rebuilding center on Mississippi

from across the street

Now that things are slowing down in the garden, it’s a good time to trot out some of the things stored away that didn’t quite make it into previous posts. When I visited Mississippi Ave a few weeks ago, I took quite a few pictures of a place I find inspiring, The Rebuilding Center. If you drive toward the river on Fremont, you will come upon it where Fremont intersects with Mississippi.

truck

It is a place where builders and remodelers can drop off unwanted building materials that are then sorted, priced and put on display.

wall of windows

Bulletin boards hold ideas for ways to use cast off materials in ingenious ways, but perhaps the most inspiring examples are to be found in the building itself. Here is a wall incorporating a hodge podge of reclaimed windows. Greenhouse, anyone?

welded metal fence

Scrap metal has been welded into a decorative fence.

main entrance

The main entrance is a fantasy land, with built-in benches at the base of trees whose branches, adorned with sparkly elements reach for the vaulted skylights.

another look

Here’s another look at that entryway.

doors

The space is huge, with enough room for separate areas dedicated to doors, windows, etc.

lighting

In the lighting department, whole fixtures hang from above while shelves of globes and shades fill the dense shelving below.

lumber, etc.

This is one of those places to come with an open mind and let the imagination roam free. Who knows what manner of garden structure might result.

7 thoughts on “rebuilding center on Mississippi

  1. I love those fences, they are stunning. We have a similar store, The Wrecking House, that used to be a hidden treasure. Years ago, it just used to buy the contents of buildings that were being demolished and you could get great, weird finds for reasonable prices. Now, it’s the ‘in’ place to shop and the bargains have disappeared. They also seem to buy more new stuff now so it’s lost much of it’s charm. I hope The Rebuilding Center continues to be a hidden gem for you.

  2. I adore the Rebuilding Center after watching with interest as they constructed it. The cob entrance alone is worth the price of admission. And don’t even let me into the lighting section! Our United Villages, the sponsoring nonprofit, does excellent work.

  3. Debbie~Love the name: The Wrecking House. We had a similar place here that finally sold out to Williams Sonoma, but the one I’m showing here has so far stayed true to its original mission.

    Jane~The original was only two blocks from our old house and I used to wander over there frequently. Now that corner is the home of a Holiday Inn (there goes the neighborhood).

  4. What an amazing place! We have a little architectural salvage store fifteen minutes away that I love to spend time in. But it’s nothing on the scale of your outfit. And yours has such cool steel sculptures–wild!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *