A couple of weeks ago, I stopped by the Barnum Factory for a tour of what used to be a paint factory in the Central Place industrial area, near the main post office in Des Moines east of Second Avenue and north of University Avenue. 

Breanne and Aaron Barnum, who have been fixing up properties in the River Bend neighborhood, had been eyeing the old building. Breanne recalled pulling back brush and finding a real-estate agent’s number. They made the call, and soon had plans.

Barnum Factory has studios for musicians and artists, a haunted house, event spaces (including one that doubles as a go-kart racetrack for the Barnums’ son. One area appeared to be costume inventory for drama productions. There is an old-fashioned, honest-to-goodness, just-smell-the-chemicals photo studio, where film is developed and photos are printed with an enlarger, just like at the beginning of my, uh, long career.

Nonprofit organizations are using the building for offices. 

One interesting guest at the VIP tour was Siobhan Spain, director of Mainframe Studios, a much larger operation that offers similar services downtown. Spain reveled in the Barnum Factory, hugged Breanne, and made sure anyone who asked knew that they don’t consider each other competitors. 

“The arts are so under-saturated,” Spain said. “This is great!”