Another Lawrence mill reduced to rubble

Deja view: another mill in Lawrence gets demolished. It was a great building but had been badly abused, neglected and controversied. But as we know, that hardly ever means it cannot be saved with the right vision and backing. Alas, the Merrimac Paper Mill, 1895-2011, joins the ranks of Lost Lawrence:

http://www.eagletribune.com/latestnews/x1281101732/Demolition-under-way-at-Merrimac-Paper-building

A great quote by Nature Conservancy President John Sawhill: "In the end, our society will be defined not by what we create, but by what we refuse to destroy."

Fires kill more mills (and more fantastic locations)

This awesome little mill with its own cool smokestack and unique buildings on the Merrimack River, has gone up in flames so many times, it's a wonder it's still standing. But someone keeps plaguing these mills with their gasoline and matchbooks, and the Merrimack Paper Company is not long for this world. It is sure to be razed soon, and it would be yet another skyline-affecting loss along the river. A hit to the city, and a hit to our film. It helps to storyboard shots in easily-erasable pencil, because more mill buildings have disappeared in the past few years than I can bear. What better way to get rid of an abandoned mill building than to light it up, blame the homeless, and make way for more generic stucco office space? Or more likely another fast food, pharmacy, or gasoline chain. It's unbelievable to watch, and all this amidst serious controversy over the lack of proper fire protection in town. If the people aren't safe because there aren't enough firefighters, you can bet the mills must be shaking in their bricks.

Hopefully there will still be a mill in Lawrence by the time we're ready to roll cameras. Capturing a former industrial city powerhouse is a bit hard to do when no stack is left standing. People do not realize the treasures we are losing, and more often than not it's due to shortsighted human intention and not an act of nature. We are our own worst enemy.

City Says Merrimack Paper Co Buildings Need to be Torn Down

Lawrence pushing for quick demo of fire-ravaged mill

It's the same old trick: Let the mill rot, act surprised when it catches fire, proclaim the only way to move forward is to demolish it entirely, secretly rejoice, Repeat.

Imploding History

As you may know, we were not the only ones filming the implosion of the two historic smokestacks back in October of 2009 for our MILLIES promotional video. Though we were about the only ones who didn't think of it as such a fun and fantastic event.

If you haven't seen our version of the video, you can check it out here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmhjIBd2Sh8

The Learning Channel's tv reality show "The Imploders" was also filming, with a nice fat budget, helicopter shots, multi-camera set ups, etc. The result of that shoot aired on TLC last night, and I found it utterly painful to watch. It is not that buildings never have to come down, it's just the way there is such a casual celebration of the BOOM, especially regarding historic places, that rubs me wrong. It was like watching little boys kill a wounded animal after kicking it around a bit and letting it suffer. Putting it out of its misery is one thing, but taking such joy in the whole process is disconcerting to me. Can't help it, just the way I see things. It may be the Learning Channel, but it seems to me we are not at all learning the lessons we really need to learn.

New Video on YouTube

Didn't think we'd do an event without a video to accompany it,did you? "The Assassination of Lincoln: Teardown of a Century-Old Mill" is now available for viewing on YouTube. Most of the images captured are of a place that no longer exists except on film. Very interested to hear your comments on that one.