Postcard Project Day 10

On one occasion I convinced my wife Juli to go with me downtown to check out High Falls.  The top end of the Genesee river before it plunged 3 times down to the level of Lake Ontario.  It is around this water falls that the city got its first major economic boost with many factories running off the flowing water.  It is this area that gave the city its' nick name "The Flour City" for its many flour mills that, at one point, provided the majority of the processed flour to Victorian England.  Between it and the Erie canal, that ran right through the city, Rochester became rich. 

Here is the only still working factory in the area.  The Genesee Brewing company.  This building was one of the oldest parts of the plant and was only yards away from the gorge of High Falls.  The day my wife and I walked around there it was raining.  It added to the feeling of that building.  It was majestically designed but, it was still part of a factory and actually no longer used from what I could tell.  So a bit run down and boarded up. 

A couple of years ago there was a big debate over what to do with it.  The company wanted to tear it down and other people wanted to renovate it as a combination museum and restaurant for the Brewery.  In the end it lost its fight and was torn down.  One small section of the wall was left standing and a new building was built to be the museum and restaurant.  I may still do a more formal piece of the building.  But, for now, here is the sketch I did of that day.