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@allyogaworks-blog
Walking into the Bobbin Works in Aug of 2014 (yes, it was that long ago!) is something I will never forget. If you read my first blog post I you...
Walking into the Bobbin Works in Aug of 2014 (yes, it was that long ago!) is something I will never forget. If you read my first blog post I you...
Finding The Bobbin Works Building
Hello and thanks for stopping by to check out our website and blog. Construction is getting started on the final phases of the changing & shower rooms. I hope to personally welcome you to the Allentown Yoga Works very soon. We are located inside the historic Bobbin Works (BW) building located at 417 N. 14th in Allentown Pa.
This "Art Deco" style architecture, former factory is over a century old, and is not only our home but a fantastic example of the Queen City's on going redevelopment. I came across this amazing place on a recommendation from a friend who knew I'd been on the hunt for the right building, in the right location to open a yoga studio. She told me to "check out a location in Allentown, in an old factory that was being repurposed instead of torn down". That sounded intriguing enough so I dutifully looked at the real estate listing on line, which you can see in our archive. The picture was not a photograph of the building but an artist rendering, one which I thought curious at the time but wasn't surprised since the place was being redeveloped, plus the specific details in the listing were very unique. I called the real estate agent and a personal visit was duly arranged for the next day.
I recall getting off of Route 22, driving up 14th st to the Bobbin Works building feeling slightly anxious, not overly so because this was the umpteenth location I'd seen that year for a possible studio home. At the time it was just one more place on my list. I wasn't jaded by the process of looking for a studio home, but had accepted the fact that it may not be a good fit. Simply be prepared to move on with it, yet all the while remaining optimistic at heart that this could finally be the place!! The first visible impression of the Bobbin Works did not lead me to think it would workout at all. To be straight up honest the BW looked as if its best days were behind it. The building is over 22,000 sq ft, not high at all with only two floors, but very wide. Even imposing in its own way by taking up what seemed like a third of the block. Yet, the building and block it occupied seemed worn out and sadly left behind, a relic of another time, like the lyrics in the song 'Allentown' where they're closing all the factories down.
In the first five minutes the negative aspects on my check list were piling up and the positives seemed scant at best, for starters we could not walk right into the building. There was a ten foot high chain link fence walling it off from the sidewalk. The real estate agent Eury and I, had to have the gate unlocked to go inside to take our tour. It was supposed to be under construction but it looked more abandoned rather than reimagined for better use. While we waited for the manager of the building to arrive and remove the padlock allowing our entry, I started wonder if this was a waste of my time. Clearly it was not love at first sight, or a dream come true story, but for me, it did become a three year journey of gettIng to where I am now. I look forward to sharing more of each aspect of this adventure with all of you, from hearing about the Bobbin Works, through seeing it first hand, to the 900 day odyssey it has taken me to open the Yoga Works at the Bobbin Works. I'm pleased to say it became a story of discovery about myself, my perseverance and my labor of love that is about to become the Allentown Yoga Works.
Even my initial trepidation upon seeing the outside of the BW was fairly short lived due to the real estate agent Eury, telling me what the owners had in mind when it came to redevelopment of the building and property. My timing was fortuitous in that the BW was about to under go major renovations. The owners of the building wanted to create a place of Urban Green redevelopment. I should add that the owners of the BW are also architects and general contractors, so they knew exactly what they wanted to do with the place. More surprising to me, is they liked the idea of a yoga studio being one of the businesses in their building, that, plus the amount of space within the BW had me definitely wanting to stick around. More on that another time.
Fun fact : A bobbin is a wooden spool that holds silk to be spun for industrial production. The Lehigh Valley was once an industrial hub for the production of silk, hence the need for a factory to produce bobbins which grew in demand until the development of Nylon by DuPont during WWII, this put the silk industry on the skids.
Another fun fact : The Bobbin Works was expanded over time. In fact , if one takes a closer look at the wings of the building you see different colors to the bricks compared to the center section, this is due to the fact that it was expanded over time to encompass 22,000 sq feet.