15 April 2015

a time to build up and a time to tear down

in a couple weeks, my company's offices are moving to a new building. well, not new-new. new to us. it's a remodeled shopping mall. i think it will be better than it sounds -- the pictures i've seen and the floorplans are both positive. (also, not technically "my" company, but you know what i mean.)

today we had a ceremony to say goodbye to our current building. the company has been in it since the 1920s with an addition built in the late 50s, so there's a bit of history in those walls.

we're a 200+ year old company and i'd say the average employee tenure is something along the lines of 15-18 years, with a good portion being in the 25+ years range. so, there's a bit of history there, too. history in the way we do things, like we've always done things.

our current building is a hot mess of structural issues - leaks, mold, darkness. it's like a cave, but not a good cave like the batcave. just a regular cave, with bats.

it's got too much central space and not enough windows. where the 1920s building is cobbled onto the late 50s addition, there are jinky hallways and small but odd gaps in the walls. a good bit of our parking is on the roof of the 1920s building. not sure if it was "always" there, but at least my whole 25 year tenure. the weight of the cars combined with the simple fact of a flat rooftop contributes to leakage every time it rains and sometimes when it's not.

feelings about the move vary widely. some are thrilled and eager, ready to leave the history-steeped walls, hoping the "way we've always done things" stays behind, too. some are concerned and anxious, unsure how they'll find power in a new location where office geography is flattened to sameness. some don't seem to care either. i am more in the eager camp, but still, it's bittersweet.

this building is like detroit's tiger stadium or north carolina's rockingham speedway... a venerable structure in its day, but way past it's prime and specifically lacking any concerted effort to save it. it's time to throw the used building away like used coffee grounds. sure. that's understandable.

but still, see... so many of us have been in there together for so long, it'll just be sort of sad to leave it behind, to be dismantled by liquidators then demolished by developers then replaced with an anonymous glass tower.













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