Update: Interior demolition seemed to have been completed by November of 2021; renovation was continuing in August of 2022.

There’s some great news to report in the 5300-5400 block of Cabanne Avenue, which is just west of Union Boulevard. The “Cabanne Castle,” which is what local residents call the massive, but incredibly beautiful Tudor Revival apartment building that takes up much of the north side of the block, is being renovated. While I’m sure that much of the original plasterwork, which has been documented elsewhere, will have to removed due to deterioration, it’s still for the better than this important building is going to see new life.

Which proves my point all the more that “experiments,” such as unlicensed chicken manure composting operations and illegal, condemned “sculpture gardens” do not belong in what are already blocks full of potential; they are not urban wastelands, as they are too often viewed by many residents south of Delmar. In reality Cabanne Avenue is one of the most interesting streets of the North Side, and I’ve looked at it frequently over the years, including to the east near Kingshighway back in December of 2015. I’ll be looking at it more over the next several days.