HISTORIC FACADE RENOVATION AND REHABILITATION
Tucson is doing a great thing in renovating some of their historic structures' facades. Many times older buildings were given hideous 1950s-1980s renovations. Bringing back the original facade would do wonders to the streetscape and the look and feel of downtown Phoenix and the surroundings. We bitch and complain about the lack of historic building stock in Phoenix, or the lack of nice historic buildings to look at, but there are many out there hiding behind utter garbage facades. If the city could somehow provide grants and incentives to building owners to rehabilitate their historic structures, it would benefit everyone. Check these out that I know of:
Heard Building and what is now the Quiznos at Central/Adams:
courtesy of:
http://www.arizonahistoricalimages.o...r.jsp?R=445900
What it looks like now (with Thai Elephant, Yasda Bento, Coney Island place, Quiznos, Roma Cafe):
On the side of the quiznos at the top, you can still see that there is brick there (hard to tell in this pic).
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=3...5.92,,0,-11.28
Imagine this block of contiguous street-fronting great buildings, right on the light rail line, brought back to their original glory. Sure, the ornateness and parapets are probably gone and they'd have to be rebuilt, but it could be done, and I'm sure the original brick is underneath. It would be a point of pride, rather than an ugly afterthought. The Heard Building is OK in its altered state, but not as good as it was.
Majerle's and the couple of clubs along Washington:
courtesy of:
http://www.arizonahistoricalimages.o...r.jsp?R=450899
What it looks like now (slightly old pic):
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=3...19.68,,0,-0.34
This one isn't too bad, however, Majerles could bring back the brick and rebuild the triangular parapet. It's the oldest remaining commercial building in Phoenix (late 1800s). Also, what was "Burn" is awful, you can kind of tell what it was at the far left of the historic picture (the Ezra W. Thayer Hardware building). The nice wooden railings for these buildings are gone forever, but the brick buildings themselves should be restored. Again, it would be a great looking street.
The Subway and Focaccia Fiorentina corner at Central/Monroe:
(look at the bottom left corner):
Courtesy of:
http://www.arizonahistoricalimages.o...r.jsp?R=451589
What it looks like now:
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=3...oid=po-2210107
I looked at the back side of this building the other day and the brick is still there. Again, the little parapets on the roof line may have been demolished, I don't know, but it would be such a better building with brick. Also, the Foccacia Fiorentina building looks like shit with its stuccoed purple arch. I'm certain whatever it was before would be awesome to bring back to life, I just can't find a good picture of it.
There are several other smaller buildings around downtown and central Phoenix that would be so much nicer if their facades could be restored. I'm thinking of the MacAlpine's building on 7th street, and that llantera/wheel store on 7th Street and Roosevelt (brick building hiding behind a wall of corrugated steel).
Somehow we need to take the cue from Tucson and bring these structures back to life!