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Subject:
From:
Ken Follett <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
BP - "Preservationists shouldn't be neat freaks." -- Mary D
Date:
Thu, 10 Aug 2000 15:20:49 EDT
Content-Type:
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Enough of NYC, Southern Comfort, glossalia, and that guy Poe… I want to know 
what BP preservationeers speculate on the preservation of the Dumas Brothel.

][<en

""I loved being a whore, and that offends people." Norma Jean Almodovar, 49, 
head of the International Sex Workers Foundation for Art, Culture and 
Education, has made a career from such bluster. But being an activist for 
prostitutes is less lucrative than her previous job?impersonating a bawdy 
Julia Child for her johns. (That was one specialty.)

It's also more controversial here in Butte, Mont., where Almodovar has been 
trying to rustle up the funds to fully restore the Dumas, a former brothel 
that opened in 1890. After seeing Almodovar on a talk show in 1998, Butte 
businessman Rudy Giecek, 57, who had acquired the dilapidated Dumas from its 
last madam, contacted her. Using little more than sweat equity, they have 
turned the 43?room Victorian building into a museum exploring the history of 
prostitution. One day Almodovar would also like to turn the Dumas into her 
foundation's "headquarters" (a fancy term for her tiny collective, run on a 
shoestring with loans from a New York City john). It may be the only place in 
the world written up in both Penthouse and Civilization, the Library of 
Congress magazine. When Giecek first explored the dank basement rooms, which 
the madams hadn't used since the '40s, he found lipsticks, a 10?minute timer, 
chamber pots, an ancient jar of Vaseline. In one room, the bed frame had worn 
through the flooring." John Cloud, American Scene, The Oldest Profession Gets 
a New Museum, Time, 08/14/2000 p4.

http://www.iswface.org/collection1.html

the following from the website

Dumas Brothel Artifacts Collection

"Adopt a Brick" program
Based on a fund raising technique used by many historical preservation 
organizations to restore old buildings and churches, we are offering the 
numerous bricks in our historic landmark for "adoption." A master chart will 
indicate location of all the bricks, including those lining the infamous 
"Venus Alley" behind the Dumas, which are well worn from a 100 years of use. 
Prospective 'adoptive parents' may select their brick from a copy of the 
chart and for a $100** tax deductible donation, will receive documentation of 
the brick, it's colorful history and select a small token of appreciation 
from out catalog (brick chip, T-shirt, key chain, foam brick, etc.). The 
'parent' [or designated individual] will be listed on the master chart in the 
brothel museum. Makes a terrific, fun gift!

The Dumas is the last known example of "Victorian Brothel" Architecture left 
in the United States.

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