We’re continuing with Danville, to see if we can find this. If, in fact, this is Danville! (Pretty sure it is.)

We return to the end of the street, where we left off last week.

You know, civic buildings aren’t what they used to be.

This is what they used to be.

The newspaper, 2019:

As another construction season slips away, scaffolding sits at the base of the former Bresee Tower in Danville. But there’s still no indication that any work will be done to fix the crumbling facade of the city’s tallest building, which is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

It was vacant in 2006, and purchased by two people named Collins, who intended to turn it into a hotel.

May 2021:

The mayor of Danville, Illinois, has made public statements favoring the demolition of the 12-story Bresee Tower, the tallest building in that eastern Illinois city of about 30,000 people.

According to a Jan. 27 article on the website of the Danville-based Commercial-News, the city’s mayor Rickey Williams Jr. indicated in a city council meeting on Jan. 26 that the owners of the building have no current revenue stream from the building, and seemingly none in sight. “I think that, unfortunately, the time to save that building has gone,” Williams reportedly told a city council committee.

May 26 2022:

DANVILLE, Ill. (WCIA)– The tallest building in Vermilion County now belongs to the City of Danville per a judge’s order Thursday morning, moving the 100-year-old Collins “Bresee” Tower one step closer to a proposed demolition.

Previous owners Chris and Jeri Collins plan to appeal the order, insisting there’s an investor-backed plan to refurbish the 12-story structure. Danville Mayor Rickey Williams Jr. said “no one has ever come through with a viable plan” and he’s ready to spend the millions necessary to tear it down.

And now? We'll have to drop by later, and hope it's still standing.

It’s hard to say exactly what did happen here. Could be a good story. Could be an ordinary story.

Whatever afflicted the top stories seems to have infected one of the store fronts. The other is carrying on as best as it can.

OUMB.

The door looks as if the bank only serves people under four feet.

Nice work, well preserved, although the building on the right is not well served by recent decisions.

Hmmm:

An auditorium, not a theater, I think.

Oh, well, I should look ahead.

When you see a blurry shot, you know what’s coming next.

The absence, the lot, the left-behind bits.

What, they haven’t gotten around to pulling this one down yet?

DALE

DALE. That would be owner John Dale, who rebuilt the old Opera House after a fire, dressing it in the Commercial style.

Daniel’s. The only remnant of the commercial enterprise, perhaps.

Peculiar upper floor. The band of stone and brick seems hiked up a bit higher than it should be.

Blurry. The old tile roof tells you it had another look, once. Something romantically Spanish.

Annnd gone.

Same with the Temple.

Demolished in 2001. It was six floors! A department store, I believe. It anchored the corner.

They haven’t gotten this one, but give them time.

It looks underloved. You can tell by the windows. The top is rather unique, and you'd like to think it could be brought back to usefulness.

The Fischer Theater.

It’s been restored, after the usual zenith and nadir.

The Illinois National Guard, with all the stern civic style of the time:

I would say: hotel. Right?

Built in 1926 as the Wolford. Closed. Now it’s apartments. Emporis says it’s a retirement home, and there's a stunning surprise.

A home for old Beatles fans, perhaps.

Google doesn’t want you to know the celebrities of Danville.

(One of your fellow Bleatniks emailed to tell me that Dick Van Dyck was one of them. Thanks, Bob! Now I can ID one of the images.)

I didn’t know Gomez Addams spent some time as an architect.

Well, did we find the site of the downtown mall? Yes. Passed it long ago. Then:

Now:

From what I understand, downtown was subsequently hollowed out by a shopping mall in the outlying area.

Everyone was really thrilled when it opened. We always were.