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fresnelly · 07-25-2006, 05:30 AM

I was working for a theatre festival in Edmonton, and one day we went to a recently closed down bar/nightclub to salvage some booths to use in the temporary lobby we had set up.

Imagine your typical rock/sports bar with lots of mirrored and neon beer signs. Inside was pretty skeezy, but the original 4 story building was a fine piece of Art Moderne design. The whole thing was soon to be converted into condos.

Anyways, it looked as if the owners of the bar had simply left in a huff. The manager's (?) office was trashed and the place was a mess, with furniture and cutlery strewn everywhere. After working away with crowbars and whatnot to get the booths out for a couple of hours, we used our break to go exploring.

The second floor was really dark because most of the windows had been drywalled in. We where depending entirely on flashlights to see and it was pretty creepy, so we bashed out some of the drywall blocking the windows to let light in. It was another club! The walls where painted entirely black with glow-in-the-dark paint spatters for effect and the rooms were bare. I guess there used to be only UV lighting in the club.

The third floor was more conventional; a series of small office like rooms and flourescent lighting - all in beige. While most of the rooms where empty, a few had mattresses in them. Prostitution? Who knows, but it all seemed pretty suspect.

The fourth floor was taken over by pigeons. The whole space was stripped back with no walls, and every large window was exposed and open. There must of been hundreds of pigeons milling about and the stench of guano was pretty strong. Yet, somehow this was less stifling than the floors below.

This was about ten years ago, and I'd almost forgotten. We worked pretty hard to get those stupid skanky booths out, but it was well worth it for the adventure.

07-25-2006, 05:30 AM	#10 (permalink)
fresnelly Functionally Appropriate Location: Toronto	I was working for a theatre festival in Edmonton, and one day we went to a recently closed down bar/nightclub to salvage some booths to use in the temporary lobby we had set up. Imagine your typical rock/sports bar with lots of mirrored and neon beer signs. Inside was pretty skeezy, but the original 4 story building was a fine piece of Art Moderne design. The whole thing was soon to be converted into condos. Anyways, it looked as if the owners of the bar had simply left in a huff. The manager's (?) office was trashed and the place was a mess, with furniture and cutlery strewn everywhere. After working away with crowbars and whatnot to get the booths out for a couple of hours, we used our break to go exploring. The second floor was really dark because most of the windows had been drywalled in. We where depending entirely on flashlights to see and it was pretty creepy, so we bashed out some of the drywall blocking the windows to let light in. It was another club! The walls where painted entirely black with glow-in-the-dark paint spatters for effect and the rooms were bare. I guess there used to be only UV lighting in the club. The third floor was more conventional; a series of small office like rooms and flourescent lighting - all in beige. While most of the rooms where empty, a few had mattresses in them. Prostitution? Who knows, but it all seemed pretty suspect. The fourth floor was taken over by pigeons. The whole space was stripped back with no walls, and every large window was exposed and open. There must of been hundreds of pigeons milling about and the stench of guano was pretty strong. Yet, somehow this was less stifling than the floors below. This was about ten years ago, and I'd almost forgotten. We worked pretty hard to get those stupid skanky booths out, but it was well worth it for the adventure. __________________ Building an artificial intelligence that appreciates Mozart is easy. Building an A.I. that appreciates a theme restaurant is the real challenge - Kit Roebuck - Nine Planets Without Intelligent Life