Column: A Film Noir Moment

column-a-film-noir-moment

Dear readers,

Suddenly, the door of my office flew open. A man stumbled inside. He was carrying something heavy. It was wrapped in newspaper and tied with twine. He collapsed as the package landed on my desk with a thud.

I opened the blade of my pocketknife and began cutting through the twine and newspaper. I desperately wanted to see what was in the package. 

Movie fans already know what was in the package. It was the Maltese Falcon. I had been enjoying a Walter Mitty daydream. I had been on the Wine Walk downtown and stopped in an open house at “The Lofts.”

For you old-old-timers, The Lofts are offices located above the former location of Bob Ewing’s Store for Men. For you old-timers that would be above the former location of Wetnight’s Shelbyville Paint and Wallpaper. For those of you living in the present, it is across Harrison St. from Rupert’s Arcade. 

The offices have that distinctive atmosphere of a film noir detective’s office. Famous fictional detectives Sam Spade or Philip Marlowe would feel right at home with their name hand lettered on the frosted glass in the door. Looking at the name on the glass, I realized that I was in the office of Arthur Thurston, a real-life FBI agent and former Superintendent of the Indiana State Police.

Among Shelbyville’s old-timers, Art Thurston is widely admired. Art was a member of the “Greatest Generation.”  During WWII, J. Edgar Hoover sent Thurston to London. Thus began Thurston’s journey into the James Bond world of British intelligence, double agents, and espionage. After the war, Thurston served as part of General MacArthur’s extended staff working to reform and modernize the Japanese police force.

It's been a long time since Art Thurston and those of his generation were using these second-floor offices. Local contractor Mark Polston, along with his father, Philip, and son, Justin, now once again have those offices available for rent.

According to Mark, the offices had been used for storage and he found many artifacts when getting them ready for a new generation of businesses. He has several items on display. One I found interesting was a placard from Hart Schaffner & Marx suits that had been in Bob Ewing’s Store for Men. 

It read, “How to tell when you’ve ‘arrived.’ When you have more buttons on your phone than on your jacket.”

Mark is offering the offices to rent for those who need a traditional full-time office or on an office sharing basis. He said the mission for “The Lofts” is “to help small businesses with affordable and professional office space.”

Local businesses Jessica Kelsay Accounting and Krystle Hiott Photography have already moved in and have their names on the frosted glass. 

Even if you have no need for office space, you should stop by and look around. Take a minute to visit Thurston’s office and maybe you too can enjoy a Walter Mitty moment. 

See you all next week, same Schwinn time, same Schwinn channel.

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