Durham Central Park and Historic Warehouse District

The photographs in this post will be a mixture from last week and the fall of 2008. The shot above was taken last week when I decided to walk beyond the tree line where I park when I'm working on site in Durham, NC, U.S.



Durham Central Park is in the middle of the Historic Warehouse District. The area used to consist largely of Tobacco Warehouses. After big tobacco left town the warehouses were renovated for arts centers, businesses and other mixed uses. In 2001 the Durham Central Park was established and it includes Grace Garden (shot above).



The shot above was taken last fall of the pavilion in the park which is used for a Saturday morning farmer's market as well as for arts shows and performances. My other blog has a post including a shot of the same sculpture taken last week, showing how it's covered in tall seedheads from flowers at the moment.



This time of year trees surround the park and garden, giving a lot of privacy from the buildings once you are inside the garden.



I like the fanciful benches like the one above and also the one below. In the distance from the bench below you can see the BP building which was built in 1928 and expanded in the 1950s. The BP company (produced headache powder) used the building as a factory. In 1980 the educational testing company I work for purchased the building and renovated it for offices.



The next shot was taken in the fall of last year from the parking lot where I park and has a better shot of the BP Building.



Beyond the part of the building you can see above is a breezeway leading to what used to be the Brodie Duke Warehouse which was built in 1878 to store tobacco. In 2000, the company I work for purchased the old warehouse and renovated it to house offices for the expanding company.



The shot above is one of the historic warehouses now converted for other uses, which is next to the one my employer renovated. I've never photographed the Brodie Duke one, probably because when I work on site I work in the BP building. However most of these historic warehouses in this part of Durham, pretty much look alike from the outside. The reason I happened to shoot the one above is because I was sitting at a red light.



It's pleasant having the park and garden to wander around, although oddly I never realized that there was so much to the garden before. Probably because when it's in bloom the trees hide it from view and when the trees drop their leaves there isn't as much to see. The last shot is one I took last fall and I was drawn in by the sculpture and Japanese Maple but none of the flowers were blooming, like some are now. It's the end of the season and quite a few have gone to seed but still a lot of color left in the garden.



I don't work in Durham that often but when I do I like to take advantage of the different scenery for photo ops. I love being able to work from my home computer most of the time but it is nice to change my view from time to time. Please click here for the home of That's My World Tuesday.