html> Lostvestige: Bailey Power Plant

Bailey Power Plant


Bailey Power Plant, with its smoke stacks that make Winston-Salem stand out from all the other cities, will come alive once again after being abandoned for more than twenty years. 


This building was once the center for the tobacco manufacturing giant, RJ Reynolds Tobacco, and provided power for all the factories in the area. But when tobacco manufacturing moved away from this city, Bailey Power Plant fell out of use and was left to sit vacant and crumble over the years. The center of Winston-Salem soon became a ghost town of abandoned forgotten factories. Nobody ever came downtown anymore. 


But luckily, the potential of these old buildings was realized, and they began getting turned into lofts, office space and research labs as part of the newly named Innovation Quarter. As the years went by, and life began to creep back into downtown, everyone wondered when and if the old power plant, the city's most intriguing building, would also be brought back to life. Sure enough, early this year, work began on the old power plant. 

So on a warm summer afternoon, I wandered around the old building to document the changes.

I just wish I could slip past the fence and look inside!












It will soon be home to many small businesses, restaurants, a patio with string lights, and who knows what else!

I am glad to see these old buildings restored and saved. 

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