David Rueve finished creating a new cabinet for the hi-fi and modernizing it more than a week before the ReUse-apalooza deadline. (Photo provided by David Rueve)
“It was a mess when I found it,” Rueve said of the hi-end RCA Victor cabinet hi-fi he recycled. “And it took some work. But now everything works — AM/FM/AFC, phono, tape (which is now set up for iPod, etc.), lights, all tone controls, all eight speakers,” Rueve said. “It sounds amazing. I mean really good.”
ReUse-apalooza – Photo: Provided
This sustainable soirée brings customers, designers and local leaders together to celebrate the power of renewability. Featuring light bites, My Nose Turns Red circus performers and entertainment by Sexy Time Live Band Karaoke, ReUse-apalooza is the annual fundraiser of Building Value, a nonprofit that salvages reusable building materials for public sale.
Source: Event: ReUse-apalooza
Advanced Community Enhancement, the building owner, partnered with Building Value (a local nonprofit building materials reuse center, deconstruction service and job training business of Easter Seals TriState), Rumpke Recycling, and the Uptown Consortium in the demolition of the 12,000-square-foot building in what was billed as an environmental event in that 90 percent of the building’s materials will be recycled. The Uptown Consortium and Sperry Van Ness-RICORE Investment Management coordinated the project the corner of Forest and Burnet avenues.
In addition to diverting the waste from the landfill, the project provides transitional employment opportunities through Building Value’s job training deconstruction program. The Building Value crew positions act as a bridge to move people with workforce disadvantages into careers in construction.
Treehugger reflects on the genius and beauty of the Cincinnati Library – demolished in 1955.
Completed in 1874 and designed by architect J.W. McLaughlin, the building was considered the “the most magnificent public library in the country”. The heads of Shakespeare, Milton and Franklin stood guard over the Main Entrance…. he building’s feature was it’s third section, with a 4-story atrium (as seen in this photograph) with five levels of cast iron alcoves, which could hold an enormous quantity of books. This Circulation area was the main part of the library. It was topped by a skylight and also had many library workrooms. The entire floor of the library was covered with a checker board marble floor.
Tis the season for reuse design contests.
Partnerships between reuse organizations, artists, and local businesses are the triple-bottom-line model. These contests and festivals are benefiting community development, environment, and local economies.
Not to mention astounding creativity!
Re-purposing materials and fixtures intended for landfills has become de rigueur for on-trend designers and architects who wish to give their clients opportunities to utilize second-hand objects in new and unique ways. Antiques and vintage furniture aside, the use of recycled elements within home and commercial interiors is often employed to surprising and one-of-a-kind results.
Building Value in Northside is a nonprofit with a mission in line with the aforementioned professional home stylists and commercial architects. A building materials reuse center and deconstruction service, Building Value also provides on-the-job training for disabled and disadvantaged people in the community — lending credence to the notion that people, too, are not merely disposable.
Like its parent organization, Easter Seals Tristate, Building Value empowers individuals to achieve a higher quality of life through employment and self-sufficiency. And for the past three years, Building Value has included a “designer challenge” element at their ReUse-apalooza fundraiser, which demonstrates the remarkable work that artists and creative types can make out of the materials the nonprofit acquires from various deconstruction jobs, donations and retail recycling projects.
The designer challenge engages local business owners such as mother/daughter team Stephanie Heesten and Emily Chopelas of Market Side Mercantile, in crafting an object over the course of several weeks (with help from a modest store credit at Building Value,) that will be auctioned off at ReUse-apalooza with all proceeds to benefit job-training programs for people with disabilities and disadvantages.
Read the entire article via Local Designers Participate in Annual Re-Purposing Contest.