Blog Archives
The old power plant
A couple of careers back, when I worked at an architectural firm, we were contacted by a man who had Grand Ideas. That happened a lot; in almost all cases the ideas were much, much grander than the budget.
So, this particular Grand Idea was going to be using this old power plant building as a gym. Nice concept, to renovate a building and give it a new use. Nice concept, too, to have a gym in downtown Lubbock. But that’s about as far as it went. Of course the money wasn’t there. Neither, for that matter, were potential members of the gym, since there really aren’t that many people downtown.
And now, many years later, the place is still there, still empty, still waiting on a Grand Idea that might actually work out.
But at least it’s got some interesting materials and shadows to photograph. (You can see the building’s previous appearance here on the blog.)
Lubbock, Texas
photographed 3.2.2013
Mystery. Or not.
There’s a mystery at every one of these old gas stations along Route 66, where it snakes through Santa Rosa. Well, some of it’s not mysterious: the Interstate made the old highway, which went through town instead of around it, redundant. And then the huge truck stops appeared out on the interstate, which made the little gas stations redundant.
So the mystery is what to make of what’s been left behind. Some places are full of junk, and others – like this place – seem to have been swept up when the last human left.
You’ve seen this place before, from the other side. Maybe you recognized it?
Santa Rosa, New Mexico
photographed 5.4.2013
K
I don’t know. It seems pretentious, somehow, to have signs marking parking lot sections when the parking lot itself is not paved and not even used for parking.
But that’s just me.
It must make sense to someone.
Lubbock, Texas
photographed 3.15.2014
It all falls down
Santa Rosa’s got three cemeteries – Evergreen Cemetery, out on the north side of town; San Jose Cemetery, down a narrow road on the east part of town; and the very old Saint Rose of Lima cemetery.
That’s where what’s left of a chapel stands guard over graves and weeds as the plaster falls away from the stone walls bit by bit.
St. Rose of Lima Cemetery
Santa Rosa, New Mexico
photographed 9.21.2013
The things up there, #2
Looking up, again. Now there are those two light fixtures, hovering above an abandoned business and its vacant parking lot.
Santa Rosa, New Mexico
photographed 5.4.2013
