James River Branch: F.W. Woolworth

F.W. Woolworth, Part 1 of 2: Exterior Construction

More than any other building in the restless town of Naughtright, this one has likely suffered the most for all of the changes the town has endured. Originally it was to be the dominant structure on Main Street. But once all of the shuffling finally died down, that honor went to the East Theater, which in a prior life was an imposing Town Hall.

In its first incarnation, the Five and Dime consisted of two Miller Engineering K.C.'s Hardware kits grafted together, with a single-story extension tacked on the back. Subsequently the design was revised to fit the long-angled street corner opposite the wedge-shaped Triangle Bar.

For a while it was pared down to just a single kit, with one angled side wall to share the street corner with Emma's, when the little restaurant was in a free-standing building (which got moved around quite a bit). Ultimately this arrangement proved unworkable, so the Five and Dime settled into an ordinary rectangular shape, with a mini-park wedged in next door to fill the odd corner. More recently, the angled version of the building was resurrected, the mini-park was moved, and the unmodified K.C.'s Hardware kit version became the new home for the Rexall Pharmacy.

Reverting back to the angled version presents a minor problem with respect to the sign, which was created for the straight-line grafted version. I haven't decided what to do about this... make a second sign? Bend this one in the middle to straddle the corner? The solution will come as I return to work on this project.

This project was last updated on 17 July 2010. More as it happens.

This is the original Micro Structures K.C.'s Hardware kit.

Version 1 was a straight-line grafting of two kits with an extension out back.

Version 2 features the same two kits grafted together on an angle.

Made for the Version 1 storefront, this sign may need to be altered to fit.