Abandoned buildings in your area
There are so many abandoned buildings in my city. They've become really apparent to me lately. I'm a bit enamoured by them and the lost history they end up carrying to their ultimate demolition.
I can think of some places that I was around to witness them shutter, there are others that have always been that way to me. The final form of an abandoned building is the empty lot - it seems to be the highest honour developers give some places.
Boyle Street near downtown is a patchwork of them. I'm there often and noticed how it's possible to see to the next neighbourhood over if you stand in the right spot. Edmonton is a growing city - everywhere but here.
This vast clearance is not an accidental feature, simply gentrification. I see it happening in my own neighbourhood. If it weren't so sad, I'd be impressed how fast luxury duplexes swallow the space of quaint 1950's houses. Developments move down the block, chewing up rotted wood and shingles to create glass and concrete monstrosities.
I see these leftover abandoned buildings as environmental storytelling. They are proof there used to be something here that was cared for at some point, then was let go, willingly or unwillingly. There is a small tragedy in there somewhere.
The Green Papaya has been shuttered for nearly 20 years. I've never eaten there, never been inside and have no prior memories, but it remains one of my favourite buildings in the city. A combination of the preserved sign, unique facade, chipping paint and rusted gate have partially frozen this place in time. It stands as a small window to the past, able to give us an idea of the way things looked at another time in the same spot.
I encourage you to identify some abandoned places near where you live, think about what they signified to people. I found a strange appreciation for them still standing, it gets hard to tell the history of an empty lot.
-bzg
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