SOUTHARD BUILDING
BLYTHEVILLE ARKANSAS
The Southard Building (I have no idea if it is really called
that, but it is the name on the moniker stone) is typical of turn-of-the-century
commercial storefronts, containing a retail business on the first floor with a
living/office space above.
This one caught my eye because of the faded signs on the
west side of the building. I’m sure that it once housed the St. Francis Drug
Company, if the only legible sign can be believed. Okay, I can make out the
Coca-Cola sign, but that’s about it.
The west side has also seen its upper story windows covered
(replaced) with plywood painted a brick red, as well as some non-historic white
mortar repointing on the parapet and other areas below. A side door and first
floor windows are also missing, their spaces filled with bricks. The first
floor windows are placed where they are because shelves and counters lined the
walls when it was a drugstore.
I understand that windows go by the wayside when store
spaces change with the ages, but I like to see some artistic attempt made where
such things exist. Why not paint the upper window plywood to look like windows?
Then the ‘eyeless’ look would be avoided and the building enhanced. Repainting
the signs is another way to dress up the building; I’d do it with local
businesses and design the signs in a turn-of-the-century motif.
I’m not a fan of modern metal storefronts, as GQ Fashions
has, but having an operating business in a store is far better than an empty
shell. WalMarts will always sprout outside of town; let’s do some shopping in
our downtowns to keep them alive and growing.
Painting in the windows is an interesting idea. Only I'd like to se it done in 'vestige style.' That is, just a hint of the original window panes under what looks like several layers of paint.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with you about the advertising signs, though. That might be a good idea on a new(er) brick building, but I prefer the existing ghost ads be allowed to slowly fade out altogether. They're a poignant reminder of the passage of time.
The usual way of doing faux windows is to merely paint a piece of plywood with a lighter colored window ‘sash’ surround and to use flat black for the glass. I think it would be even coolerer if there was some relief, with actual wood screwed into the plywood to pretend to be sashes, maybe with glass overlaid to look like a window with darkness behind (see many posts ago in Hot Springs for an sort-of example of this). It sounds like a bit of trouble, but that’s what I’m here for.
ReplyDeleteTo make trouble.
As to the signage, I agree that the Ghost Signs are a link to our past and are antiques themselves. They are Vestiges, after all. But it’s unlikely they’ll be there for much longer.
…Though with the old paints the way they were, I think that’s why they’re still here with us. Newer signs would undoubtedly fade quickly, as newer paint formulae can’t stand up like the old stuff. There would be flaking signs and turnover and neglect and then WHERE WOULD WE BE???
Electing Karl ‘Rove’ and ‘Dick’ Cheney as DickTaters for life, with the Koch ‘Brothers’ as their brain trust.
Like that hasn’t already happened.
So I rescind my statement entirely. I do like to try and decipher the Ghost Signs, though the ones on this building are pert near unreadable.