Originally uploaded by IheartPGH (Click here to see more pictures…)
What looks like a relatively innocent small storefront on Butler street in lawrenceville opperated as a slaughter house and then a meat packing business for years. Rumor has it there was also some boot legging and gambling too. Walk into the store front and step back into the origional retail butcher shop that is now a gallery – the some of the origional meat hooks are still on the wall. They even have some of the origional butcher paper.
One of the coowners wa nice enough to take us to the back and there is the remains of a slaughter house tucked into the space behind and next to the storefront. You really can’t tell the place is so big from the street. The slaugterhouse was converted into a gallery and studio space about 6 years ago. The owners have removed some of the really graphic slaughter elements but lots of interesting things like the smokehouse and the meathook track still remain.
The gallery was open this weekend as a stop on the lawrenceville blossom tour. 20 different merchants along Butler street were open and handing out different packets of seeds. It has been awile since I have participated in one of these tours and I was very impressed there were lots of people out and all of the mechants were very friendly. I will post some of my other pictures from Lawrenceville when I get back to my computer.