Old Pocky Bites The Dust

The last remaining portion of Old Pocky, the deteriorated wall running along Lawrence Avenue next to St. Boniface Cemetery, is [thankfully] now just a memory.  On Thursday, crews were busy deconstructing it, and by Friday afternoon, it was gone, all 1600 feet of it.  We don't think anyone will have fond memories of this grey, cracked, pockmarked part of Uptown history, unless they're really into rusted rebar and painted-over graffiti.

The portion of the wall from Clark to Beacon is substantially finished, and looks great.  It appears to be waiting only for metal fencing to be installed along the top of the stone/concrete walls.  The portion that was just demolished runs from Beacon to the property line west of Magnolia.

As Catholic Cemeteries points out in its slide show about the wall reconstruction, the entire project may take two seasons to complete, but it looks so much better and will certainly present a better impression to visitors to Uptown.  Nice job.

St Boniface's New Face

No more green canvas flapping in the wind, and no more Ol' Pocky!  Not only has the handsome new stone-faced fencing gone up along the Lawrence side of St. Boniface between Clark and Beacon, but now the new wrought-iron topper is being added as well.

While anything would be better than the crumbling stucco and rusted rebar that preceded this fencing, the new design really opens up that side of the street instead of presenting a stark grey wall that cut off any flow between the cemetery and the neighborhood.  We look forward to seeing the section from Beacon to Magnolia completed later this year.  Well done, St. Boniface!

The Walls Come Tumbling Down

Demolition has begun in earnest on "Ol' Pocky," the long wall of St. Boniface Cemetery that runs 1600 feet along Lawrence Avenue.  Yesterday the workers had destroyed the wall between Clark and  Dover by mid-afternoon, and according to the "demo" sign sprayed on it, the first phase will include everything up to Beacon.  We're so happy to see it go, to be replaced with a stone and metal fence to match the Clark side of the cemetery.  There's a slide show of what the new fence will look like, along with a schedule for the three phases of the project, at St. Boniface's website, here.

Good Fences Make Good Neighbors

What a difference a year and a half makes!  The western half of the St. Boniface wall along Lawrence is finished, with the green tarp taken away and the gaps in the wrought iron topper filled in.  A huge difference from the graffiti-ridden, deteriorating "Ol' Pocky," as shown in the top photo on the St. Boniface website.

Not only is the new fence more attractive, but it doesn't act as a forbidding, impenetrable divider along Lawrence anymore.   A massive improvement; St. Boniface is to be commended.

Putting A Good Face On St. Boniface

Wow!  Ol' Pocky, the Lawrence Avenue wall of St. Boniface Cemetery, has been crumbling away for years now.  How nice to see that its restoration is now officially underway.  The first section to be replaced is just east of Clark.

Update:  A reader pointed out a slide show that St. Boniface has put online about the rebuilding of the wall, all 1600 feet of it.  It will mirror the design on the Clark side of the cemetery, which will be more open and attractive.  The entire project should take two seasons.  You can see a sample slide below, and the whole show here.