🛜 USI's being acquired. Let’s visit its oddly handsome utility building.

The boxy brick building at 3651 Snelling Avenue doesn’t stick out much from the single-family homes that surround it.

It sits on a standard lot, three in from the corner, with pleasantly patterned brickwork and an un-menacing wrought iron fence. Its lawn is neatly manicured with landscaping rocks and shrubs. The front door is flanked by Helvetica house numbers, two tasteful lights, and a small mailbox. It’s about the same width and height as its neighbors. 

But there are clues that it’s not quite a human dwelling. Most obviously, there are no windows. The front door looks heavy duty. The building extends all the way back to the alley, where a big green electrical transformer box is protected by concrete bollards.