Yes! We've got a Detroit-styled apartment block!

[Whitehouse]

Soon to vanish from the face of the earth though. But unlike in Detroit there is a purpose for this. It will make way for a new apartment tower with 76 apartments. This thing was an eyesore for years, but until recently still inhabited. [[Probably anti squatters.) This flat was named Korhoen which is a type of Grouse.



A year or so ago it looked like this.

If you look closely you'll see a spike in dead center in the roof. That was the spot where a small Korhoen bird was perched. Don't know what it was made of. Could be cast iron, could be just wood. But a long time ago it vanished.


The bird after which this flat was named.

[rb336]

The bird looks like a wild chicken. it's some kind of grouse?

[Whitehouse]

The bird looks like a wild chicken. it's some kind of grouse?

.....


Didn't I say it is?

Picture of the main entrance, with the disassembled name plate. According to the photographer it was made of wood and quite rotting, so not worth saving.

If you look closely you'll see two white lions on both sides of the entrance.

More details, plus one of the lions.





And of course.... a few weeks before the wreckers came....





I'm beginning to think we have more in common with Detroit than I thought.

[rb336]

got a blown out eardrum, so i am on some hefty pain killers, which I don't take until i can't tolerate it. I was kinda rushing through the thing, clicking the pics and not reading

[Whitehouse]

Looks a bit strange that they build up scaffolding on the right side of the building. Clearly this building will not be restored but close to it is a bicycle path and I think this scaffolding is there to prevent falling debris from injuring cyclists. I drove by this morning and from a distance I could see that the lions at the entrance were gone. Maybe scavenged, maybe save, I don't know.


The Korhoen flat in the early seventies.

[Whitehouse]

That picture above I found somewhere in an online book. There are many pictures of little corners of my town that I didn't realize made a metamorphosis. The pictures in that book were taken in the early seventies. Here's another example of a nice little corner of the city that was demolished for progress. I post the picture with a google streetview link to see the present state of the spot.


Same corner, 2012.


Some things change for the better.


This is a sad picture. Only the utmost left building with the smoke stack on top of it, and the buildings left of it, are still standing. The whole facade was torn down to make way for a new bank building. In itself that building is not particularly ugly but it cannot compete with what is lost. I only remember the corner building with Dijkstra Verf [[= paint), and also that is was torn down.
The present situation is a bit hard to see, there are some trees in the way.
Here it is.

The corner building with the smoke stack. This is cafe Prins Hendrik.

One of the last old buildings along that stretch of canal came down in 2001.

Here are two wreckers pictured with one of the saved ornaments. The building was restored only 19 years before...
And this is the present corner. Note the building in the background, that's the same building as in the picture.

The bank did not get a total card blanche. They were allowed to tear down the building above but were forbidden to tear down the building that stood behind it. Here it is in 2000.

The bank had to adjest their building plans and this is what they did with it. Quite tasteful, no irony here.

I think I can still find interesting spots to post here so keep your eye on this thread.

[Whitehouse]

Sad news....

This night the city suffered a massive blow. A monumental building in Jugendstil burned down to the ground.



I loved that building. It wasn't that big but it had a nice spot on the edge of city center. Due to fear of collapse the facade was torn down after the fire was put out.


Here it is with a previous tennant, a video rental shop. The building left of it with the Tempo Team employment agency suffered smoke and water damage, as well as fire damage on the outside.


A picture from the first quarter of the 20th century. I made the surprising discovery that the city of Leeuwarden also had arc lights!!


Same view, 100 years later.

This morning it looked like this....

Sad little building....

[rb336]

that is sad

[Whitehouse]

Looks like I spoke a bit too soon. A couple of Leeuwarden connaisseurs urged the local government to save the facade. It is still standing. I hope it can be used in a new development.

[Whitehouse]

A look inside from above.

[Whitehouse]

I'll continue the topic with comparing the past with the present in my city.


Prins Hendrik street, 1956.


Same location, 2012.

This street has some moving history behind it. As I showed above, a lot op buildings were lost for the building of a new bank. And the east facade of the Hendrik Street, on the left of the picture, was also on the nomination of suffering the same fate. the goal was to widen the street for a better access road to the city center, to make it better accessable for cars. Thankfully cooled heads prevailed and nowadays the policy is to make the city less accessable for cars. Irony isn't it?
The corner building on the left is a cafe that looks the same today, though it's blocked by a truck in the recent picture...

One major addition to the present situation is the 114 meter high Avero tower, the tallest building in town. [[Yeah, not that high by your standards.) The view up there is spectacular but you can only get on top of it at certain moments.



This picture is from 1895.

[Whitehouse]

Regarding the burned down shop, looks like all efforts were not in vain! Tomorrow work will start to stabilize the facade. Car traffic is not possible at the moment at the location, only bicycles and pedestrians can pass [[on the other side of the street of course.) I saw the building a couple of days ago and it looked bad...

[Whitehouse]

Most buildings destined to be demolished are done so completely. There's one notable exception in my city and that's the former main building of Philips Telecommunication. The main building was gitted to the concrete core and incorporated into a new office building.


This is a moment in the gutting process.

I knew this building quite well. My dad was employed here.

I know it's hard to believe that the left part of this new building is actually the same building as above.

[Whitehouse]

DISASTER STRUCK!!

A major fire is now raging in the city center! One person is missing, feared dead. One of the structures that was consumed by the fire is the birth place of our most famous daughter, Margaretha Geertruida Zelle, better known by her stage name Mata Hari

At least five, and possibly seven major structures are lost.

The fire started at the Freestyle fashion store. The Hari hair salon is also lost. This is the building in which Zelle was born in 1876. The corner shop is still standing but in grave danger. The street behind it is also ablaze.

Almost all the structures between Poststraat and Kelders is affected.

Pictures.

More to follow.



In the early hours of the blaze. It started 17:10 local time. this picture is from the first hour. The hair salon is gone now. The birthplace of Mata Hari.

[Whitehouse]

Update.

What was feared came true. The missing man was found in one of the buildings. He perished in the fire.

[Whitehouse]

Update 3:00AM
The fire is under control.


Even one of the crash tenders of Leeuwarden Airbase was needed.


From far away.


View from the Poststraat behind the fire.


The very start of it all.


....

[old guy]

Fascinating photos and story Whitehouse.