos
ReplyDeleteUnknown,
ReplyDeleteMe too. As a kid, I'd spend Saturdays "downtown" with the hardware store a favorite place to hang out.
Back when an 8 year old wandering around on their own wasn't alarming.
I worked at Community Hardware for a little while the summer after high school. What is there as a building is only part of the original store. When they moved it the last time, they took off the back half. It was a really neat place. Hope they move it safely.
ReplyDeleteWhen it was moved last time, it lost a significant part of its original structure, therefore, its not a totally original building. It's ugly as sin, I say tear it down and save the money and use the wood as kindling.
ReplyDeleteUgly as hell. Hope it falls off the moving truck.
ReplyDeleteYup. But then we wouldn't have the satisfaction of the NiMbY's who fought for its preservation then having it put in their backyard.
Delete@6:34 Thanks for the explanation. So that's how they do it -- always wondered.
ReplyDeleteSee, you can learn something new from the comments on Dyer's blog!
I guess there's not much to move, if the FedEx truck is any indicator of the quantity.
ReplyDeleteNice photo spread.
ReplyDeleteI hope it falls apart.
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