by Michael R. Allen
Here’s a brief follow-up on the ongoing renovation of the Farm and Home Building — now dubbed the “411” after its north 10th Street address — at 10th and Locust streets downtown (see “Farm & Home Building’s Modern Slipcover Now Historic”, March 9). The building looks great! Once again, Craig Heller and his LoftWorks company has accomplished a sensitive rehabilitation of a difficult building.
Now, work on the exterior is almost totally done. The 1954 slip-cover, once a dingy mask that even Heller wanted to remove, again radiates modern optimism. The message is the same as ever: what is old is new again, downtown is back in action and we’ll beat the darned Soviets through our superior modern architecture. Okay, I jest, but the point is that few would have thought the Farm and Home could ever look this great. I can’t wait to raise a martini (but of course!) at the grand opening, and to see what mid-century modern building will be the next to catch a clever developer’s eye.