Hey, office and flex space for lease! I revisited Crunden Martin to check up on the state of the buildings after the disastrous Black Friday fire. Yes, in case you were wondering, that sign is new. As I had appraised on Black Friday, the building that had already suffered a fire back in 2011 is…
Tag: Chicago School
Crunden-Martin, Destroyed
“It’s Thanksgiving, so the fires will be starting now,” someone remarked on social media–I recall reading somewhere. What a far too accurate portent. I woke up on Black Friday, and sadly, they were right. Crunden Martin, that stunning abandoned warehouse/factory complex I’ve looked at around a half dozen times over the years, was being consumed…
Downtown, Davenport, Iowa
Continuing and ending our end of the month look at Mississippi River towns north of St. Louis for the time being, we come to the Quad Cities, and first we will look at Davenport, Iowa. Of course, Davenport, and Rock Island, Illinois on the opposite bank (which we’ll look at in a few days) are…
Pasadena Hills, Revisited
It’s been almost exactly sixteen years since I first visited Pasadena Hills, and judging from the extremely low quality of the photos I took of the beautiful North County suburb I took back then, it was well past due to revisit. Comprising 120 acres and developed starting in 1928, the initial investment of the Carter…
Daffodils Blooming, Bellefontaine Cemetery
The daffodils were blooming in Bellefontaine Cemetery, and it was beautiful.
Kansas City, Baltimore, Dayton, Louisville and Indianapolis Skyscrapers
Rounding out our survey of early Twentieth Century centerpiece skyscrapers, we look at a couple more, starting first on the other side of Missouri in Kansas City. The Kansas City Power and Light Building, built in 1931, was the tallest building in Missouri until 1976. Designed by the Kansas City firm of Hoit, Price &…
Smith Tower, Seattle
The skyline of Seattle is interesting; today most of the tall buildings are from the last fifty years and can be seen in one long line from Puget Sound. But to the south, sitting off by itself is the Smith Tower, built in 1914, in the Pioneer Square neighborhood. Designed by the firm of T….
Crunden Martin, On the Cusp of Redevelopment
There is a slight chance that the redevelopment of the Crunden Martin buildings might actually happen this time, and I’m cautiously optimistic due to the involvement of some people I know in the project. Looking at the building damaged by fire over a decade ago, it looks like there has been the loss of much…
Urban Renewal and Historic Preservation, Mason City
I mentioned yesterday when discussing the City National Bank and Park Inn that South Federal Street was a pedestrian mall, but that is not even telling half of the story! In one of the more bizarre urban renewal machinations I have ever seen, the pedestrian mall then turns into an actual shopping mall, known as…
The Park Inn and City National Bank, Mason City, Iowa
Frank Lloyd Wright’s last surviving hotel, the Park Inn and its adjoining former City National Bank building, have been immaculately restored in Mason City, Iowa, and I had the opportunity to see and stay overnight at this amazing landmark in early July. Located at the southwest corner of West State Street and South Federal Street,…