The Putnam Building at 1627 N. 2nd St. is a five-story building that had many uses over the decades, including a spinning mill and an upholstered fur manufacturing business. Since the Kensington South CDC bought the building in the early 2000s, the property has been used for art studio and office space, a fine reuse for a handsome old building in South Kensington. Last March, though, part of the roof collapsed, possibly due to weather-related strains. We checked in on the property last summer and it looked like a giant had sat on it and then moved along on his merry way.
We revisited the property a couple of days ago and discovered that the exterior of the building has been repaired. And you know what, they did a pretty fine job of it.
If you look carefully, you can see the difference between the old brick and the new brick, especially from up close. But with a quick glance you'd never suspect that this building looked so terrible so recently.
Kudos to the Kensington South CDC for not only repairing this building with relative speed, but also for doing so with an eye toward making the repaired section blend in with the rest of the building. This building isn't designated historic and the owners could have repaired the damage any way they wanted. They could have opted for materials other than brick, creating a goofy-looking building in South Kensington, but we'd argue that they made the right choice doing exactly what they did. Well played.