The waste is astonishing!

[poppycat]

That's really sad

It breaks my heart to see some of those old houses torn down and thrown away like garbage. When we were buying our house another potential buyer wanted to tear it down and build on the lot. The thought made me sick.

 

[Alaska Animal Lover]

I really hate when they do that. It is a sin.
Target is moving in and they bought the old mall, tore it down and built in the same spot. What a waste.

 

[pioneergirl]

In a nearby town, there is a colleg campus that was bought by people overseas when the college shut down. Beautiful brick buildings, dorms, a theater building, etc. It lay in shambles for the longest time (I've lived here 8 years and it was bought out before I moved here)....

I had always told the DH...it would be great if someone bought that, and turned it into a community center, homeless shelter, battered womens shelter, kids project, SOMETHING for the community. (the town is only about 2,000 strong, and declining) I had said ...if we win the lotto, I'm buying it! lol

Well, finally someone did buy it, and it was the local hog producer. The one with the miles and miles of hog barns in every county. He bought it and is using the dorms to house his workers. I'm sure they are legal, and I guess its better than the buildings going to waste, but I wish he would use the other buildings for the community.

 

[KarbonCinq]

This drives me crazy as well.

The local McDonald's was torn down and they built another one in its place. What a waste.

I've been to Europe several times, they reuse their buildings until there is a reason to remove them. We Americans seem to have this idea that new=better. Not always true.

 

[FarmerDenise]

I feel the same about old houses. A number of years a go I worked at a nice family winery out of town on a country winery road. Every day I drove past Fred McMurray's old house. He was the actor who played the father in "My Three Sons". He raised his daughters there. I always wanted to go inside and see what it looked like. Then one day Gallo wineries bought the property and they buldozed the house right down. It was a big pile of rubble. So I stopped my car and climbed through to see what I could find. I got some posts from the front steps and tiles from the bathroom. Some how I feel better, that not every part of it got destroyed and tossed.
I tried to go another day and see if I could find anything else that was worth retrieving and was chased off.
I still have those things, a little bit of history... If I find that the community is doing some sort of memory/museum type thing in regard to Fred McMurray, I'll gladly contribute the pieces I have from his former home.

 

[SKR8PN]

Years ago, I worked at a small gas station here in town. Right across the street was a local bank beside a couple of grand old houses. You guessed it....the bank bought the properties, dozed them and used the land for a parking lot. Both of those houses were trimmed out in oak that was a full 12 inches wide....stairway and banisters were simply gorgeous.... and they just destroyed them.......

 

[big brown horse]

I can't even read this anymore...it just DISGUSTS me!!! I just don't get it! This is why you must get involved with the historical society in your city.

In Houston, there was a group that tried to preserve all of the city's landmarks slated for destruction, we signed petitions via email every week for this and that. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. Mayor Bill White was pretty good at listening. There is a historical art deco theater called River Oaks Theater that was slated for demolish right in the center of Houston. I moved before it happened, I singed everything sent to me to save it. I don't even know if it is still there. I don't want to know. It makes me sick to my stomach! There was a Beautiful hotel called the Shamrock Hotel with an amazing pool that was smashed to the ground...it was terrible. Now a restaurant called "Houston's" brags that it was built out of the bricks from The Shamrock Hotel...it still does NOT make me feel better.

The last house we bought in Houston had "reclaimed" wood floors and doors. The door knobs were also reclaimed from another house that was demolished. This makes me feel a tiny bit better about ripping everything down to build new, but not much. Atleast it didn't end up wasted in a land fill.

 

[big brown horse]

Oh by the way the old Houston downtown YMCA is slated to be torn down...if anyone is interested. It was one of the first buildings to be built in Houston. It is made up of historic yellow brick and has a beautiful roof top track with the most amazing views of the city. (You could almost touch the skycrapers!) It sold its parking lot a number of years back to ENRON so they could build that now infamous building, what a waste. The members (myself included) then had to pay to park a few blocks away at meters with crazy hours.

Sad thing is I think Chevron bought the YMCA building and all of a sudden it is too expensive to fix up, so we will just go ahead and tear it down. Sounds aweful fishy to me!!! Because guess where Chevron is now going to build?

Yes the YMCA (which also housed people in need) was a bit run down, but that was the CHARM of the whole experience! I was so proud to say I worked out there! The roof top runs were awe-inspiring in the evenings to say the least. (Of course I would only do it when it was cooler in the spring and fall!)

 

[Farmfresh]

Around here I am starting to see more business (like McDonalds) building component buildings. These look much more "temporary" than the old buildings did.

For example one old McDonalds in our area had a older brick building - down she came and the new building was up and running in less than a WEEK! It came to town in sections and went up FAST!

It looks clean, and stylish and all brand new. It probably won't last 30 years, but they will be wanting a new building LONG before that. It is the wave of the future - temporary buildings for businesses.

One old farm book (1940's) that I have is about economics. It recommends that all farm structures should be designed with the intent of lasting 10 to 15 years. Studies have shown that, that is about how long most farms use a building before the operation has changes that need a different setup or new buildings.

I guess business are falling into that line of reasoning.

Still it was heart breaking to watch the church down the street from us destroy an old church building over 100 years old to expand their new chapel and parking lot.

The crews hammered and pounded and even the big cranes and things had a hard time breaking the timbers apart, they were mortise and tenon and really built to last!

 

[big brown horse]

Collectively now!!!


I try real hard to only visit pubs (who me?), restaurants, salons and resale shops downtown on our slightly run down square that has been there since the1800's. The business may change, but the buildings don't. It is so charming and peaceful...I hate new construction, it is so bland and genaric...looks like every suburb in America.

If I want any hair left, I have to stop reading this thread!!