You can always go ... Downtown ...

I think the simplest way is to let these images speak for themselves, yesterday and today; well, with some explanations. While there has been a mini-resurgence of sorts, as shown in this unveiling of a facade covered for decades with sheet metal, there is still a long ways to go.

The older images are from my postcard collection, and they are coupled with photos I took in May 2009.

West Side of the Square. What a difference ninety years makes. When the block was cleared, only a half of it was left. I remember people on the upper floors dumping buckets of brackish water out into the alley first thing in the morning. The fountain is now on the courthouse lawn, which is off camera to the right.

East Side of the Square. Roughly the same time span. You'll notice one tiny finial just right of center. (Trying to match these angles is more difficult than you think.)

 

 

North Side of the Square. Covering up those windows on the left is just criminal. (The angle is way off because this was meant to mimic another image not in my possession. I came across the postcard late last year. Notice the torn awning.)

  

  

Apologies for the screen grab quality of the South Side, but it's enough to make the comparison.

The Kennedy Theatre, built in 1926, torn down in 1989, was one of the town's crown jewels. Folks still mourn its loss. But many years of neglect proved too much to overcome. The 1,200 seat theatre is now a parking lot. In fact, several quarter blocks have disappeared over the years to become parking lots. Part of the Kennedy still lives on in the Kirksville Arts Center; itself a renovated 100-year-old structure. A couple of the Art Deco chandeliers (below) were rewired and hung in the foyer.

If you've noticed the metal awnings in the street scenes and think they're hideous, you're not alone. They leak and they're just plain ugly. Slowly, and one by one, they are finally coming down. It is one of the first of many steps to get back that old time, vintage look. They've decided not to focus on what is already lost, but what can be saved/restored/preserved.