The Conway Building, Alexandria, Indiana, crumbling due to neglect. The dirt will be spread to protect the street and sidewalk when the wrecking ball arrives next week.
The building has seen many businesses over the years, including the barber shop I went to as a child, a tailor shop where my uncle had his suits made, and a hardware store owned by a family friend. Downtown Alexandria was thriving in the '50s, '60s and into the '70s; but is all but dead now. Only a very few retail businesses remain, and many of the buildings have already been razed to make parking lots for the few service businesses remaining.
It is sad to see buildings that were a significant part of our lives for many years decay and tumble down.
Hopefully Alexandria leaders can find some way to restore all or part of this once-thriving city. I wish them well.
AndyH
Loc: Massachusetts and New Hampshire
Sad fate, John... A captured reminder of the past.
Andy
rjaywallace wrote:
It is sad to see buildings that were a significant part of our lives for many years decay and tumble down.
Hopefully Alexandria leaders can find some way to restore all or part of this once-thriving city. I wish them well.
They’re trying; we’ll see.
Thanks for looking.
Another good example of "They don't build 'em like they used to." Even the most mundane buildings like this were lovingly designed with articulated brick work, ornamented parapets topping off and defining building tops. I like the stone window headers and sills. The brick arches on the side windows were typical of the time.
Its too bad this building got so far gone. I worked on several old buildings near to downtown Fort Worth, which became great spaces for architects, photographers, and other inhabitants.
jaymatt wrote:
The Conway Building, Alexandria, Indiana, crumbling due to neglect. The dirt will be spread to protect the street and sidewalk when the wrecking ball arrives next week.
The building has seen many businesses over the years, including the barber shop I went to as a child, a tailor shop where my uncle had his suits made, and a hardware store owned by a family friend. Downtown Alexandria was thriving in the '50s, '60s and into the '70s; but is all but dead now. Only a very few retail businesses remain, and many of the buildings have already been razed to make parking lots for the few service businesses remaining.
The Conway Building, Alexandria, Indiana, crumblin... (
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Sorry to hear it is your hometown. There seems to be a lot of neglect going on worldwide. Pinterest has a couple of popular pins dedicated to Urban Decay and Abandoned Buildings. It really is sad. I photographed some buildings in Incheon, Korea today that I know will be gone in a year or two, when they are gone I feel like a few generations will go with them.
What happened to trigger the decline?
fergmark wrote:
Its too bad this building got so far gone. I worked on several old buildings near to downtown Fort Worth, which became great spaces for architects, photographers, and other inhabitants.
Thanks for taking a look.
John_F wrote:
What happened to trigger the decline?
Lack of maintenance. That’s what happens when one doesn’t care for a building with a flat roof. A friend of mine has a drone shot showing the center of the roof caved in, which is what caused the damage you see in the photo.
Thanks for taking a look.
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