Shady Rest Home

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Easterday Construction belongs to Indiana Landmarks. Their recent email newsletter includes some pictures of the Shady Rest Home on the east side of Plymouth. For anyone one interested, the County is looking at options to repurpose this facility since Bowen Center‘s decision to cease operations there. The following is an excerpt from the Indiana Landmarks site regarding the home.

“In the days before welfare and social programs, and before the establishment of hospitals, nursing homes, and assisted-living facilities, people in need often had nowhere to turn. In 1848, Indiana passed new legislation requiring every Indiana county to “provide a public place wherein the unfortunate poor might have care.” Eventually, all 92 Indiana counties established “poor farms,” where able-bodied residents worked to offset the cost of residential care.

Local fanfare accompanied the Marshall County home opening in 1893. As the architecture makes evident, the county intended to create a quality home for their neediest citizens. Wing and Mahurin — a firm renowned for its Romanesque Revival public buildings — designed a grand Superintendent’s Quarters, with living and work space for the director and residents. Originally called the Marshall County Infirmary, the place earned its “Shady Rest” nickname from the many shade and fruit trees planted on the property.

Shady Rest Home today

Unfortunately, demolition has claimed a majority of Indiana’s historic county homes. In continual service for more than a century, Shady Rest is an anomaly. The county sold the facility in 1998, but it continued to serve as the Otis R. Bowen Center Shady Rest Home, a private residential center for adults who suffer from mental illness.

The Bowen Center closed Shady Rest this summer, and Marshall County commissioners are looking for ways to put the campus back in use. The five-acre property includes the main building, a large c. 1893 barn, a 1920s well house, and a garage.

The main building is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, which could make it eligible for Federal Rehabilitation Tax credits. Check out the National Register nomination for more interesting history about the Marshall County home. For more on efforts to find a reuse for the property, contact Marshall County commissioner Kurt Garner, 574-936-0613 or kurt.garner@gmail.com.”

Easterday Construction completed some renovation work on the facility back in the early 80’s. I was a plumber’s helper on part of that work, so I got to see some of the facility at that time. Unfortunately there wasn’t much effort to document projects at that time, so I don’t have any real details on what was done. I remember demolishing some nasty showers though!

It would be sad to lose this piece of history, though repurposing the facility may be challenging. Generally a buildings highest and best use is its original use and once that use has run its course, change is difficult. I’m sure with a little creativity, the County’s Committee on repurposing the building, currently being lead by Commissioner Kurt Garner, will find a suitable third life for this historic building.

 

Blast From the Past: Marge Baker

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Very cool that Marge still has friends like this looking out for her. She still calls us on occasion to help with minor household needs.

Marge is a former Easterday Construction Co., Inc. employee, working for us into her 70’s. She was always a cheerful influence around the office and a huge “Company Woman”. She would always promote Easterdays and was thrilled with the logo-wear we would give out at times during the year. The last time I saw her she had to show me the hat she still had. I would have given her another, but she was still keeping that one in immaculate condition.

It’s hard to believe that she’s still going strong at 87. We all wish her many more good years. It’s a loss to the town that we don’t see her peddling her old blue bike with the big basket on the front around anymore. She was one of Culver’s iconic fixtures.

Article scanned from the Pilot News – 8-28-17

Sand Hill Farm Apartment Rendering

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Apartment Rendering from SRKM Architecture

Here’s a cool “aerial” rendering of what the base two bedroom apartment layout will look like at Sand Hill Farm. This same layout will be repeated throughout the units. The one bedroom units will be sans the back bedroom and bathroom. The three bedroom units will have stairs from the living room to the third floor bedroom. We’re considering faux wood laminate floors and a gray & white color scheme. Leave your thoughts in the comments if you want to provide input.

Thanks SRKM for the visual!

Burr Oak Revival

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Burr Oak Whistle Stop

Did I call it, or what? A few years back I wrote an article here that went viral. Well, it got picked up by the Culver Citizen and the MCEDC newsletter anyway… The post, “If it Ain’t Burr Oak, Don’t Fix it” talked about the potential renaissance for Burr Oak, citing the access to electric, rail, State Highways and proximity to Culver. Since that article was written, the sub station renovation is nearly complete. I drive through there several times a day every weekday and I can tell you the train traffic has increased as well. And apparently Kevin Overmyer has decided to lead Burr Oak’s renaissance. Last year he began hosting events in the family barn with Burr Oak Barn Rental and this year he renovated the old General Store building and opened it as the Burr Oak Whistle Stop this past July. (Grand Opening article here.)

My article title came from my friend, Eric Freeman, who enjoyed a good play on words. In the case of the Whistle Stop, Kevin Overmyer decided there was something broken there and he took it upon himself to fix it. He remembered the history of the building from his childhood and was disheartened by the building’s deterioration. With the work he has done, it is nearly unrecognizable.

Is Burr Oak likely to see a true renaissance from these small beginnings? Hard to tell. Does Kevin have other plans for the Town? He’s not saying. But there is another commercial building there that could be put back into operation and the drive-by exposure is pretty good there. Maybe he’s started something. At the quarterly County Development for the Future meeting MCEDC hosts, I asked Kevin if he was planning to start giving a report on Burr Oak and it’s goals and progress. He just laughed, but there was a twinkle in his eye and he didn’t say no.

I’ll have to let Eric know that Burr Oak may be looking for a Mayor soon. Though he may have to run against Kevin, who’s always been a shrewd politician…

Culver Citizen Article 1-16-14

Solar Eclipse

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As the hype grows, I’ve been thinking about the solar eclipse on August 21st. Thanks to Waffle House, I found this handy map (see right) in case you want your eclipse viewing “Smothered & Covered”. I heard on the radio that Krispy Kreme was planning competing events. Chocolate Glaze! Unfortunately, Indiana will be mostly bypassed for the total eclipse. We’ll only get a side view. That should still be cool and weather permitting, I’m sure I’ll step out side to check it out.

Picture of Sanford Stadium from ajc.com article

My friends around Atlanta are planning parties and events. Any excuse for a party and a day off work, right? The University of Georgia is planning a party in Sanford Stadium. (Article here) Do you tailgate for an eclipse? Knowing the Bulldogs, the answer to that will be a resounding YES! Ha!

Nest Thermostat asking to activate their eclipse rush hour savings

One of the other interesting tie-ins I saw was with the Nest thermostats. I’ve talked about them before here. They’ve been through a few updates since then and I chose to install one in my home. So far I’ve been pleased. More than similar devices, I have observed Nest really trying to make the green connection and not just personal energy cost savings. They send out a report on how many “leafs” you earn each month for energy savings along with a comparison to other Nest owners. There is a running total on their website showing their estimate of how many Kwh of energy that has been saved by their devices.

The tie-in to the eclipse is that in their blog, Nest repeats a report that suggests the solar eclipse, as it blocks out solar panels, will reduce green energy production by as much as 9,000 MW resulting in traditional systems coming back on line to pick up the slack. “At Nest, we think of these high-demand times on the energy grid as rush hours.” They suggest that if you opt in, their thermostats will automatically cool your home a little extra before the event so that it can reduce the load during the event. Personally I think that’s as much marketing as an actual need, but it’s still an interesting concept and it’s another reminder of how the Internet of Things continues to find new ways to work for us.

For those of you in Culver, there is going to be presentations this Saturday at the Culver Union Township Public Library at 10:30 and noon talking about the eclipse. (The noon event was added after the flyer came out.) Dr. Angela Meyer from Culver Academies will give the presentation. Those that attend will receive NASA approved viewing glasses for Monday’s eclipse. This should be an informative event!

Maybe I’ll see you out in the semi-darkness on the 21st. That is if I don’t accept an invitation to go to Atlanta and get the full effect! While I doubt this will be any kind of life changing event, it is one of those cool and rare physical phenomenons of which we should all take advantage. Hopefully for most of us it’s not literally a once-in-a-lifetime event, but it is pretty rare… And unlike most astronomical events, you don’t have to get up in the middle of the night to see it! Bonus!