Then (1982)109 East Grace Street
In Architecture in Downtown Richmond I found an old picture of the latest building, 109 East Grace Street, in my neighborhood to get a makeover. This building's makeover; going on just around the corner, is not a favorite of mine. In fact, I'm pretty upset about it. Checking the archives I was also able to see what it looked like in 1996.
Then (1996)Yes, very non-descript. In fact, when they started working on it, I couldn't even remember what it looked like. I could remember the Great Graphic poster shop and Perly's diner, but not the building between them. Now I can see why.
Here are some recent photos I took to show what it looks like now:
Now! (2009)Yeah, it seems like circus clowns are apparently moving into my neighborhood! (Not that there's anything wrong with that.) But this place now has two shades of blue, black, white, gray, orange, and yellow paint on it! A few weeks ago, when they started, this was all in white and looked quite lovely with the sculpted arch medallions, the two curved windows, and the glass blocks. In fact, the bottom half still looks nice. However, when more paint arrived they did this:
?!Oh, how I hope this is just a gimmick so that the building gets noticed. Because.... believe it or not, these places are available to lease from Thalhimer but I still can't find it on their site? Yes, this is what they did to it before getting a tenant! Do they need to watch some Discovery Channel or HGTV shows and get some tips on making a property enticing or what?
Images: Black & White from VDHR, color images by myself
Looks like they're trying for art deco.
ReplyDeletelol, they may have been trying for Deco, but they failed miserably!
ReplyDeleteArt Bozo?
ReplyDeleteThis seems like a bit of a shame - they could have gone with some interesting colors without just being random. There is a Victorian in my parents' neighborhood with somewhat similar detailing and they did the house in sage green with the trim in a combo of darker green and burgundy and I was skeptical, but it looks fantastic! Color can be interesting without looking like it was chosen by the colorblind... hope the tenants realize this when they move in!
ReplyDeleteI saw this recently and was horrified.
ReplyDeleteHideous! Almost as bad as the tasteless assault on our eyes over at 402 N. Allen Ave in the Fan. Have these people ZERO shame! Wait a minute...it IS the same people. Don't these losers know we have to LOOK at their property every day? My eyes are bleeding...hopefully the city will lock these people up to keep us all a tad bit safer. Here's a picture of their stupid home on 402 N. Allen: http://dig.library.vcu.edu/utils/ajaxhelper/?CISOROOT=rca&CISOPTR=5023&action=2&DMSCALE=15&DMWIDTH=512&DMHEIGHT=379&DMX=0&DMY=0&DMTEXT=&DMROTATE=0
ReplyDelete