Now that there is some action (finally) on the 500 block of Main Street and people are talking about which buildings are on the market and who is looking at them… I had just had to point out this debacle that was somehow allowed to grace the street. Actually, there’s a pair of buildings that got this same sort of facade treatment. This one happens to be just a couple doors down from the in-the-works Brodo addition. When I first showed this building to a friend she asked if it was part of the recent Keanu Reeves movie set – I never really looked at the building that way, but yes… it does look like it should be on a movie set.
After asking around, I did find some info on this sorry-excuse-for-a-facade building. Apparently the previous owner tried to modernize the structure by adding a marble front. Eventually the add-on crumbled away leaving a mess. So the story goes that The City required the current owner to fix it, which he did by adding this lovely Dryvit to the facade. Check out those faux windows! Fortunately the majority of the 500-block is intact, and with the help of some new building owners (more to come), many of the distressed structures can be brought back to life. This one however, will need to undergo some serious modifications in order to be an aesthetic asset to the street. Oh, and I hear that it’s for sale for a whopping $400,000+ for anyone willing to dump a bunch more money into the revitalization effort. Ouch!
