Old vs. New
I recently read a great article, "A Tale of Two Restaurants: disposable versus recyclable architecture". Many times historic buildings or "Main Street America" buildings are hard to fill. Corporations usually tend to want a building that reflects there company, whether it be in a particular roof design or colors, they want their building branded with their corporate identity. So they choose to build from the ground up, creating a building which will always be identified with their particular brand.In hard economic times, when many restaurants shut down due to corporate down sizing or other issues, these buildings are the hardest to sell. The reason? The branded architecture.
Historic buildings also have challenges; the age of many of these buildings alone create obstacles, just getting a hundred year old building up to code can be an enormous issue. However, many entrepreneurs are choosing old over new. Why would a business owner choose the pains of an old building over a new shiny, branded building? The answer to me was made very clear in the above mentioned article, sustainability.Historic buildings have been recycled over and over again throughout the years. What once was a mom and pop grocery, became a pharmacy, then a children’s clothing boutique and now a great restaurant. A hundred year old build was remodeled and reused for each purpose, each business having its own charm and character, largely due to the great historic bricks it was housed in.
Stillwater’s Downtown has also experienced many changes throughout the years. I think the ever changing store fronts would make our forefathers proud. Knowing that these old buildings are still be used, still helping someone realize there dream of owning/operating their own business. Even after many of us have moved on, our historic buildings will be here, ready to sustain the next generation of visionaries!
See you soon in beautiful Downtown Stillwater!Angela McLaughlin
