My beloved spouse, who goes by the blog name Enriched Geranium, had a recent post that got me to thinking about cool buildings that once stood in our fair city but came up against the wrecking ball, mainly because of greed and stupidity (and don't those two always go hand in hand?) He was listing venues where his old band, the Appliances SFB, used to play. One of those was Turner Hall, a downtown monument and beautiful building, that was torn down, yes, to put up a parking lot. I loved Turner Hall. It had a divey little bar in the basement, The Wagon Wheel, and the main hall hosted not only many local bands, but also Cycropia, an aerial dance troupe that uses trapezes in their choreography. I saw an amazing performance there where we sat on the floor and the dancers flew over our heads.Our public library puts up an annual exhibit of photos called "Lost Madison." I find it quite depressing, actually. The one that really gets to me is a house called "Mapleside." It was a beautiful limestone house that stood on a main thoroughfare, and was built by the first white settlers to farm in this county. In 1970, despite tremendous public outcry, Mapleside was razed to make way for (pardon my language, I don't usually swear in print) a fucking Burger King. I was 11 when it happened, and I remember it very well. In fact, I've boycotted Burger King for most of my life because of that travesty.
According to my friend the historical preservationist -- I'll call her "Beth" -- Mapleside became the poster child for historic preservation in the entire country. Its demise sparked the movement to try to preserve many old buildings nationwide. Unfortunately, what often seems to happen now is, developers are required to survey the property, but ultimately many buildings are still destroyed in the name of progre$$.
Right now our city seems to be undergoing a massive transformation. What I consider to be the landscape of my childhood is being changed to something unrecognizable. I have no idea where developers are getting their money, because there certainly doesn't seem to be any around for things like schools, for instance. The university is one of the worst offenders, and I know who's paying for that, given the absurd annual tuition increases. What a bunch of money grubbers!
Can you believe the city tore down this boathouse, designed by a young Frank Lloyd Wright?
And then, years later, out of guilt, we got this "Wright-inspired" convention center shoved down our throats:
Sigh. Sometimes I feel like such an old curmudgeon, but it sure seems as if humans are about the stupidest critters around.
