Contractor Sighting!

Okay, maybe this isn't in quite the same class as a sighting of the supposedly extinct ivory-billed Arkansas woodpecker, but, hey, it's pretty exciting, I think -a contractor observed at work on the Recreation Center!

I first spotted his pickup truck, parked with the two passenger side tires on the sidewalk, the other two in the street, partly blocking the right traffic lane on 12th Street. I love that "I can park anywhere" attitude.

I walked up to him and introduced myself, as he retrieved some tools from his truck. He eyed me a little uneasily, and didn't return the introduction.

"Are you the general contractor?" I asked. (Word was already all over 12th Street that the General Contractor was at the site.)

"Yep," he replied.

"Well, It's great to see you," I said. He didn't seem to warm to my cheery, enthusiastic tone. Perhaps to his ear it sounded like an accusation that we had seen far too little of him around the neighborhood during the past year.

"You know, this project has been going on for quite a while," I ventured.

"Yeah, I'd rather not say anything about that," he replied, with one of those shrugs that's filled with implication. Like you've just asked some guy about the nasty fight he had with his wife last week, and he shrugs, indicating that although it was unpleasant, he doesn't attach much significance to it.

"Do you think you'll have this finished in time for this summer?" I asked.

He nodded and mumbled something about having it "under control."

"Great, " I replied.

And with that , our little interview came to an end. Clearly, he didn't want to spend his time chatting with people from the neighborhood, and I certainly didn't want to keep him from his work.

I wish I could tell you that the rec center general contractor had a work crew with him. I wish I could tell you that they were moving in a big assortment of construction materials. I wish I could tell you that the air was filled with the sound of hammers, saws, and an AM radio blaring a sports talk show - you know, all those things that mean that construction is really happening. But no, as one of my neighbors emailed me this morning, when she went by it on her way to work, with the gate and door to the rec center open, she just thought there were squatters in there. Okay, I know, I know - the City didn't give this contract to Bob the Builder ("Can we fix it? Yes we CAN!").

This was just one guy, unloading some lumber from his pickup truck. And maybe that's the problem with this $1.23 million project - the general contractor is just a guy with a pickup truck.