It was a cold and damp day in what is often referred to as "the dead of winter." I never have understood why winter, unlike the other seasons, is so maligned. On the day in question, it really was not the coldness or dampness that made life a little uncomfortable.

Blackwell Street was the culprit.

All winter long, Blackwell Street seemed to be a site for a road digging contest. I looked down from the upper floors of Fowler at the red, wet dirt of the street bed, made an exposure through the window, and then wandered down the stairs to go out on the street for street level pictures.

Several construction workers ignored me - and did not warn me - when I started to walk across the street. About halfway, I was mired to my knees in soft, squishy, red mud. I pretended to be tough like the workers as I trudged my way out of the muck, muttering to myself a few thoughts about the need to go ahead and pave this street.

As construction inside the buildings along Blackwell Street picked up pace in the spring, I still kept wondering, "Will they ever pave this street?" I knew they had to before employees of the new tenants could work here.

It all came together over the last few weeks.

Blackwell Street is paved, but that's not the rest of the story.

Perhaps more indicative of the finishing touches in this part of the project is not a few layers of asphalt, but a few items decorating a workspace. The restoration of the Historic District has always been an effort to create great spaces for people to live, work and play.

For now, people work - and occasionally play - just in the areas that are restored. Yet a look at items brought from home by one worker and placed on a shelf by her desk indicates that working here is also about maintaining a great quality of life in the workspace.

The photos of one's children with inspirational words on a plaque speak so eloquently about new life in a building that was closed for almost two decades.

The Fowler Building on Blackwell Street has had more than its structure restored; its life as a workplace, with a touch of home, has been restored.