For the love of a building

“You can’t demolish this building!” Lisa crossed her arms over her chest and blocked the doorway.

“Lady, I have a job to do. If you have a problem with it, take it up with Mr. Sanders, it’s his property.” The pot-bellied man shoved past her into the building, marking on his clipboard as he went.

“This is a historical building. It’s been around for almost a hundred years!” She followed behind him as he weaved his way around boxes and broken furniture.

“Well, I just do as I’m told, and I’m told to tear it down.” He made another mark on his clipboard before walking back out the door.

Lisa took a look around the abandoned building. Cracks zig-zagged up and down the brick walls. The hardwood floor was stained and chipped, even broken at some places. Time had not been gentle to the old building.

With a sigh, she walked out the front door to once again plead her case to the man getting ready to destroy it. “How long before you demolish this landmark?”

The man turned around to narrow his eyes at her. “ Look lady, I can’t stand around here all day answering your questions. As a matter of fact, you shouldn’t even be inside that orange barricade.” His pudgy finger pointed to a row of barrels with orange fencing wrapped around it. “ I could lose my job. Leave or I’ll have to call the cops to escort you off the property.”

Lisa crossed her arms over her chest. “It’s a simple question. How much time do I have to stop you?”

“Two days. Now, would you please leave?”

Lisa gave him a sweet smile before turning on her heels and stomping across the parking lot to her car. She would be back, and she would bring others. There was no way she was going to make it easy for them to destroy this building.

The next day she showed up at the demolition site way before any of the workers, and she didn’t come alone. Ten other people lined the path with her, holding signs of protest and chanting “save the building”.

A few people passing by stopped to ask about why they were protesting, but most just gave them annoyed or disgusted looks and walked on.

Right on schedule, a heavy-set man climbed out of his truck, a hardhat in his hand. He took one look at her and the group of people and cursed. She planned to make his life hell for the next two days.

“You aren’t accomplishing anything by protesting. This building is coming down!” He pushed his way past her and entered the restricted area meant only for those working the demolition. “This town will be a lot better off with this old building gone anyway.”

Lisa boiled with anger. This old building had once been a factory where her grandparent works. It’s where they met. She might not have been here today if it wasn’t for this old building.

Later it got turned into office buildings on the top and a restaurant on the bottom. Her parents came here for their first date. Her mom always said it was magical. This building couldn’t get torn down. It had too many good memories, not only for her family but others too.

Her neighbors had both worked in the office buildings. When their marriage was on the rocks, coming to work every day and being close to each other is what saved it.

“Lisa!” The voice brought her out of her memories. “Lisa, you need to see Mr. Sanders.”

Lisa’s face lit up. “You managed to get me an appointment with him?”

“Yeah, but we need to go right now.” Jimmy grabbed her hand and dragged her towards his pickup truck.

“Thanks for your help.” She liked Jimmy. He was kind, caring, and thoughtful. He wasn’t too bad on the eyes either. She hopped into the old truck and fastened her seat belt.

Silence filled the cab of the truck on the ten minute drive to Mr. Sanders's office. Lisa kept glancing at Jimmy, but he kept his eyes straight ahead, focused on the road. He pulled up in front of the huge office building and dropped her off, promising to be waiting in the lobby when she got back from her meeting.

Fear bubbled inside her sending her stomach into somersaults. She took a deep breath to calm her pounding heart before entering the seven-story building. Everything from floor to ceiling sparkled. Small decorations of angels lined one wall, and on the other were pictures of smiling children.

The receptionist led her to an elevator and pushed a button. “Someone will help you when you get off the elevator.” The woman faded as the doors closed.

The moment the elevator doors opened again, she was met by a cheerful smiling woman. “Follow me.” Without waiting to see if Lisa was coming, she just walked down the hall towards a set of double doors. Lisa had to jog to catch up to her.

She swung the doors open wide and stepped aside, waiting for Lisa to enter. With a deep breath, she slipped inside the spacious room. The heavy wooden door clicked shut behind her making her jump.

Rows of books lined the walls, pictures of maps and ships hung periodically throughout the room. Behind the large oak desk was a painting of three small children playing on a swing set. The room really was quite beautiful if you ignored the balding man standing at the window.

Mr. Sanders turned around and greeted her with a warm smile. “Good day Miss. Brunner. I believe we need to discuss that abandoned building you keep trying to save.”

All she could do was nod her head. She was awe-struck by the room and the man who owned it.

“Very well, I’ll do the talking first. Do you even know what my plans are for that patch of land after the building is gone?”

She sat down on the soft brown leather sofa. “No. And it doesn’t matter. The building is a historical landmark.”

He chuckled as he poured himself a drink and offered her juice. “The building can’t be fixed. I already tried. I’m afraid the fire damaged it beyond repair. My only option is to tear it down.”

He paused briefly, allowing Lisa to talk if she wanted to. Instead, she crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow.

“My original thought was an indoor play area, but since the structure isn’t good I went with option number two. I’m going to turn the area into a park for the children of the neighborhood.”

 The steam flew from Lisa’s sails. He wanted to make a park, not a new mall or office building. “That’s awful nice of you. What do you want in exchange?”

“I don’t want anything. I grew up in a town like this, a place where there was very little. I had six brothers and sisters, and all I ever wished for in my neighborhood was a god park where I could play. Now I can make that dream come true for some other lucky little boy.”

Lisa hung her head. She had thought the worst about him, and now here he was doing something nice for the community. She swallowed down the lump that formed in her throat. “Thank you, Mr. Sanders. I’ll get rid of the protesters.

Maybe change, and a new building wasn’t so bad after all.