UPDATE: Butt Ugly Building

From Dave Brigham:

Thanks to my buddy Gary Holmes for letting us know that demolition began yesterday on Hartford's Butt Ugly Building (see 8-15-10 "The Butt Ugly Building").

This article in the Hartford Courant indicates that the tear-down should be complete by mid-November, and that the city, which acquired the building earlier this year, is soliciting developers from across the country in hopes of building a multi-use development.

Cool Your Jets!

From Dave Brigham:

As I noted in the inaugural post for this site more than six months ago, rivers offer some of the best views of the backside of America (see Take Me to the River, 3-1-10). On a recent cruise down the Connecticut River on the Hartford Belle, I enjoyed seeing the wooded banks, the osprey nests and the boats. But I was more interested in the Wethersfield Cove warehouse, which is operated by the local historical society, and, especially, the hulking green slab you see above.

I asked the Belle's captain about it. He told me it was an old Pratt & Whitney jet engine testing facility. "They used to do things like toss dead birds into the engines to see how they held up," he said.

The facility's official name is the Pratt & Whitney Andrew Willgoos Turbine Laboratory. After a little research online, I found out that the lab was built in the late '40s, and that the with help of acoustical engineers, "none of the noisy operations inside the building [could] be heard at nearby residences," according to a 1952 report from the Acoustical Society of America.

I also found a real web gem (to steal an ESPN phrase): a copy of The Tech, , M.I.T.'s official newspaper, from 1956 that describes in -- surprise! -- very technical terms the kind of work done at the facility. Check out the file here; you'll have to scroll down a bit to find it.

As for the dock shown below, it seems as though supply boats tied up there to transfer oil to the facility. The lab also used an incredible volume of water from the Connecticut River to cool the engines and testing equipment, so it's possible that the wharf helped facilitate that process as well.

As usual with these places, there's no way to know what's next. I imagine taking this facility apart and cleaning it up will take millions upon millions of dollars, lots of time and effort and that it probably won't happen for a long, long time.

The Butt Ugly Building

From Mick Melvin:

Driving to work every morning, I had always wondered about the huge, abandoned building located at the corner of Main and Trumbull streets in Hartford. It sits on its own little island in the middle of the city surrounded by parking lots near Route 84. I couldn’t imagine why this building was not scooped up by some developer. I searched the Internet trying to find out what was at this location, but came up with nothing. Much to my delight, I opened the newspaper one morning and there it was, “The Butt Ugly Building.”



I had no idea it was dubbed the “Butt Ugly Building” until that day. It is certainly a fitting name for the structure. When Dave told me his plans of starting this photo blog, this building was one of the first things I thought of capturing for the project. I hesitated to post any pictures because I didn’t know the history behind this butt-ugly building. As it turns out, it was the home of the H. B. Davis department store. The building has been vacant since the store closed 30 years ago.

The building has been in the headlines as of late because of legal problems surrounding the development of the property. The building has played a part in the demise of former Hartford Mayor, Eddie Perez (see 7-8-10 Hartford Courant, "City Moves to Buy Butt Ugly Building"). The new Mayor, Pedro Segarra, has plans to demolish the building next month and rid the city of this long standing eyesore.

Have Ladder, Will Work

By Mick Melvin:

While taking a Sunday drive in early spring, I came across something unexpected. I actually did a double take upon seeing a ladder cruising down the street in a Hartford neighborhood. I checked my rearview mirror and then stopped to take the first shot, because I didn’t want to miss it. I then drove to the stop light and got the next two shots.



In these troublesome times, I found it inspiring that this unknown cyclist was doing what it took to get the job done. It’s obvious he didn’t have the most adequate mode of transportation for the job, but he was making due. And I bet when he got to his final destination, he got that job done. I’m glad I took that drive and caught this backside moment.

Spaghetti Warehouse Billboard Building

From Mick Melvin:

This building is an unsolved mystery for me. It sits on a property with a few other buildings on Bartholomew St. in Hartford, CT. The painted sign on the front of the building reads, "Spaghetti Warehouse," and functioned as an advertisement for the restaurant (next door) because it could be seen from the highway (Route I-84), but there has been no activity in this building for some time.

I first saw the building from the rear while driving on Francis St. in Hartford and wondered what was in front. The rear of the building looked old and weathered. When I got to the front of the building, I saw the huge painted on sign. Upon closer inspection, I noticed the building's keystone with a date of 1912. I attempted to look up the history of the building, but have come up with nothing so far. It looks as though it was some sort of factory warehouse building. It is nestled up against the railroad tracks at the rear and sits in a rather large parking lot.



This building is on sale as a package deal with the building that housed the restaurant. The Spaghetti Warehouse is a nationwide chain that was started in Dallas, TX, in the '70s and presently has restaurants from Texas to Ohio. The Spaghetti Warehouse in Hartford opened in 1993 and closed by 1996. As of right now, the only information I have about the mysterious building is that it was used as a billboard.

Steel Was a Major Industry

057, originally uploaded by Ptah21.

From Mick Melvin:

The buildings of the American Steel and Aluminum Corp. in Hartford, CT caught my eye as I drove home from work one day. The buildings cover a couple of blocks in Hartford on Homestead Avenue. There is a building that looks to have housed the executive offices and a couple of buildings for the steel and aluminum that ASAC distributed. It is in a depressed section of Hartford. This part of town has lots of older houses and stores with flashing neon signs. Most streets are strewn with trash, broken glass and plenty of potholes. The ASAC is not the only abandoned business in the area, but it interested me because it covered so much space. The place has been out of business for about 2 years, even though it looks like longer. Weeds have taken over the parking areas, trash covers a lot of the site and kids have taken plenty of shots at the many windows of the buildings.



What really caught my eye and drew me to these buildings is the fact that steel was a major industry in this country. I didn’t notice that it was a steel company until I was stuck in traffic one day. I first saw the for sale sign of the main building. I then saw the sign for the company that had inhabited the site. It got me thinking about our troubles as a country right now and made me think about all the families that thrived during the time these buildings were at full capacity.

When I did finally go back to take the pictures, I could almost hear the people and machinery. Most people probably drive by places like this and don’t take a good look. The only people in the area were just passing through, like I usually do from work. It’s the backside of America we usually close our eyes to and just go back and forth to work blindly.

Abandonded, originally uploaded by Ptah21.