"Is this not Babylon I have built with my own hands?" -King Nebuchadnezzar
Time covered: January 1 to June 8
Place: Ikes Restaurant, Bloomington, Minnesota
Paul, Mike and I slogged away for 5 months on the complete demolition of the old Blue Point Restaurant and the building of the new Ike's, owned by Bloomington Mayor Gene Winstead and Billy Morris.
It was a massive amount of work made all the more complicated by Alan Plutowskis iconic coffered ceilings and detailed columns.
Below, just a few photos.
THE BLOOD
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| My drill is literally sticky with hemoglobin. Most people fail to grasp what we put out as builders. |
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| The Mexican sheet rocker takes a hit for the crew. I play nurse. |
I had two dumpster fires in one week from smokers throwing their cigarettes in them.
The sign I put up to no avail smolders during the second fire.
The Bloomington Fire Department make an appearance.
The Sweat
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| We start into the framing stage. The front walls on the left are framed as is the bar out of fire treated Dricon plywood. |
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| The bar is shown here with struts to keep it straight. |
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| Paul works on the intricate coffered ceilings, a real trade mark of the Plutowski architectural firm. |
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| The cooking vent hood is hung on the right.
The Beers
 Gene and his girls did a great job of decorating and pinning scores of pictures on the walls. It creates a very warm cozy atmosphere with the mustard colored walls.   Shaggy (left) and Gerge (right)  Mike and Paul built this gorgeous facade in our shop.  A quick I-phone shot of head chef Andy during the final stages of construction.  Notice Horsey on the left hand side. I forgot him and had to have my taxi driver go back for him. 
My Korean taxi cab driver.
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