More of downtown Wood River, showing the wide variety of architectural styles, including some nice Modernist slip covers.
Tag: Illinois
Wood River Downtown, Part 1
Quiet on a Saturday afternoon, Wood River’s downtown hosts an array of early Twentieth Century architecture.
East Alton Civic Center
This interesting cluster of buildings shows the wealth that arrived in East Alton after World War II, allowing for the construction of a new city hall and police station.
East Alton Commercial Strip
Update: I went back to the area in November of 2023. The area around the old Citizens’ Bank consists of your standard suburban development seen after World War II. Automobile-dominated development, with parking lots in front of low-slung buildings, predominates. Now since vacant of major retailers, second string businesses move in.
Citizens’ Bank, East Alton
Update: Finally demolished in November of 2023. There’s not much more I can say that Toby Weiss didn’t already masterfully cover in this post, but I can report that most likely this building will not be torn down after all, at least not in the near future. I hope so; it’s an interesting, unique example…
Armour Meat Packing Plant Coming Down
Update: Demolished in the summer of 2016. On Saturday, probably in order to avoid interrupting traffic on nearby I-70 or the surrounding industrial areas, the first half of the Armour Meat Packing Plant, one of the coolest ruins I have ever had the opportunity to explore, was imploded in a giant cloud of dust. I…
State Farm Insurance Building
Built according to plans by Archie Schaeffer and Phillip Hooton in 1929, the State Farm Insurance Building in downtown Bloomington was added on to repeatedly over the years. They moved out in 1974 to a giant Modernist complex on the east side of town. Viewed from a distance, it becomes obvious that the Art-Deoc masterpiece…
Ensenberger Building, Bloomington, Illinois
The cool proto-modern Ensenberger, with elements of Art-Deco styling, has now been converted into condos. Designed by Arthur L. Pillsbury and Phillip Hooten, it opened in 1926. Apparently, the current facade is newer than the building itself, having been reskinned at some point.