210 Vine St has been in the family for over 200 years and it is being demolished in a few weeks. Built by thousands of bricks in the 1800’s, this building held strong until the bitter end. I’m sad to see it go, but not overly emotional.

Was it the water leaking onto Jeff’s computer? The lack of parking? The rats eating leftovers? The bathrooms without a running sink? The lack of air conditioning and heat? Hand unloading the freight? The front facade ready to fall forward at a moment’s notice killing any walking pedestrians? The neighbors using mace to solve problems. These are the reasons off the top of my head that forced the hand. Would it have been nice to be able to operate there for another 100 years? It wasn’t feasible with our growing business.

20 years of my life was spent in that tiny office you can see at the left of the picture. How does that make me feel? It’s not one feeling. You’d think an overwhelming sense of sadness would be associated with it coming down. Not entirely because the neighborhood wasn’t welcoming that type of building any longer. It’s a residential area now and we were a commercial building. We needed to upgrade to a building where we can grow as a business. Where we can hire people and put them at a desk. This was not possible in 210, and once you establish that as a given, you can be prepared to move on.

I remind myself that this is part of life. Nothing lasts forever. This shift away from that building was inevitable. History won’t remember what transpired in there, only that it was there. The building served the family for 200+ years and that’s an incredible feat. You want to believe that the building was alive. That it protected you. Unfortunately, it’s a pile of bricks. The mixed feelings come from within, and as much as I want to feel for the building, I do come back to the idea that everyone, and everything, runs its course.

I throw up my glass for a cheers to 210 Vine St. You’ve served the family well for generations and your time has run out. There will be no other building to ever take your place. You started it all and we thank you for your service. I hope we were as good to you as you were to us.