Chapter 31: Chapter 31
“You’re saying you want a parking garage here?”
Martin Collier was a no-nonsense kind of guy. Brady had called him the day before and asked him to come to Holiday Hills from the neighboring town of Jackson to take a look at the parking lot project. If they moved forward with the parking garage, Brady wanted to make sure he got quotes from more than just Mayor Jenkins’s dad.
“I know it seems odd,” he said, watching the older gentleman, dressed in a flannel shirt and jeans beneath his heavy, camel colored work coat, “but, yes, we are thinking about erecting a parking garage right here.”
Martin looked around for a few moments before he said, “Well, you wouldn’t have much room for actual parking if you did that. Do you know what the measurements are on the entire lot?”
“Yes. It’s sixty-seven yards by eighty-two yards.”
The construction man shook his head. “When you think about ramps and angles and how much of that area would be taken up by the mechanisms needed to actually make it a parking garage, you’re going to have to go at least four stories tall in order to get back the same number of spots you’ve got now. Putting that sort of a structure here, right downtown, seems like a bad idea to me. All these historic buildings will look out of place next to such a new build.”
“I agree,” Brady said, trying not to shake his head. “But the mayor would like to look into it. If we decided to go forward with the project, would you be willing to put in a bid?”
He stroked his chin and looked around for a few more minutes. “I reckon I could,” he finally said. “But… I would say, if you want more parking, just repave and redraw the existing lines. You’ve got more room here.” He pointed to the edges of the lot. “If you change the direction around and put your cars in rows this way instead of the way they’re drawn now, you can get another ten or fifteen cars in here.”
Brady had also noted that in his initial report, which the mayor had quickly discarded. “If we move forward with bids, it would be much appreciated if you could give us a detailed proposal for that option as well.”
Martin nodded. “No problem. We’d like to do the work for you. It’s hard to get a bid on a city job here. I reckon you know that.” He made it clear what he wasn’t saying.
“I’m beginning to understand that,” Brady replied dryly. “There’s just one more project I’d like to get your input on, if you’ve got a few moments.” Brady had asked him to come and look at the parking lot and another project.
“Of course,” Martin said with a nod. “Can we walk or should we load ‘em up?”
Brady chuckled. “I think we can walk.”
He led the way through the downtown area, past stores that were full of Christmas decorations, their windows filled with garland and wreaths, and past city streetlights, trees, and benches that were barren and looked completely un-festive.
As they walked, Martin noted the lack of holiday spirit. “I remember when Holiday Hills was the place to come for Christmas.”
“Is that so?” Brady asked, believing it. The gentleman looked to be close to Doris’s age, if not older.
“Yep. My folks used to bring us over for the tree lighting, the parade, all of the festivities. It’s a shame all that stopped. I’d like to bring my grandkids over. I know you still do the parade, but without any decorations, seems a little pointless.”
“Actually, the city council just passed an agreement to put many of those Christmas events back on the calendar.”
“Is that a fact?” Martin asked, his face lighting up.
“Yeah. We will begin decorating in just a few days. We’re going to have a tree lighting, a Christmas fair, and of course the parade.”
“Well, I’ll be,” Martin said with a chuckle. “Maybe I’ll bring the grandkids over after all.”
“You should,” Brady said with a nod. “And tell all of your friends!”
They were almost to the building he wanted Martin’s opinion on, the old meat packing factory. Brady took the keys out of his pocket, which he’d managed to get from the mayor’s secretary without Jenkins knowing, and unlocked the door. The door creaked open. A musty smell greeted them, but it wasn’t the stench of rotten meat, so that was something.
“The meat packing building?” Martin asked as they both walked in. “What do you have in mind for in here?”
Brady led the way into the wide open space that was the bottom floor. It was huge, almost the length and width of a football field and a half. The ceilings were high as well, but upstairs, he knew there were several offices. This floor had been where the meat was processed, packed, and shipped, but when the company had closed, they’d gutted the building, leaving little more than the stairs and the walls upstairs.
The entire building was brick, including the walls and floors. However, every ten feet or so, all the way around the perimeter, there was a large window that went from the floor about halfway up the twenty-foot ceilings. Beyond that, there was a large green space that ran to the next building on the right, to the street on the left, and to a parking lot in the back. Each of the strips of grass was at least fifteen feet deep. “What would it take,” Brady began, holding his breath as he braced himself for the answer, “to transform this place into the animal shelter?”
“The animal shelter?” Martin asked, his forehead crinkling. “What do you have in mind?”
“What if each of these windows was a door that allowed the dogs to go outside into pens that were fenced off so they couldn’t get away or to one another? They could go out and play, do their business, what have you. In the center of the room we could have the cages for the cats and other animals that can climb out of pens. There could be rooms for people to come in and meet their potential pets. We already have a lot of kennels at the existing shelter we could move, but would it be difficult to make these windows dog friendly?”
Martin continued to stare at him for a few moments, like he thought maybe he’d lost his mind, but then he walked over to the windows and looked at them. “It wouldn’t be hard at all,” he said. “The original builders of this place cared a lot for their workers, as you can see. It’s highly unusual to see this much natural light in such a place. We could do what you’re talking about pretty easily, but I don’t understand why. Doesn’t Holiday Hills already have an animal shelter?”
“We do, but it’s a no kill shelter, and it’s full. The dogs can’t get outside. It’s cramped. And… it’s on the other side of town. This location is close to the senior citizens center, many of the churches, and the schools. The director of the animal shelter has some great ideas about how to get more volunteers involved with the animals, even the kids.”
Martin looked impressed. He nodded his head. “I can get you some numbers on that as well. Would you mind if I took a few measurements?”
“Not at all. I’m happy to help. And I can send you the blueprints too, if that would help.”
“That would be great,” Martin said, getting out his measuring tape.
Brady jumped in to help him take some measurements, hopeful that he could get the council to approve these changes, too. Being able to move Noelle to this location would be so helpful to her. He could see her smile now, and it made his heart skip a beat. Hopefully, everything would work out and this would soon be the location of the Holiday Hills Animal Shelter.