BAY WINDOWS, CENTRAL AVENUE HISTORIC DISTRICT, HOT SPRINGS ARKANSAS

 

One of my pet peeves in the preservation business is seeing boarded-up windows that seem to scream "NOBODY CARES HOW THIS BULDING LOOKS!"

I can't tell you how many second story windows above active storefronts have been outfitted thusly when all it takes is a little imagination to disguise the fact that the second story is empty. Unpainted cinder block looks even worse.

                                     Cinder-blocked windows, Morrilton Arkansas

 

 

This set of beautiful bay windows can be seen across the street from the Arlington Hotel on Central Avenue in Hot Springs. They look perfectly functional until you see that the glass has been painted to hide the empty interior. Where window sashes are entirely missing, plywood can be installed and painted with one color representing the wood sash and another, usually gray or black, as the glass.

I am, of course, only guessing that the upstairs is empty. Many of the upper stories along this street are empty lofts, but who knows what folks might be doing up there?