salvage work at the 500 milwaukee avenue building complex has finally begun

despite the brutally cold weather and piles of snow every which way, we made our way to the interconnected cluster of gray painted buildings (nine of the eleven bearing historic significance to one degree or another), formerly used to house a vast array of restaurant equipment and services for several decades.

we had a very short window of time to extract interior artifacts and/or objects this afternoon, so i had my crew focus on carefully removing the turned walnut newel posts and railings, along with paneled doors and other odds and ends from the one building i'm convinced was constructed between 1868-1875.

while they removed the interior millwork, i wandered off and photographed each and every building extensively and systematically from basement to rooftop. several hundred images were taken of interior spaces, which in some areas, were left largely unaltered since the depression.

as our time there drew to a close, i set the camera down and focused solely on removing a single heavily ornamented interior cast iron capital from the building where all the salvage work was done. i was hoping to secure at least one of the many matching capitals, which consist of an impressive assemblage of acanthus leaves, affixed to the very top of the load-bearing columns comprised of solid yellow pine wood.

much to my surprise, and unlike any other iron capital i have removed from commercial buildings dating to the 1860's-1870's, each and every ornamented component was nailed directly against the column i was working on. based on my previous experience with removing this type of ornament, the first floor interior capitals typically consist of two cylindrical segments of cold-rolled steel or sheet iron that wrap around the metal or wood column. the cast pieces (i.e., protruding acanthus leaves) are riveted firmly against the two segments to create a four-sided capital viewable from any angle. with the capital comprised of several carefully arranged pieces nailed flush against the post, it came down rather quickly with very little effort required.

at the end of the day, the photography of the building interiors are now completed and architectural elements were carefully removed, with a few have already shot in the studio in preparation for listing on the website.

we will be there again tomorrow removing more artifacts i feel are worthwhile of saving for future use. hopefully i will manage to set aside time this weekend to continue my research into the history of these buildings in order to gain a better appreciation for what existed there long before the restaurant equipment resale business came along and paved the way to demolition of the buildings through continued neglect and eventual abandonment. i'm not doubt overwhelmed with mounting questions, but finding the answers will take a great deal of time.

a few artifacts secured from today's salvage were shot late this evening and included for viewing in this post.