Although CABA provided hundreds of cool photos, I have chosen ones that show buildings that are no longer in existence today to give you a perspective of what it looks like in the same spot today.
Those of you who have read this blog for a while have already heard my "Circle of Life" analogy for the growth and development of a city.
In every city, there are buildings and developments that are "born" (constructed) and grow up over time. Like everything else in our world, they age over the years and eventually both private business owners and city governments are faced with decisions on how to promote a new "revolution" on the circle of life.
Do we tear down those old buildings and build something new or do we try to preserve, renovate and repurpose them?
This can be a tricky decision as we do our best to figure out which buildings and developments are "old and historical" (and should be renovated) and which are "old and worn out" (and should be replaced). There are typically passionate advocates for both sides of the discussion. These photos show buildings where the decision was made to tear down and start over. In some cases, the replacement is complete. In other cases, we're in a holding pattern... still waiting for the next revolution of the circle of life.
(Click on any photo to enlarge it for better viewing.)
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| The northeast corner of 7th and Central. |
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| The old buildings were torn down and this corner is ready for redevelopment. Hopefully, we'll be able to welcome new businesses soon. |
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| The southwest corner of 7th and Central. I'd completely forgotten about the Army & Navy Surplus store! |
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| The circle of life has started a new revolution on this corner. Although the historic buildings are gone, it's a very busy place! Lots of folks visit the Conoco station along with Krispy Kreme and Burritos to Go. |
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| The southeast corner of 7th and Central. Never was wild about "car carcasses" sitting on this corner. |
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| Cancun Mexican Restaurant now occupies this corner. |
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| Here's a property at Central Avenue and Stinson Avenue. It had a building on it in the 1940s, but by the 1980s it was an unsightly vacant lot. |
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| After some hard work by many dedicated folks, Stinson Park was created and still exists today as a nice little green space on Central Avenue. |
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| The central city definitely suffered when the three hospitals (Bethany, Providence and St. Margaret's) closed. Here's an aerial view of the Bethany campus north of Central between 11th and 12th Streets. |
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| Bethany was a bustling place in its time. Here's a close up. That's Bethany Recreation Center in the right foreground. |
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| The old Providence building now houses Donnelly College and St. Margaret's is now home to the City View at St. Margaret's Lofts. However, the Bethany building was razed and we're still looking for a new development on the site. That's the Bethany Medical Office Building in the right background. It was built before the hospital was demolished and is still a vital health care resource for local residents. |
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| Here's the Flat Iron building that used to stand on the southwest corner of 14th and Central. |
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| A park was created after the building was razed. You can see the old fire station at left (now home to CHWC). On the right you can see part of the El Torito II complex that features a wonderful grocery store along with a great restaurant and bakery. |
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| Chas Ball Super Market and 19th and Central. Although it's now gone, too, this "modern" building replaced older structures that used to sit on the site years earlier. |
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| Another view of the Balls Super Market. How many of you remember the theater that used to sit where the long brick wall is in this picture? |
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| Here's the site today. The old Chas Ball building was demolished about six months ago and the circle of life continues... |
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| Although it technically didn't sit on Central Avenue, I couldn't resist posting this photo of the motel that used to sit north of the truck stop at 18th and I-70. It was once a thriving business, but fell on hard times and was razed to make way for Prescott Plaza. |
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| Believe it or not, this photo is taken from about the same perspective as the motel photo above. Quite a difference, eh? |
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| Here are a couple more photos of Prescott Plaza. |
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| We'll finish the circle of life here... This Sunfresh Market at Prescott Plaza is the new location for the Chas Ball Super Market the used to be at 19th and Central (where there's now a new Auto Zone store). |
Until next time, have a great week!
bmckiernan@wycokck.org
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