Not Just Ugly But Dangerous

April 2, 2006
By CHRISTINE PALM, Courant Staff Writer

Over the past several years, Hartford's Parkville has done an enormous turnaround. From the funky Tasteeze homemade doughnut shop to the upscale O'Porto, restaurants are flourishing here. Several majestic sawtooth factories have been put to reuse. Strong arts groups, churches and independent stores round out the scene.

But on Bartholomew Avenue, in the middle of this commercial buzz, is a mothballed warehouse with an ugly, if not dangerous, sign dangling from its roof. With its eight bricked-in loading bays and cracking concrete walls, the warehouse, built in 1912, is a sorry enough site.

But hanging along its eastern face is a huge, tattered remnant of a vinyl sign promoting ESPN Radio. Beneath it is another old sign whose letters are too faded to read, and beneath that a third sign, painted directly onto the building. These large green and white block letters announce the Spaghetti Warehouse, which was located next door and closer to the street until it closed a few years ago.

Hanging precariously from the sign is a large metal lamppost. In a mild breeze, it creaks eerily on its hinges; in a stronger wind, it slams against the building. The whole shebang needs to come down pronto before it clocks some kid on the head as he's cutting through the lot on his way home from school.