Bench Docks

Earlier this year, while padding along a pristine sidewalk in a Central Bench industrial zone, a profound realization struck me. It's relevance and application eluded me, however. But now, after seven months of percolation, rumination and even some fermentation, a tangible product has bubbled to the surface. Upon cursory glance, it's your garden variety experimental mixed-media dock poem. But I look at it as an unclassifiable article with a consciousness unto itself. I served, perhaps, as a mere conduit to give it perceivable form in our limited plane of understanding. Regard:

"Emerald Corridor -- Feb. 18, 2013"

A trek to "work"

A trek back "home"

And along the way

an exploration of

seams to reveal

liminal fixtures...

...fixations remain 

even 

livery arranged...

...context cropped

from hodgepodge, opportunities

in whimsical voids...  

...narrow verdant portals

welcome narrow

verdant cadavers...

...a flashing-clothed spur

eyes an un-

trodden inverse environ...

...delving...

...emitting...

...pending ascension tempered,

airing warily outside...

...to scrape along

on toes... 

...of unacknowledged 

mettle.

Downtown Docks

Today we draw our attention to a motley assortment of loading docks in and around the southern extremity of Boise's 8th Street Cultural District. This is a gritty pocket of the city's central core that has in recent memory teetered on the edge of the redevelopment ravine. Will this area and the diverse docks who call it home plunge irrevocably into the cookie-cutter chasm of loft housing and brunch spots? Sadly, the shared sensory experiences and spatial interactions of the many are at the mercy of a select few. Until such time as these landed elites cavalierly alter our collective landscape, let us celebrate and find meaning in our existing surroundings:

600 Block, S. 8th Street: An improvised-looking dock graces a corrugated ziggurat of a warehouse. A truly singular specimen.

River Street at 9th: The old Associated Distributing warehouse boasts both a large open dock (left) and a more conventional flush dock (right center). Variety is the spice of life.

500 Block, S. 10th Street: This massive structure was previously fed by railroad tracks, prior to their unceremonious removal from downtown. The creative addition of a platform, dock leveler and bumpers, however, give the former rail car loading door above a new life as a worthy truck-to-warehouse interface.

Southeast Docks

Note: It's been over a month without a new post, and for that I apologize. But this lack of content hasn't been out of negligence. Sure, I could have just thrown up an image of any old dock and tacked on some uninspired, glib caption, but that wouldn't have been sincere, now would it? I care deeply about loading docks, and I'm not about to casually turn them into some gimmick. If a post takes a month or even a year, I wait until the spirit moves me, until my imagination is captured, until my eyes are wide and my mouth agape in awe. But enough about me. This blog is about the docks. 

The industrial park just off South Federal Way near Interstate-84 and the Simplot Sports Complex is a melting pot. A diversity of loading dock breeds coexist here in harmony, reminding us that in even the most utilitarian contexts, uniformity need not stifle personality. Glimpse:

Although this one's completely detached from its parent warehouse, no dock is an island!

Another detached dock, but this one opts for the high road.

A row of standard loading doors in the distance, complete with dock seals. There is always room for the classic.

Bench Docks

Who can say they are bored when so many undiscovered sensory stimuli are out there just waiting to be found? There is always something to unearth, even in those places we consider most familiar. I experienced this earlier today, while walking along Emerald Street near the old railroad spur. An all-together peculiar loading dock revealed itself to me, and although hitherto unknown in my limited envelope of consciousness, I'm sure it's had and will continue to enjoy a long and storied life. Behold:

Note the unconventional truck-height-bumper/at-grade hydraulic-lift/recessed-bay-door combo. A dock is a dock is a dock!

Downtown Docks

The Loading Area's inaugural post is a melancholy one, as it presents a loading dock that exists no longer in linear time but in the hearts and minds of those who loved it. I'm speaking of the venerable old Compton Transfer & Storage building that stood on Ninth Street south of Front from around 1948 until this past spring. Luckily, I managed to snap a few shots of the warehouse's wide, elegant docking area before the structure was razed to make room for the forthcoming JUMP project. Though not as ostentatious as its successor, the Compton Warehouse was a mainstay of the urban fabric in Downtown Boise's periphery for over six decades. It will be sorely missed, but change is inevitable and even the most robust loading dock's corporeal existence is ephemeral in the grand scheme.