Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Hidden Treasure On Broadway

The army surplus store at 4647 N. Broadway is a pretty cool place to visit, but next time, look up as you're entering.
We spotted a section of the blue siding that has come undone and the old facade is peeking out from underneath, just waiting to be restored and unveiled. Look closely and you can see the brick and terra-cotta that has been hidden for decades.
We know for sure that this blue siding has covered the building since at least 1961. Check out this photo from '61 and note the blue building near the center of the photo.
In related news, "Hana to Yoko" flower shop has relocated and "Alpha Electronics" has moved in. We heard that the flowershop will now be operated out of the owner's home. Alpha Electronics is one of the first businesses to relocate from the soon to be remodeled Wilson Broadway Mall. Judging from the sign out front, they brought their "internet chatroom" with them.

4 comments:

  1. There's something really low-rent about that "Internet chatroom" banner, yet I don't know why. Is that another sign of ghetto life, like the prevalence of check cashing facilities in this area?

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  2. Please don't keep attaching the "g" word to every business in Uptown that happens to serve a blue-collarworking-class clientele, like "chat rooms" for people who can't afford computers, or "check cashing" facilities for those who, for whatever, reason, don't want/have a checking account.

    I grew up in a typical all-American blue-collar respectable family; we were frequent customers of the local currency exchanges (bill-paying, money orders ,etc.) and my parents had no sense of shame about it at all.

    Judge not...

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  3. Gayle, thank you. I started to reply with the same comment but didn't want to start an argument, lest it lead to cyber fisticuffs ;)

    I cringe when I see the word "ghetto" used as a synonym for . . . for what exactly? One thing I like about Uptown is its diversity, and it's a stretch to label our racially and socioeconomically diverse part of town a 'ghetto'.

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  4. Buena Boy - Basically it's a synonym for "slum," but for some reason "slum" has become unfashionable so some people use the other word instead.

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