I’ve been digging through a lot of old photographs recently and became curious about what had happened to some of the places I had photographed years ago.  This photo, for example, was taken in downtown Cherokee, Iowa about ten years ago.  At the time I was struck by the overwhelming and smothering blandness of the fake facade on the left.  I was also equally impressed with what first appeared to be three baby carrots enshrined in the abandoned windows of an adjacent storefront.

Soon I figured out that they weren’t carrots, but rather diamonds.  Sparkling diamonds.  Anyway, after finding this old photo recently, I decided to pay Cherokee a virtual visit courtesy of Google Street View.  Cherokee has some beautiful 19th-century houses!  I assumed that the carrots diamonds would have been replaced (hopefully with period-appropriate double-hung window sash in the Italianate manner) and that the giant blank, beige, facade would still be in place.

Imagine my surprise when I found that I was wrong on both counts!  Unlike the 1960’s aqua facade from yesterday’s post, this particular building-blocker needed to disappear; it had no redeeming qualities and was only memorable in a bad way.  The street is much more interesting as a result of its removal, and a sense of scale is regained:

This is how this part of the block appeared around 2006.

This is how the buildings appeared in 2015 (courtesy Google Street View).

Soooooo much better (the replacement windows on the second floor of each building could be improved upon, but at least the ground floor windows are of reasonably compatible scale/design).  As for the paint colors, it’s just paint and can always be changed!