Friday, October 31, 2008

sudden stoppage

o On a grassy plot beside St. Lucie Boulevard here in Stuart, FL, can be observed a partially-completed cement-block house-with-garage; this structure has been partially-completed for at least two years now, while workers were seen constructing and completing a similar house on the other side of the roadway nearest to the river.

An early-August issue of the Stuart News lists two construction-worker deaths in its 'Obituary' section, both males, one a cement-worker in his age-50s and the other a supervisor in his early age-20s -- both written up on the same page -- no small significance even without the rising single-block stacks of cement bricks that appear to be the inspiration for Lego-toy assemblages, located just around the corner from Kingswood condo complex.

Every day people wonder about the place, lacking walls with metal poles protruding from the cement-block arrangements that outline the beginning of a house; the garage is more fully built than the main house sections. People wondered a lot when workers were seen toiling away at the differently-placed structure nearby the waterstream, now fully finished with paint, landscaping, and gates. Irrationally, a 'gazebo' comes to mind since there are no walls only sturdy columns that suggest an open-air staging area of some kind.

Since many post-hurricanes cement-block houses have been ritually installed on the side of the road along the riverbank, days/weeks/possibly months can pass by without a clear view of the St. Lucie River now from Kingswood condos only a city block away from the narrow boulevard. The partially-contructed housing also suggests a potential picnic area, in a shoreline zone where open space has been quickly closed with new housing and access to the riverbank closed off as well.

Past and present telephone directories in the region listed 'Adams Construction' as a local company. The death of a young Fort Pierce man enlisted in the Armed Forces during the present-day Iraq conflict appears to be coincidental with the seemingly-abandoned project.

o The same time-period of early-August issues of the Stuart News gives us the story titled, 'Original builder to help tear down old Elliott Museum' authored by Geoff Oldfather. Apparently one of the original builders, in his early 80s and surnamed 'Hodapp', isn't taking the presumed suggestion as a joke and is being scheduled to "knock out that first brick". There is some cause for suspicion since some Martin County residents born in McKean County, PA, are familiar with a young woman who was prevailed upon to lay the first red brick of a new high school addition constructed with rounded walls somewhat resembling the rounded vats used in the local oil refinery.

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