Update: After a devastating fire, the ruins were demolished in the summer of 2026. 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…
Tag: Chicago School
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,…
Wainwright Building for Sale
I’m sure by now many people have heard that the State of Missouri is vacating the Wainwright Building in downtown. Let’s not waste time on trashing the State of Missouri or Chesterfield, which will be the recipient of those government workers. I want to stress that from my understanding, forty years ago the State of…
Broadway Street West of 4th Street, Paducah
Retracing my steps back down Broadway Street to Fourth Street, we see a bank, perhaps the tallest historic building in downtown Paducah with some interesting modern additions… West of 4th Street is perhaps not as rehabbed as east, but there is just as beautiful of Victorian Period buildings from Paducah’s Nineteenth Century heritage. The Weille…
Wainwright Tomb, Bellefontaine Cemetery
I was visiting Bellefontaine Cemetery and was pleasantly surprised that the Wainwright Tomb recently underwent routine cleaning, making it look better than ever. Go check it out if you haven’t ever or if it’s been a while.
Three Downtown Office Buildings, St. Joseph
We’ll look at three important buildings in downtown St. Joseph; the first up is the Corby-Forsee Building, designed by the St. Louis architecture firm of Eames and Young, opening in 1910. Due to its importance, there was also a one story mercantile grain exchange room added later. It even sort of looks like a skyscraper…
Upcycled Garden At the City Museum
There’s a cool exhibit up on the fourth floor of the City Museum for the next couple of months featuring the sculpture of Daniel Seifert, entitled Upcycled Garden. The works are made of cardboard from Seifert’s normal everyday life, and painted in imaginative colors. It’s a lot of fun, and worth taking a look. While…
Sealed Shut, Railway Exchange Building
I think many of us have fond memories of Christmas at Famous Barr downtown in the Railway Exchange Building, so there’s something deeply sad to see it clad in massive metal sheathing now, a necessary step the City of St. Louis has taken to secure the structure from further intrusions after a fire earlier this…
Other Fall Updates, Fires, Demolitions, Etc.
It finally happened, the Mullanphy Emigrant Home, which I last looked at back in June of this year, caught on fire and burned to the ground on the night of September 14th. There is certainly no grand conspiracy, but simply the fact that overnight lows reached 50 degrees, and a squatter’s fire probably spread out…