Nov 7th, 2019 : Basket Reprieve

[xoxoxoBruce]

You must have seen pictures of the big basket building, home of the now defunct Longaberger Basket Company.
Since Longaberger once employed 8200 people many in Ohio have been concerned about the fate of the building since it closed.
On October 21st came the news the building will reopen next year as a luxury hotel.



On October 20th the building was open to the public for one day.

The Facebook group “Preserving Dave Longaberger’s great American story” has more than 4,000 members. The tours were led by former Longaberger employees from every level of the company, including a former executive, machinist, and groundskeeper, Barrett says. They volunteered after Klein put a call-out on the Facebook page and received 500 responses for 40 slots, according to the Newark Advocate. The guides showed the first two floors of the building, including the marble entryway, and stopped by the Big Basket’s auditorium, which looped a seven-minute time-lapse video of the building’s construction. “Some people sat and watched that video several times,” Barrett says. (The rest of the tour consisted of more mundane, less-baskety office spaces and conference rooms.)

I hope it works out. Creating a luxury hotel is easy just expensive. They have a great start with a unique building, seven stories,
huge atrium, and glass elevators. Windows may be tricky though.
However building and maintaining a luxury hotel business, even with a basket, is no picnic.

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