Significant WOW Factor

Final finishes are now in place.  This unit, the epitome of urban cool, has been furnished and now serves as model for our development.  Note the skylight above the kitchen island which never fails to elicit the expected "WOW". 

New Identity

Welcome to The Citadel Dance and Music Center - and welcome to the Quarternote Lofts. This bucolic autumn view captures our new presence in the Benton Harbor Arts District. After fifteen months of hand-wringing worry we have arrived.

Note the iconic sign that identifies both school and residential space.


As one patron of the music school proclaimed: Best. Sign. Ever.

One Year Later

One year -to the day, The Citadel Music Center is open for business. Students of all ages marvel at the transformation and are welcomed into their new studio spaces. The vibe is at once warm, unique, eclectic, and unmistakably artistic.

The Greening of (an) American (Roof)

While a carpet of sedum grows in a West Michigan nursery, our walk-out roof top deck is gradually transformed. The drought-resistent succulent plant is pregrown over several months and will be delivered in 2ft x 4ft modules in mid July. The roof will be fully vegetated within 6 hours of receipt and will create a magical greenspace for our residents to enjoy. A first in Benton Harbor, the LifeRoof system will minimize water run-off, conserve heat in the winter and moderate the ambient summer temperatures of the common patio space. Cocktails, anyone?

Un-common Spaces

The Quarternote Lofts exhibit several common areas that are sure to please. Featured here, what will become a shared roof-top deck and green space.

To the right, looking down from above on a portion of the roof deck. When complete, most of this roof surface will be a green LiveRoof.

In the distance you can catch a glimpse of the Harbor Shores golf practice facility. Above, left, a view from the deck looking down the C&O Railroad Tracks. I think I hear Woodie Guthrie off in the distance...

Year to Year

Above: Summer 2009

After and before, the transformation is complete. In just one year a page is turned on a neighborhood that now rivals that in any urban setting. What remains unknown is the effect that this physical face lift will have. New restaurants? A bookstore? The possibilities are many and varied - but all require one essential ingredient - people! Enough to weave the web of commerce -neighbors serving neighbors. At what point do we reach critical mass - and will we know it? I suspect it is a moving target - a continuum without an end, an equation without an answer, a process that becomes ever more complicated with the addition of every new business and resident. A fascinating pallet to which we add just a bit more color with our music school and our urban lofts.

Below: Summer 2008

A Park Grows in Benton Harbor

A small triangular park greets Spring and reminds all of us why we love this neighborhood. Urban, historic and alive - with space for so much more. Already home to artists, teachers and renaissance pioneers, the Arts District continues to captivate. Music, threatre, live entertainment, fine dining - a vibrant landscape, an open invitation. If it's not here now, it will be soon!

Return From Exile

Beginning nearly a year ago, an inventory was made of the various architectural and vintage artifacts that could be saved for re-use. Many of the items were impractical or ultimately undesirable. Some, such as the multiple paned warehouse windows and the impressively worn freezer door shown here have made the final cut. They will provide accent and definition for our spaces and connect them to their early roots.

What is that sound?

It could be music. It will be music.

These photos feature details of the new Citadel Music Center. The odd round window was a flat belt pulley in a former life and the multiple paned warehouse window and the doors on the left were salvaged from the original ice cream factory. Overhead you may notice the pan-poured structural concrete ceiling of the music center.

Keep listening...

Indecent Exposure

Over a period of several months the building is stripped in stages of the more modern sheet metal and stucco facade. The original brownstone is revealed and then stripped as well, exposing the rough brick under layment. A new course of brownstone will restore the building to its original state.

Stairway to Heaven

Here are two shots of the stairway in our largest residential unit. The apartment, once a windowless, cork-lined refrigeration room of the Hill Ice Cream Company now features

2-1/2 baths, exposed brick walls and expansive views of the nearby golf course. A true loft, the second floor remains open to the living space below.

Rock Photo

Inspections finally complete, the drywall crew has descended into the space that will become home to the Citadel Music School. This nine-man "rock band" will complete the initial "hanging" process in about 3 days. Nearly 3000 sq feet will be devoted to music instruction for students of all ages. The school will feature a waiting room, director's office and 10 instruction studio rooms as well as a larger group ensemble and "kindermusic" room. Brass, String, Woodwind, Piano, Percussion and Voice instruction - all under one roof.

Ghost Stories

We pass them everyday without giving them a second thought. Their influence on our consumptive impulses has long since passed. Yet they linger - fading over time until their clouded message loses its connection to our modern world... These few samples are tucked away in alley ways and side streets - no longer frequented by the retail public that were once drawn in.

We're Beaming!

Gloss black paint has been applied to the exposed iron I-beams that support our roof. The exposed ceiling joists have been stained and sealed and we are very pleased with the way the colors compliment each other. The original brick surfaces add additional contrast to the newly finished ceiling components.

Neighborhood Relic

Our recently exposed sign was last painted in the early 1970's. This is a northeastern exposure and has weathered remarkably well. A similar sign painted on the southwestern end of the building endured direct sunlight and was forever needing a touch-up. Earlier photos of the sign referenced our plumbing roots - pipe, valves and fittings. In this rendition, only industrial supplies are highlighted.

The sign was painted repeatedly over the years and served for all intents and purpose as our only visible advertisement. As lowly wholesalers, the Brammall name was spread by word of mouth and reputation throughout Southwest Michigan's thriving industrial community.

No TV. No radio. No print media. Just people talking to people. Hmmmm.

As we return our focus to the exterior of our building the nagging question remains: what to do with the sign? Remove? Re-Paint and restore? Or seal as-is and capture the moment -this snapshot of our past... ?

Sealing the Ceiling

We have begun to finish the exposed wood joist ceiling in one of our units (#2). Above left, an un-finished view and below, the same view after being stained and sealed. We are pleased with the warmth and dimension that the stain has provided. The painters have reluctantly acknowledged that the task is more than they expected - they must finish two vertical sides of a joist as well as the cross braces and the horizontal ceiling itself - more than 3 times the effort over a simple drywall ceiling spray job!

The Inside Story

From the interior of the cinder block space shown in the prior post, new light falls on a previously dark interior. This space will become a kitchen and living room for what we affectionately refer to as UNIT FOUR. At 1300 square feet, the view from the unit on to the roof-top deck expands this space dramatically. Your basic ranch home picture window - NOT!

A New View...

Picture yourself on a roof-top deck located between two buildings. You have walked out from a landing area at the top of the stairway from the first floor. The deck faces northwest, overlooking railroad tracks and a soon to be completed golf course practice complex. On your left a cinder block wall gives way to a series of windows that opens up a spectacular view for one of our residential units.