WTH: Also stands for Will This Help/ Will This Hurt? 

There have been a number of recent conversations at HI HQ about this particular weekly feature…

We decided that due to the huge number of viewers for this column, we will continue to post photos of Indy’s built environment that prompts the wrinkling of a nose, squinting of an eye or a turn of the corners of a mouth upside down.

We would also ask that you ponder the question when looking at any of these photos: Will this hurt or will this help the future and advancement of our city?

Remove economic motivations, remove excuses, and ask yourself: is this right or wrong, good or bad, worthy or unworthy  of the fine capital city of Indianapolis? And please bear in mind: the only purpose of this series is to stand for the appropriate renovation and redevelopment of the built environment of Indianapolis. No malice, no hostility, just an honest and unemotional observation and assessment.

Where’s this hotspot? Illinois Street between New York and Vermont.

Curt Ailes recently pointed me at this post from Historic Indianapolis showing the before, during, and after of freeway construction in the southeast quadrant of Indianapolis. The pictures say it all:

Before:

During:

Today:

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(photo by Dawn Olsen)

Dear Katherine,

I hope this letter finds you. It was difficult to track you down. In fact, it was practically impossible. The directories listed you as “Catherine”—with a ‘C’—so I can only assume that this is you. … This is you, right? The Katherine at the corner of Brookside and Olney? The brick building across from the park? The one that’s all … well … the one that’s all … um, let me just back up.

I write articles, you see. Features that talk about historic buildings. Buildings in need of rehabilitation, funding and love. Sometimes the buildings are residential homes. Sometimes they’re grander constructions, such as the Rivoli Theatre. And sometimes they’re commercial properties, such as the old post office in Irvington. Some of the buildings are without roofs, windows or doors. Sometimes they so far vandalized that one is physically unable to recognize the inside, the original woodwork. Sometimes they’re just left to rot by their owners, who are dissatisfied with historic preservation committees. (Or who are against taxes, for that matter.) My little heart breaks when I see plywood covering a home, any home. But despite my discouragement, despite the fact that my spirit aches with each new article, I still have a piece of my heart for you, Katherine.

Because I care about you. And because I care about your past.

(photo by Dawn Olsen)

That said, I don’t know much about your beginnings. Is there anything you can tell me? You weren’t present on any of the Sanborn or Baist Maps. It was odd, and I was stumped. Furthermore, your records—your parcel information—doesn’t even list the year of your construction. Do you know when you were built? My guess is that it was in the 1920s. At the time, I had only two city directories at my disposal—one from 1920, and one from 1930. You were absent from the former, included in the latter. “3501 Brookside Parkway,” it said. “Mrs. Florence Hearn, confr.” I also saw that there were six apartments, two with the address of “3501 ½” and four with “3507 ½.” Is this correct? I had heard that Mrs. Florence Hearn, the confectioner, had lived in one of the units. Do you remember any of your first residents?

I obviously don’t remember them, but I did look them up. Warner Roberts was another one of your residents, and I saw his name in the 1940 directory. I think he had a restaurant on the first floor, with the entrance being the corner door on the northwest side of the building. Roberts, I guess, lived in one the apartments. He was not the first—or the last—person to both live and work with you, Katherine. For example, in the 1960s, there was Howard Jenkins, who owned a gun shop on the first floor and lived in 3507 ½, above his shop.

(photo by Dawn Olsen)

You’ve been so much more than a gun shop and a restaurant and a confectionary, though, Katherine. So much more. You had novelties. Pharmaceuticals. And in 1980, you were a flower shop, a food store and an insurance office. You were a barber shop, too. Actually, for decades and decades, your middle storefront was a barber shop. (Did it ever have a barber’s pole? You know, one of those helixes of red and blue and white, like what Red’s Classic Barber Shop has? Just spinning and spinning and spinning and telling everyone—passerby, those on the street, those in the park—that there was a trade?) Just tell me what it was like, Katherine. Please. Do you remember?

Do you remember—before rocks were thrown through your windows—what the displays looked like? Fresh flowers or discount advertisements or new models or products? Do you remember the apartments—before the upstairs windows were torn out, before the ivy crept into them and grew on the ceilings? How were they decorated? Rugs? Wood floors? Carpet? White walls? Pictures of family members on the walls? A vanity on the north wall, a dresser on the west? I want to know. I need to know. I need to know, before your walls rip themselves from your foundation, before you crumble to the ground.

(photo by Dawn Olsen)

(photo by Dawn Olsen)

(photo by Dawn Olsen)

(photo by Dawn Olsen)

You’re in so many pieces, Katherine. What happened? Who did this to you? Why have they left you, abandoned you, torn you and beaten you and discarded you? You’re not disposable, Katherine. Stop telling yourself you are. I know there are people out there would prefer to see you torn down, to prefer you be made into a vacant lot. “It just invites vandals and thugs and criminals,” they say. “It’s good for nothing.” But if they could’ve seen you then, Katherine, ooooohh, they’d disagree. Providing the community with goods? With services? Offering small business owners a place to live and work and develop connections and friendships in the city?

I can do nothing but shake my head.

Because a vacant lot, one overgrown with weeds and trash, doesn’t provide opportunities, either.

(photo by Dawn Olsen)

So I guess the real reason I wrote this letter was to ask you a question: what do you want me to do for you, Katherine? What is it that you want? What can I do to help you? And I’ll even just listen to your story, if that’s all you want, because I think you’ve been unheard and ignored for so long.

I look forward to your response,

Dawn

Frank Vogel was all smiles while discussing the addition of Luis Scola to the Pacers and the improved bench he has to work with next season. As he listed all of the positive changes for the bench, Vogel also brought up what could be a touchy subject: How to handle Danny Granger's return and Lance Stephenson's role in the starting lineup?

Vogel doesn't bother with touchy and instead keeps it real, listing the "Danny Granger/Lance Stephenson dynamic" among the changes that will give him more options to utilize. But mentioning the two in that manner, sends a subtle signal that Granger is not going to just jump right back into a starting role after missing nearly all of last season.

Making the assumption that Granger will be healthy enough for his game to resemble what he delivered two years ago, that still doesn't mean he is better off starting next year. The thought of him playing on the second unit with Scola is quite pleasing to the senses. Also, keeping Stephenson developing in a starting role, but as the fifth option on the floor also seems like the most productive way to go.

But as Vogel said later in the interview, "We'll see."

When asked directly about how he expects the roles of Granger and Stephenson to play out, Vogel committed to nothing other than planning to have both players approach the situation with the most positive mindset possible and then see what happens from there.

"I don't have a preconceived notion of how it's going to play out," Vogel told Mark Montieth on Pacers.com. "We'll see how it plays out. I want Lance Stephenson fighting to not give up the starting spot, but willing to play off the bench if he needs to. I want Danny coming back thinking he's going to come back as our best player. I want both of those guys approaching it that way and then we'll see how it plays out."

Obviously, there are only two possible outcomes here, so it is quite possible we will see both players take their turn in the starting lineup. But as fun as it is to consider the options of Stephenson starting with Granger off the bench or vice versa, considering the situation will be far more meaningful if Granger can actually return as hoped and remain an option for the Pacers in whatever role works best.

More from Indy Cornrows:

• Pacers Offseason: Luis Scola in town, Pacers ready to 'go for it all'
• Indy Cornrows Courtside Podcast: Ian Levy
• Pacers acquire Luis Scola from Suns for Gerald Green, Miles Plumlee, first rounder
• Stein: Gerald Green, draft considerations part of Pacers deal for Luis Scola
• Pacers Trade Rumors: Reports have Pacers trading for PF Luis Scola

German automaker Porsche is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its 911 model in a big way – literally. Artist Gerry Judah has designed a sky-high sculpture piece for the special occasion. He is most well known for his well-received contributions to film, theater, museums, public spaces, and fine art. To me, the car is definitely worthy of an installation this grand, in which Judah doesn’t disappoint.

The idea was to create a gravity-defying sculpture that could hold three iconic Porsche 911 cars high in the sky. The original 1963 911, the 1973 911 Carrera RS, and the 2013 911 are all sitting pretty at more than 100 feet above the grounds of this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed in West Sussex, England.

From the top: Original 1963 911. 1973 911 Carrera RS. 2013 911 Carrera.

The sculpture is made up of three arrow-shaped structures that give off the appearance of the cars shooting into the sky. All 22 tons of each welded steel leg cleverly balances on an extremely narrow base. Finished in a clean white coating, the sculpture maintains a simple, yet refined persona.

Gerry Judah wanted to create a piece that accurately personified the energy and spirit of the Porsche 911 and the Festival of Speed. “The 911 is a fantastic shape that can’t be deconstructed or embellished, so in this context, the sculpture had to provide the right platform for the car to soar up and shine in the sky,” said Judah about the sculpture.

Just like the Porsche 911, the sculpture is a well-designed, iconic piece of art in its own right.

Installation photos courtesy of David Barbour.

My cousin Laurie has a gorgeous new house in the most adorable neighborhood. When you walk in, it smells like cookies because, chances are, she’s been baking all day. And those are some darn yummy cookies—trust me—I’ve tested them all.

Along with her new house, though, came a lot of leftover decor from the old homeowner, and let’s just say it wasn’t really her style. I can’t blame her for not wanting to do laundry in such a dark and dull room. Doing laundry isn’t an enjoyable task for most of us anyway, but wouldn’t it be a lot easier in a room that didn’t make you sad?

Plus, you can see the dark, sad laundry room wall from the hallway all the way down the entire length of the house, through the kitchen and into family room. So I asked her if she wanted to paint it, and offered to help her so long as she provided me with an endless supply of cookies.

But she didn’t want to just paint it a solid color… We talked for a few weeks, sharing ideas back and forth, trying to decide what to do in such a small space that wouldn’t be overwhelming. We both fell for one particular wall design that we discovered on Pinterest:

Source

It’s the dining area of a condo designed by Leclair Decor. But we knew that a black and white wall wasn’t the way to go—It was too bold and dark for the laundry space. Perhaps we could soften it with two different hues of green or yellow? We decided to play around with the Sherwin-Williams’ ColorSnap Studio™ for iPad app to configure the lines and pick the right colors. Neither one of us had ever used the app before, but it was pretty intuitive. Our favorite part was being able to draw different shapes on the wall and then fill them in with various shades of paint.

Initially we were thinking we wanted to do two different shades of the same color, but the white lines in the photo were kind of growing on us, so we decided to just stick with white. Laurie ended up picking SW6695 Midday for the yellow and SW7006 Extra White. I think it took us longer to settle on the white than the color!

Once we finalized on the colors, we moved on to visualizing it by drawing the exact lines we wanted on the app before we tried to replicate it onto the wall. First, we took a photo of the room with Laurie’s iPad and uploaded it into the tool. Then, using the Leclair Decor wall mural design as a guide, we drew a set of four diagonal lines—two vertical and two horizontal—using the polygonal shape tool. It was so much fun! I could have spent all day creating wall designs.

First attempt

However, after looking at it for a while, Laurie decided that it was a little too much for her and chose to remove one of the lines.

Final design

Before we could crack open a can of paint, there was some measuring and taping to do. We decided to use the wall outlet as our guide, knowing it needed to be inside the first vertical line. We tied a piece of string around a push pin at each end and pinned it at the top and bottom of the wall (the pin creates a tiny hole that can easily be filled in with paint). This served as our starting line. We used a yardstick and a pencil and followed along that line. Once we had our first line, we simply measured the distance between the first line and all our other lines horizontally at various points up the wall and then connected the lines.

We painted the white stripes first. We actually started free-handing it but soon realized we needed our handy friend, Mr. Blue Tape. So we taped off where we’d drawn the lines and started painting.

It went on pretty well considering it was white over a fairly dark color—only two coats needed! That’s because we used SuperPaint®, which is a paint and primer in one.

After the first coat

Once the second white coat was dry, we re-taped so we could start on the yellow. I’m not a fan of sunny or buttery yellows, but Midday has a little bit of green in it that made it look different in all kinds of light and feel modern. It’s hard to capture it in photos, but it’s a nice shade.

After we’d finished up two coats of yellow, we were pretty impatient to take off the tape. Our excitement was totally justified because it looks awesome! Laurie was thrilled with the result and I was impressed that we were able to pull it off.

Stripe detail

The view into the laundry room from the kitchen

Before and after

What a huge update. The room looks much larger, brighter. I think laundry could be more tolerable now, too!

Our design and the final result

We were so impressed with how closely the iPad design matched with our final result, but more impressive was how close the color of the actual paint was to the screen color. Usually screen colors are off, but as you can see above, they’re are almost identical, which makes Sherwin-Williams’ ColorSnap Studio™ for iPad app even better in terms of color matching.

Laurie is very pleased with the result, and—cookies aside—I’m happy to have helped!

This post is brought to you by Sherwin-Williams. Turn your inspiration into reality with Sherwin-Williams Color Selection Tools.