Saturday, August 23, 2008

Daily Dose of Blairmont 170

  • 2742 Cass Avenue (Larmer LLC, April 2008)

May 2008
  • 2718 Cass Avenue (Larmer LLC, April 2008)

May 2008

These two buildings, like the ones across the street, were working buildings for the auto salvage/scrap yards surrounding them.



The corner building is the more interesting of the pair. It was condemned for demolition in 2006, but just can't seem to be destroyed; two demo permits pulled in 2007 both expired. Its back wall has collapsed... or been wrecked, or possibly brick rustled; it's hard to tell.



In better times, it hosted a corner store, or possibly a restaurant, or possibly two... again, it's hard to tell, as a painted sign advertises "Cass Chop Suey", "E & J Fish House Express", and "C & K Food Mart". Housing all three in one building would seem to be quite a feat, but then, one should not underestimate the ingenuity of urban entrepreneurs. And yes, those are still the original cast iron storefront columns behind that pink paint.


February 2008




The other building has had some piecemeal additions on the cheap. Any architectural ornament it possessed has been lost to the ages.


Okay, Mr. McKee, you wanna tear this one down and build something new in its place? This time, just this one time, I won't object. Just... you might wanna check with the EPA first, 'cause I bet there's a whole mess of chemicals and nastiness on that site.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Those buildings are part of a large parcel that was supposed to go to the Fire Department for expansion of its headquarters. Instead, the Friedman family sold it to McKee for $700,000 -- after selling the yard across Cass for $3 million!