August 25, 2013
Progress in the Pit
We’re not talking barbecue here. We’re talking concrete and stone! And we are cooking, now!
The new footings are in at the Stone Bank. They need a week or so to cure — and then the rebuilding can begin.
The site was wet, because we found an old wellhead in the excavated site. This was the area where we found all the old bottles in the excavation. Makes sense. They didn’t have recycling bins in 1900, when the bank was built, so they tossed bottles into the well. We found out from a source at City Hall that several other old buildings on Main Street also have old wells.
What did we do? Our crew pumped out and filled the old well. Then the site had to dry out before we could proceed with the footings. We were also behind a much larger project at the Botno Readi Mix plant — so we also had to wait on our concrete.
Now the waiting is over and we can move on to rebuilding. As we finish the support structure in the coming weeks, we will install drain tile and make room for a sump pump, so the new basement will stay dry.
Now we need your help to make the rebuild happen. Yes, we have been fortunate in our grantwriting. But we need donations from the public to match the grants and keep things moving.
Can you help now? This is the turning point for the project. With your help, we will get this building up and the roof on this fall.
It’s easy: Dedicate a stone. Buy a T-shirt. Send a check or use our handy PayPal link to send a donation online. Help us rebuild this wonderful, historic building and put it back to use.
We know you care about this building, or you wouldn’t be reading this blog. Please take the next step and help us move some stone.
As always, thanks for reading the Stone Bank blog.
August 2, 2013
New Stone Bank shirts come out for ‘Crazy Days’
Advisory Board member Mike Dorsher unveiled our new T-shirts Thursday at “Crazy Days” on Bottineau’s Main Street. Touchstones President Sharon Kessler will be at the table Saturday afternoon. Come see us! Photo by Wenche Brandon N’Kjell-Hensch
“They” said we were crazy to save the Stone Bank building, so that must mean we’re the perfect participants for “Crazy Days” on Bottineau’s Main Street!
The event started Thursday and continues through Saturday afternoon. On Friday and Saturday there will be huge, inflatable play stations for kids right on our corner at Main and Sixth Streets. Merchants all up and down Main Street are offering crazy bargains on their sidewalks, and we’re proud to be one of them for the first time.
For a donation of just $15, you can get one of our colorful new “Stone Bank” T-shirts — in unisex sizes from medium all the up to 3X for the steel blue and in smaller-running women’s sizes S to 3X in the “antique cherry red.” You can also order our T-shirts and wristbands online here (with free shipping!), but if you stop by our Crazy Days table, you might win one for free. We’re giving away one women’s shirt and one blue unisex shirt to the gal and guy who come closest to guessing how many stones from our site are in the big plastic container on our table. You can enter for free, and you can also take our free survey about what the Stone Bank building should house when we finish preserving it in the next couple years — with your help!
So whether or not you can come see us at Crazy Days, please go a little crazy with your pocketbook and buy a new Stone Bank T-shirt, dedicate a stone in the name of a loved one or simply make a contribution using the PayPal or Razoo links to the right. Thank you!
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