A series of entries designed to capture the ongoing adventures of NINA! See how we came to be where we are today, and follow along as we enter the new century of social media!
Page: 59
This shot illustrates just how close 42 Hawthorn Street is to 1 Imlay Street. The wrecking crew is really quite good at this.
Seen from the rear bedroom on the second floor. The roof has collapsed, and the front-loader is making quick work of the building.
The front-loader started work by knocking itself sideways into the south wall. It crumpled easily.
Today is the big day: the former Capitol Liquors will be demolished! Here are the wrecking devices in place, a front-loader with a claw and a dumpster. It is hard to believe that this is all it will take, but I’m assured that it will be.
I don’t know if we’ve talked about whether this building is, in fact, historic, and if so what kind of historic preservationists are we if we’re pleased to see this building go? Well, the building is kind of historic, but it is also testimony to how stupid decisions made by previous owners can make some buildings unsustainable.
Here’s what we know about 42 Hawthorn Street. It sits on land that was originally part of 1 Imlay Street. Some time after the original owner of 1 Imlay moved on, a subsequent owner had the brilliant idea to build a family-owned and operated store on the side yard. By this point, the house next door to 1 Imlay Street, which had been built by the original owner of 1 Imlay, had already been demolished.
The store’s builder left 1 Imlay to her son, and he had the even more brilliant idea (not) to subdivide the property so that the house and the store could be treated and sold separately. That pretty much spelled the doom for both properties, since separate owners working at cross-purposes were bound to let the buildings slide into disrepair. You saw previously how bad 1 Imlay had been – we couldn’t go into 42 Hawthorn, as it was deemed unsafe.
So, however many years later, we are pleased to see this building go – and its demolition restores 1 Imlay to its original use and footprint, as a single-family home with a beautiful side yard.
Before we get to the demolition, though, how about that new stained-glass window?
The wall board arrived this morning, and as you can see we took out the window in the second story hallway in order to accommodate the delivery. My days of sunlight playing through the framing are just about over!
And I’ll confess, it really was a coincidence that I was here with my camera as the wall board was being delivered. Really I was here to see the demolition of Capitol Liquor. Stay tuned …
Plus Hector Velez, who’s getting underway on the porch next door at 51 Ashley.
Views from (and of!) the future parking lot, which gives a good look at where the elevator will go. The single-story section to the left is the pizzeria and the former liquor store, and the three-story section to the right is bedrooms on the first and second floors and office space on the third. The area in between will be the elevator, and a new section of the building will be built to accommodate it as well as a new entrance lobby on the first floor.
On the three-story section, you can see the remains of the old rickety fire escape, and if you look closely, up on the third floor next to the opening you can see the ladder that provided access to the roof. That will be the main entrance to the new office space – the opening, not the ladder!
We were pleased to support one of our peers today by leading a part of their tour around Hartford for a group of corporate employees from CIGNA. Katy Bannister from LGH sent us this photo, which is a view of the tour I don't often see, since I'm the one giving it. This is us going through 199 Sargeant Street.
