The other day I wound up with a very strange little box in my hands. It contained a stack of polaroid pictures of broken stuff: corroded pipes, cracked vents, malfunctioning equipment of all kinds across campus that needed to be repaired or replaced. None of it was especially interesting since you can’t really tell one busted pipe from another.
There were, however, a few exciting images of something that is rarely photographed–the area behind Abercrombie and along Rice Boulevard that is the home of the Facilities Department. I freely admit that I don’t have a good understanding of this. On top of that they are undated and I can’t be sure they were taken at the same time:
I have a decent grasp on this next one because of the rectangular piece of the building that’s sticking out on the right:
You can still see it in this picture I took this morning, straight ahead and with the ladder attached to the side:
And from the other side you can see how much the building has changed. The rectangular piece is at the end on the left:
So I’m wondering a couple of things. How do these pictures fit together? Dates? And for the first and third–where in the world was the photographer standing?
I’ve got a special one for tomorrow.
Bonus: Unconventional Wisdom.
#1 looks like it could have been taken from the old cooling tower looking down on the old shops which was the site of the new cooling tower
#2 looks like it was taken from the area on which the co-gen plant was built between old power plant and Abercrombie. The old shops are on the right, old cooling tower on the left.
#3 perhaps the old cooling tower but looking in the opposite direction (west) compared to #1. I thnk that’s the old F&E parking lot along Rice Blvd in the upper right.
I feel nearly certain that Marty can identify the era of the front of that (GMC?) truck or van.
Of course I can! 😉 . Late-1990 to 1993 GMC Sierra 1500 pickup (might be a 2500, no way to tell; by 1994 the side marker was divided.) http://gtcarlot.com/colors/car/84257013-3.html
The white Chevy van is also from around 1990. http://gtcarlot.com/colors/car/39431024-7.html
Did you write Marisa’s Tomei’s dialog for the “My Cousin Vinny” expert witness scene?!
The first one was taken from the top of ab old cooling tower (same location as the current tower) looking north towards Rice Blvd.
The 2nd was taken in the same direction, but from the parking lot east of Abercrombie.
The 3rd was, as you guessed, also taken from the top of the old cooling tower, looking west.
My guess is that the pictures were taken in the late seventies or early eighties. The new shops were completed in 1998.
I saw Marty’s Comment, and looking at those vehicles again, I can see that we are around 1990. I guess the the place didn’t change much the first 10 years I was here. I started working at FE&P in ’81.
The first picture was taken on top of old wooden cooling tower, facing rice Blvd. toward old hicks bldg. as you can see the roof on the left was old Plumbing shop.
The second picture was taken on the ground facing Rice Blvd. also showing a used to be Painter shop and ahead still the Plumbing shop.
Third was taken on top of old wooden cooling tower, as you can see the trailer roof used to be a PM shop and next to it was a Material support shop.
That is my recollection on those pictures.