Missed Connections

What happens when you try to connect a 1970’s addition, a late 19th century row house, and a house moved onto our property in the 1950’s?

What happens when you try to connect a 1970’s addition, a late 19th century row house, and a house moved onto our property in the 1950’s? Well, we discovered this week.

While we had hoped that the connections between these three buildings could be made without any major changes, the reality was that in order for our plans to work we had to jackhammer out an existing concrete ramp to our education center.

Just a few inches and a minor adjustment in the slope made everything work.

Thanks to the efforts of our architects, contractor, and staff, our visitors will be unaware of the odd intersection of these three buildings.

In many ways it speaks to our vision for the Valentine.

How do we take diverse stories and periods of our region’s history that don’t appear to relate to each other and connect them?
Well, it takes work and may require a few challenges to our assumptions about our past. We may even have to modify the angle at which we approach our history.

If we are open to the conversations, we can make the connections!

Are you curious about our progress? Join us for a Hard Hat Happy Hour happening every Wednesday from 4:30-6:00 p.m. You can contact me for more information or RSVP online and let me know you’ll be coming by.

If you would like to help keep us calm and hammering on, you can support the History Center on our secure donation page at /give.

Bill Martin, Director