Here’s the River Birch office building. What do you see?
- A sign indicating two business occupy the building.
- A covered entrance at the left end of the building.
- Double doors opening from the entrance (Right Arrow)
- A white door to the left of the double doors (Left Arrow)
SLABBED has offered three tours:
As I was cleaning up the photo files, I ran across a couple of pictures that had been overlooked when putting the tours together. I still don’t have a floor plan. However, this exterior shot gives some indication of the layout. Consequently, in this sweep tour, I can update a few earlier guesses with somewhat “educated” guesses and a very helpful “hint” from Tele”.
In the first “tour”, reader attention (and mine) was focused on the glass double doors leading to the reception area on the third floor. At that point the paneling on the left wall outside those doors had no significance. It does now, if you recall all the paneling “behind the door marked office”.
OK, here’s the eyecatcher – but Tele gets credit for catching what “looks like a good 1′-3′ space there between the woody (waste) room and the next office…”
I was was thinking about how files were just everywhere, but, as Tele pointed out, “it looks like room was constructed with guaranteed quiet (and prevention of eavesdropping) in mind. Possible?” Absolutely! Here’s another shot of what’s in the space between the two offices:
Now, for a different view of the paneled office that shows it’s on one corner of the building:
So, there are two walls of windows. One of the other two walls, logically (duh), must be the other side of the wall to the space shown in photographs #135 and #138 above. The next photograph shows more of that office.
Hold that thought. Take a look at this shot of the long hall mentioned in the “tour guide”.
See the chair just inside the door at the end of the hall and the mauve (yes, mauve) modular workspace wall? Here’s a closer look:
Here’s how the Heebe-WARD-River Birch “tour guide” describes what is seen in this photograph and the one above:
Outside of the computer server office is a long hallway leading toward the side of the building that faces Belle Chasse Highway. The first door on the left was where the Law Offices of Peter J. Butler, L.L.C. were located at the time of the search. Mr. Butler retired last year, and these offices are now empty. However, it is undisputed that the Government successfully located those offices without any assistance on the day of the search.
Past Mr. Butler’s office is a large room with numerous cubicles in the center and a number of offices around the edge. There are offices, restrooms, and a conference room around the edge of the large cubicle room. With respect to the offices, the plaintiffs would only point out that one office which was occupied at the time of the search is now empty because that employee moved to the building located at River Birch landfill in Waggaman, Louisiana. The rest of the offices are in the same condition as they were on the day of the search. Also, the plaintiffs would ask the Court to note a stairwell on the Belle Chasse Highway side of the building, next to the ladies room. This stairwell is the only other means of entrance to the premises. (emphasis added)
My point? Exit doors! Just looking at the exterior of the building, there should be a set of stairs at either end so that those inside can safely exit in case of fire. Without a floor plan, it’s impossible to be certain, but it appears Peter Butler was located in the middle of this mess, most of the employees in the middle of otherwise unoccupied space, and the executives either behind this area or at the other end of the building where a stairwell was located near the elevator.
Sound-proof doesn’t even begin to describe the privacy accorded those who did their trading in space located on the third floor of the River Birch office building.
Just saying here’s another exit door.
Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding , Ding————————— Freakin’ call the Firechief out for a building fire code check. Nowdy, do you think there should be freakin’ exit floor plans throughout the building pin pointing where someone might be and what is the shortest route outside in case of fire. I’ve seen such floor plans in other multiple story buildings. FYI– The jefferson performing arts bldg was originally designed without proper fire safety exits. It had to be retro fitted by new engineers during construction.Man, we don’t want the freakin’ Birches to be working in an unsafe environment.
My attention to fire code was an effort to pin point locations using exits as an indicator – but, if no exit floor plans are posted, someone needs to take care of that (and send SLABBED a copy).