Historic Elements of Country Club Plaza - Slowly Disappearing

[Midtownkid]

I know many of you 'hate' the Plaza because it's a mall, its developer was racist, its too 'basic'...or whatever. Still, as an architect and lover of all things beautiful and historic, I am saddened every time I notice yet another detail altered or missing. Don't get me wrong, it's still a great place to walk around and still full of great details. Anyway, I wanted to start a discussion about the 'Disappearing Plaza'.

A couple things I noticed this weekend:

Seasons 52 building continues to lose elements that made it attractive. Luckily they stopped construction on their total re-do a few years ago (to make it look like a faux-prairie school suburban nightmare). Still, they stripped away an ornate light fixture to make way for a larger sign and the ugly patio porch addition a while back...and now they have removed the cool light fixture that created an arch over the courtyard gate. I wish they just removed it for repair, but I'm sure the Seasons people thought it blocked their ugly sign. Hopefully it is in storage somewhere...



Better view of the missing light (just below the star window)


Close up of the missing archway/light. Also notice the pre-renovation windows...much more attractive frames.



Looking through old pictures I also noticed this interesting light is missing from the ironwork (still in place)


The railings on the upper-floor balconies at the Park Lane have been removed. They were probably in bad shape, and it is possible they are creating replacements...but as of now they look odd.

Balconies before removal of railings


I'm sure most people don't notice this stuff. It's too bad they want to strip away the details that make the Plaza look less cheap and fake. I wonder are they storing this stuff, selling it, or scrapping it??

[smh]

Your photos aren't showing.

[Midtownkid]

Ok, I think I fixed the photos. Didn't realize photobucket changed their rules!

[Midtownkid]

Just for comparison, this is the way Seasons 52 it looks now...

[flyingember]

They probably got a better rental rate if they put that in storage.

[beautyfromashes]

Ugh! Seasons 52. Can't wait til they close.

[nomadcowatbk]

Ugh! Seasons 52. Can't wait til they close.

from the same people who brought us Olive Garden and Red Lobster

[beautyfromashes]

And Coopers Hawk can go with them. That burple they peddle as wine has got to go. It's going to take awhile to unsuck the Plaza.

[maison rustique]

It's difficult for me to see it the way it is now. I worked in the offices of Caldwell's Shoes (over the grocery store; next to Country Club Bank where Jan Stenerud & Len Dawson worked at the time) in 1971-73. I miss those days of lunch at Putsch's, getting prescriptions delivered by the pharmacy (can't remember the name), running out to the little bakery around the corner to get pastries for our coffee break, the excitement after Houlihan's Men's Store closed and was becoming a restaurant--how exciting! LOL! They were fun days and the shops were unique. Now, it is just another ho-hum mall with the same old, same old. Could be any mall in any city.

[flyingember]

It's difficult for me to see it the way it is now. I worked in the offices of Caldwell's Shoes (over the grocery store; next to Country Club Bank where Jan Stenerud & Len Dawson worked at the time) in 1971-73. I miss those days of lunch at Putsch's, getting prescriptions delivered by the pharmacy (can't remember the name), running out to the little bakery around the corner to get pastries for our coffee break, the excitement after Houlihan's Men's Store closed and was becoming a restaurant--how exciting! LOL! They were fun days and the shops were unique. Now, it is just another ho-hum mall with the same old, same old. Could be any mall in any city.

Welcome to retail since the 1990s.

[nomadcowatbk]

And Coopers Hawk can go with them. That burple they peddle as wine has got to go. It's going to take awhile to unsuck the Plaza.

that would take committed local ownership

[nomadcowatbk]

It's difficult for me to see it the way it is now. I worked in the offices of Caldwell's Shoes (over the grocery store; next to Country Club Bank where Jan Stenerud & Len Dawson worked at the time) in 1971-73. I miss those days of lunch at Putsch's, getting prescriptions delivered by the pharmacy (can't remember the name), running out to the little bakery around the corner to get pastries for our coffee break, the excitement after Houlihan's Men's Store closed and was becoming a restaurant--how exciting! LOL! They were fun days and the shops were unique. Now, it is just another ho-hum mall with the same old, same old. Could be any mall in any city.

Welcome to retail since the 1990s.

even if they'll rent to local places, they may not be able to afford the rent, reason why there's an Olive Garden in Times Square and Famous Dave's was in PnL

[chaglang]

Propose we change the thread title to ‘Who Moved My Light Fixture?’

[Midtownkid]

They have been removing the tile from the face of the Cordoba garage (across from Valencia Place). The tile that was covering the face was badly deteriorating.

Anyone know what the plan is here? I assume they won't just leave it as is. It looks really barren and terrible right now.