It’s Kankakee; a few more syllables and it would look Hawaiian.

Twenty-six thousand souls. " The city's name is probably derived from the Miami-Illinois word teeyaahkiki, meaning: "'Open country/exposed land/land in open/land exposed to view.'"

Probably. Well, let's take a stroll around town.

You wonder if there were any historical preservation efforts, or whether it just was too ornery to die.

Old, old facade - pressed tin that looked like stone.

Flash forward a hundred years or so:

I’m guessing the left side was built in the 50s, and they grafted on the rest knowing that the 50s structure was bland enough to fit into anything.

As you might have come to know, I don’t hate these, and rather like them.

They are what they are.

The key city, eh? (Explanation)

It’s good that the sign survives. No one can improve on that, and it has an individual quality.

Not sure why I clipped this, except to show what those old bays look like the windows are allowed to do their best.

One of those cases where I applaud the trees. Nothing else youn could do with this.

CRY, O SIX-EYED MONSTER

I was convinced this was a movie theater.

It wasn't.

I guarantee something nicer went down for this to rise.

And I say “rise” in the “not at all rising” sense.

Hotel, or office? Well, look at the windows. Do you see the little bathroom windows at regular intervals? No.

It’s the type of modernization that doesn’t permit the store’s name in big, end-to-end flowing script.

And it looks as if they drew in lines to give it depth.

The turquoise doesn’t quite work, but it’s an impressive maw:

I’d say high-end clothiers c. 1964.

Bland 80s / 90s office building, but better than the 70s crap. It has an engaging vivacity you usually don’t find in this style.

I’m so sorry this happened to you:

A fine old office structure ruined by the flood from Rehab River, which flowed through every town in the land.

That aforementioned 70s crap, except this one’s close enough to the pure modernism of the 60s that it still has some gravitas.

Not a lot.

The inevitable white marble.

We’ve seen a few banks, but this gets the OUMB designation. Low and Tetrisy.

The cornice was removed, probably because a few chunks fell off, or might.

Nothing hit the sign on the way down, which is a relief.

Who was the last man to turn off the sign? And what day was that?

Mr. Turk must have been doing well.

Now this is a theater. Right? Right.

But you might be surprised by the interior.

Oh god no

That’s next to the Majestic, and if I read the copy on the link above the block was converted into a downtown mall. Hence the uniform brick, perhaps. It’s not something easily forgiven.

Not the most impressive entry in the chain, but hey: the sign still works and they’re still showing movies - at least as of this writing. That’s something.

Motto for downtown Kankakee, I guess: well, that’s something.