Rooms With a View

From the outside, headers are installed along the block wall prior to window installation. The area to the right of this wall will become our lofts' roof-top patio area. In the distance a blanket of snow conceals the verdant green of the driving range of Benton Harbor's soon to be completed Habor Shores Golf Course.

The newly installed windows provide welcome light to the warehouse interior.

Sealtest Village Store

The Arctic Dairy was purchased in the early 1940's by the Sealtest Corporation. This crumbling cardboard sign features an ad for the Sealtest Village Store, a radio program that aired in the late forties. The comedy radio show, sponsored by Sealtest, depicted the antics and interplay of a proprietor of a general store and her customers. Eve Arden and Jack Haley were well known radio personalities that moved on to star in the emerging media of television. Two posters and a single logo glass are all that remain from Sealtest's tenure in the building.

Artifacts...

With the demolition phase under way, a limted number of conversation pieces are revealed. Perhaps the most noteworthy is the motor driven cable freight elevator used by the Ice Cream Company. There are no living oral accounts of the actual operation of this device, though it seems in many ways to be ready to assume a re-newed assignment. The motor, atop the elevator shaft has not seen the light of day for decades, but is in remarkably good condition. Alas, there is no place for this relic and it is removed - unceremoniously. The platform removal is accomplished in less than twenty minutes!

Making Places

Our project will exploit a total of about 12,000 square feet of underutilized and functionally obsolete warehouse space (archaically wired, inadequately heated and poorly roofed; previous facade "updates" have covered a number of window openings).

Four unique residential spaces ranging from 1300 to 2000 sf in size and an additional 3000 sf commercial space at street level will be created. Additionally, garage space and shared common areas for use by the residential units will be developed. Common areas include a 18 x 15 ft fitness room and a walk-out roof-top deck that measures approximately 38 x 54. Only a portion of the roof space will be devoted to patio, while the remaining space will feature a green, low-profile 'live-roof'. A casualty of the project will be the demolition of our dilapidated pipe shed shown above.

The Project - From 30,000 Feet

Given the long term viability of the surrounding area, we have elected to proceed with an extensive rehabilitation project of the former ice cream factory. The vision: Four urban loft condominium residences and a single street level commercial space. Industrial, eclectic, and raw. Exposed I-beams, brick and duct work. Stained concrete floors. Skylights. Common fitness room. Shared roof-top patio. Hmmmm.

The potential is evident. The vision is clear. The neighborhood is screaming for more living spaces. We shall transform what has been neglected and under utilized into spaces that invite, stimulate and reward. The line forms here.

The Arts District

The area of downtown Benton Harbor known as The Arts District had its beginnings in the early 1990's. Officially referred to as "community renewal through the arts" the district was the focus of investment by a consortium of public and private organizations and individuals. Beginning with willing artists and adventurous entrepeneurs, the neighborhood is now home to a dozen new businesses and arts related non-profits. Entertainment, Restaurants, Coffee Shops and a world class micro-brewery have opened eyes and stimulated interest and excitement in this corner of town. In 2008 The Arts District benefited tremendously from a comprehensive infrastructure and streetscape renovation. The project has provided visual testimony to the viability of the neighborhood.

The Demise

As heavy industry gave way to modern products and processes, (heavy castings were replaced by lighter and easier to produce die castings), the foundries that once dotted the landscape fell on hard times. High unemployment of an un-skilled labor force plagued the city for years. Urban blight descended on the City of Benton Harbor. Brammall Supply stood watch from its location on Water St. as retail stores closed, occupancy levels plumetted and vacant, boarded storefronts bemoaned the decline of the vibrant town that thrived just a few years before.