While headed up to Hitt's Hill for a walk recently, we passed by the back side of the St. Gobain plant -- a mysterious gray box of a building that is slated to come down next year to make way for a housing development. The factory, under various owners, has been making Boeing parts for decades, growing steadily from humble beginnings in an abandoned streetcar repair barn.
We had never seen the inside of the place, but that night the back door was open and we glimpsed this remarkable scene... with no sign of human occupation except the tinny strains of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" emanating faintly from a distant corner of the cavernous room.
We had never seen the inside of the place, but that night the back door was open and we glimpsed this remarkable scene... with no sign of human occupation except the tinny strains of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" emanating faintly from a distant corner of the cavernous room.
After snapping this picture we kept walking, but we were left with some burning questions:
Who knew they were making giant nipples in there?
Why wasn't this marvelous object on display in the parade?
Can we have it when they close up shop next November? Please?
And then we wondered: are we quite, quite sure we're ready to replace this brightly-lit, Righteous-Brothers-filled hangar with 375 market-rate housing units over ground-floor commercial space? I mean, this could be our claim to fame, right here. What other neighborhood has a bigger nipple than this? Hillman City? I don't think so. Ballard? Not a chance. Georgetown? Bring it on.At the very least, we intend to start a grass-roots movement to persuade the developers to install the giant nipple in the courtyard of the new building, as commemoration of Columbia City's post-war mega-mammary manufacturing history.
1 comment:
Call me crazy, but from the picture it looks like the nipple is on wheels, which is marvelous beyond all imagining!
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