The Bewley Building
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The Bewley Building " ... North Blythville looks clear ... can't see a single ruined building ... " Soccerfan667 (talk) 06:03, 20 October 2021 (UTC)
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| the Bewley Building
North Blythville [24, 61]
Basic Info:
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The Bewley Building
Description
The Bewley Building is an Art Deco skyscraper in the Malton district of North Blytheville. It stands at 613 ft tall and has 48 floors.
History
The construction was commissioned by retired General Hubertus Bewley, Malton’s famous Spanish War hero, in 1927. Bewley’s vision of a grand headquarters for the Bewley Oil Company was aided by the avant-garde architect Egregius Lucan, who had previously designed the world’s tallest flag pole. Ground was broken on 1 August, 1928, ahead of both the rival Chrysler Building and Empire State Building projects. However, despite the optimistic early start, the project soon encountered difficulties.
300 construction workers, approximately one third of the workforce, fell ill after bad tapas was served during a lunch break in November 1928. Then, on 31 January 1929, the architect Lucan was killed by a defective toilet seat. The controversial architect Rik O’Shea was brought in as a replacement. It is unclear why General Bewley chose O’Shea, whose previous works resembled Escher paintings, but it is believed O’Shea possessed an incriminating oil painting of the General and a Mexican mule. Finally, on 29 October 1929 the stock market collapsed, heralding the Great Depression of the 1930s in what is known as Black Tuesday. The entire Bewley family fortune was wiped out overnight.
Consequently, Lucan’s plans for a 1,300 ft tall, 105 storey building with electric turbo-lifts was never realised. Instead, the workforce downed tools while the 29th floor was half-built. O’Shea continued the work alone, adding an additional nineteen floors, until he died of scurvy in 1951. The grand, Art Deco lobby is considered one of the finest in the world; however, from there the floors become increasingly perverse and twisted until, at the upper levels, stairs go back on themselves and lifts never arrive at their intended destination.
Although considered a madman even before the stock market collapse, O’Shea was in fact a shrewd businessman, and bought the building when the Bewley estate went into administration. The classic features and confusing layout appealed to shyster lawyers, private detectives and cheese inventors, who took to renting the office space from the mid-1930s up until the outbreak.
Today, the Bewley Building has only three clients: Slaughter & Slaymaker Solicitors; John Hay Forrest the cheesemaker; and the Semtex and Lamont Detective Agency.
Barricade Policy
Maintain at VSB in accordance with the North Blythville Barricade Plan
Current Status
Barricades are down with one zombie inside but no damage to the building. Doctor Hammer 21:51, 18 February 2011 (UTC)
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