Park your preconceptions at the door

The Art Loft at East 2nd and Gavett Place.
The doors are as wide as the windows
and that's where the trouble begins.

It's hard parking your preconceptions at the door

As were most Plainfielders, I was fascinated with the (loooong) construction of the Arts Loft building at the corner of Eat 2nd and Gavett Place.

That is, after I got over the shock from demolishing the Romind Jeep dealership that it replaced.

The Romond building had "good bones" and was a perfect candidate for repurposing, or so I thought.

Then I softened somewhat after seeing the renderings of the Miami-style building that was to go up in its stead.

But one thing mystified me.

How could construction officials possibly have allowed those narrow doors.

The first time I entered it (for the public meeting on the pedestrian mall proposal), I asked Planning Director Bill Nierstedt how such a thing could have happened.

He braced his back against the door jamb and measured the width with his feet.

Copacetic was his verdict.

Once inside I realized at once what the issue was.

It was designed as a loft space not as a conventional storefront.

What seemed like narrow doors were made to appear so by the extra height of the windows accommodating the space's 12-foot height.

Lesson learned: Check your preconceptions at the door.

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 -- Dan Damon [ follow ]

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