In which we start on the basement and there is more CARDBOARD!

Yesterday we met with our favorite contractor and our new favorite foundation guy who told us we should start prepping the basement for work.  The foundation of the main building is first on the list of major projects for the building because we can just go "up" from there.  Luckily, most of the foundation seems to be in good enough shape...at least good enough to have minimal work done.  As the Foundation man said...Dunno what we are going to find here, might as well have your favorite contractor start to play and see what happens.  That has been and will be our mantra with this building!

So, I started on the dark and scary basement.....we hope to get a 1000 square foot rentable space out of this dank and musty cardboard filled dungeon.

This is a view to the front of the building with the original 1860s foundation walls at the front and to the left side.  We will have to pour a couple of steel reinforced supports for the wall to the left to keep it from moving.  At least one of the beams you see holding up the building will have to be replaced.  We are hoping to get away with a steel I-beam and two rather than three support posts.  We are not sure how much headroom we can get at the front of the building, because it sits on a granite ledge (the major reason the foundation hasn't moved much...thank you Mother Nature!) and we won't be able to dig down further than the ledge to get more room.  

 This cardboard and plywood wall fronts on Federal street and is about to go.  Once we get rid of this, the basement will be open to the elements, so I will tear out the cardboard and plastic, while leaving the plywood until we disconnect the furnace, which is directly behind me in this photo.  

Oh Joy!

The original stone soft red brick wall that holds the building up.  Lovely town sewer pipe too.  

After working for a while, I decided to break out and let the light and ventilation shine through!  I was later chastised for this.  

This is approximately where the new shop door will go and what the visibility will be for the business that rents the space.  

 Straight shot to lower Main Street.  An easy walk to Rollies Bar after work!

and of course the ever present view of the bay from the front door.  Think of all the tourist traffic coming from the docked cruise ships during summer months. This will be one of the first shop stops on the way up the hill from the harbor.  

This is my favorite shot of the space because it reeks of possibilities.  The shop will open up on Federal Street here, and also onto the back parking lot, giving us a double whammie of possible foot traffic and places to park for customers.  Of course, the door will line up with the new window above and there will be at least two more windows aligned under the same above, giving the space a lot of light.  This view is taken from Main Street and so whatever  business eventually rents the space will have great visibility.  We hope to have this particular space available by August.