While these twin buildings are prominent along South Broadway, their role in generating ice for the boxcars that took Lemp Beer around the world is less well known. I wrote about them at the end of this article back in January of 2019.
Imagine, over one hundred years ago, railcars coming out of the massive portal being pulled by the Western Cable Railway down the Iron Mountain Railroad tracks along the riverfront, or being pulled on the right-of-way which is still visible in the gravel bed around the corner.
Chris, do you know if the other buildings at the Lemp Brewery have been inspected for stability? Ever since that one collapsed, I am fearful some of these other beauties may be at risk.
The Building Division was supposed to have done so. I am not overly concerned about the remaining buildings. The vast majority of the other buildings actually date from the early Twentieth Century and are built of reinforced concrete–and are surprisingly modern in their construction methods. The buildings that are older than the malt kiln, which partially collapsed, are all relatively small structures that should be fine. I’ve had the opportunity to examine the interiors of almost all the buildings on the Lemp property, and they’re built like bomb shelters! Remember, they were built to hold extremely heavy loads of beer for long periods. The malt kiln was not built with reinforced concrete and is close to 150 years old and was largely made up of open spaces without interior structural reinforcement originally. I am not concerned overall with the rest of the complex.
I greatly appreciate the response! I love your site and regularly return to it. Keep up the great work!
-Karl