Los Angeles
'Japanese Village and Deer Park (top) first opened at 6122 Knott Ave in Buena Park. It was a Japanese-themed amusement park that featured shows and traditional Japanese buildings in an environment where deer roamed free (inspired by Nara Park). The park's gate featured a torii. The park closed in 1975. Facing mounting red ink, the owners began giving the park's deer lethal injections, claiming the animals had tuberculosis. Almost 200 deer were euthanized before authorities ended the practice. After the park closed, a second amusement park, called Enchanted Village (bottom), opened on the site in 1976. Animal trainer Ralph Helfer was a partner and served as chair. The park was, for a time, home to Oliver the "human" chimp. The 32-acre park was South Pacific-Tiki themed and featured trained animal shows, a traditional-styled Polynesian show, and a few ride attractions. Enchanted Village closed in fall, 1977. The area has been developed into a business park and nothing remains of the ponds and locations of the successive parks.' -- Wiki
Various
Glasgow
'Tait Tower was a tower in the art deco style constructed at the summit of Bellahouston Hill in Bellahouston Park in Glasgow in Scotland as part of the Empire Exhibition, Scotland 1938. It was designed by Thomas S. Tait, stood 300 feet high (91.44 metres) and had three separate observation decks which provided a view of the surrounding gardens and city. Due to both the height of the tower and the hill it was built on, it could be seen 100 miles (160 km) away. Although it was to have been a permanent monument to the exhibition, orders were given to demolish the tower in July 1939, allegedly because it would provide a beacon for enemy bombers in the expected war with Germany. Only the foundations now remain.' -- Wiki
Buffalo
'The Pan-American Exposition was a celebration of many sorts. It opened its gates on May 1, 1901. The most prominent of its buildings was the Electric Tower which rose to a height of 391 feet. It was said that the Electric Tower could be seen from downtown Buffalo. The Electric Tower was colored deep green, with details of cream white, blue and gold.' -- buffalohistory.com
'The Larkin Building was designed in 1904 by Frank Lloyd Wright and built in 1906 for the Larkin Soap Company of Buffalo, New York. The five story dark red brick building used pink tinted mortar and utilized steel frame construction. It was noted for many innovations, including air conditioning, stained glass windows, built-in desk furniture, and suspended toilet bowls. Located at 680 Seneca Street, the Larkin Building was demolished in 1950.' -- Wiki
'Erie County Savings Bank was constructed between September 11, 1890, to June, 1893 and was designed by George B. Post - the winning architect in a competition among twenty-four architects. As with most of Buffalo's great architectural masterpieces, the Erie County Savings Bank was demolished in 1968 to make way for a truly spectacular, agem, piece of architecture - the Main Place Mall.' -- The Buffalo History Works
Tokyo
'The red-light district Yoshiwara [Good Luck Meadow] was "established in 1617 on the edge of the city [Edo now known as Tokyo] to gather all legal brothels in an out-of-the-way spot, the Yoshiwara was relocated in 1656 following Edo's rapid expansion. It burned down a year later in the Meireki Fire and was rebuilt in 1659, this time out past Asakusa. Officially renamed Shin (New) Yoshiwara, it was now permitted to carry on night time operations, which were prohibited in the old quarter. It existed in one form or another until the early 20th century when the area was demolished.' -- procon.org
Rotterdam
Sydney
'The Garden Palace was a large purpose-built exhibition building constructed to house the Sydney International Exhibition (1879). It was designed by James Barnet and was constructed at a cost of 191,800 Pounds in only eight months. A reworking of London's Crystal Palace, the building consisted of three turreted wings meeting beneath a central dome. The dome was 100 feet (30.4 metres) in diameter and 210 feet (65.5 metres) in height. It was constructed primarily from timber, which was to assure its complete destruction when engulfed by fire in the early morning of September 22, 1882.' -- absoluteastrononmy.com
'Anthony Horderns was the largest department store in Sydney, Australia, which was originally established by a free immigrant from England, Anthony Hordern, in 1823, as a drapery shop. By the early 1960's Anthony Hordern and Sons, began to accumulate yearly losses instead of profits. The development of American-style suburban shopping malls during the later 1960s, coupled with fiercer competition in the city, is said to have sealed the fate of the store. For many years it stood idle, and eventually part of it was made into a car park. It (and surrounding buildings) was controversially demolished in 1986 for the infamous 'World Square' development, which remained a hole in the ground for nearly twenty years, before finally being completed in 2004.' -- Wiki
New York
'The Singer Tower (or Singer Building) (top) was located at 149 Broadway in Lower Manhattan and was completed in 1908. This building was designed by Ernest Flagg and stood 612 feet tall with 47 floors. Singer held title of World’s Tallest for 18 months until Met Life Insurance Company Tower was built. Singer Tower was demolished in the late 1960’s to make way for 1 Liberty Plaza (bottom).' -- replicabuildings.com
'Lewisohn Stadium was built in 1915 between Amsterdam and Convent Avenue and 136th and 138th Streets in Harlem. It served as home field for CUNY’s sport teams and was also a concert venue featuring performers from George Gershwin to Pete Seeger. It was demolished in 1973 and replaced by a large, architecturally bland academic center.' -- Ephemeral New York
'Probably the world's very first voluntarily demolished skyscraper, the 22 storey Gillender Building. When built in 1897 it was the fourth tallest building in New York City. As a testment to the incredible growth of NYC, demolition of the Gillender Building began in 1910! One of the tallest buildings in NYC had only stood for 12 years! It would be replaced by the 41 storey Bankers Trust Building.' -- skyscraperforum
Rome
Stabilimenti Balneari Beach Club
Guadalajara
Various
Paris
'The Trocadéro Palace (top) was built in order to accomodate meetings of International Organizations that participated in the 1878 International Exhibition. The shape of the palace was that of a large concert hall: its style was a mix between a genre normally called “Moresco” (with historical and exotic references) and Byzantine elements by the architect Gabriel Davioud. Despite the high costs incurred for its construction, the building was not welcomed by the population and was demolished after only 50 years and replaced by the Palais de Chaillot (bottom).' -- halldis
'Gare de La Bastille (top) was a station in Paris. The station was opened in 1858 and served as the terminus of the 54.1 km long line to Vincennes and Verneuil-l'Étang. The line was opened only to serve the Fort de Vincennes and was extended in 1859 to La Varenne and in 1874 to Brie-Comte-Robert. Part of the line was included into the RER A on 14 December 1969. The station was demolished in 1984 so that the Opéra Bastille (bottom) could be built.' -- RightHealth
'The Gaumont Palace (top) was the biggest movie theatre in Europe. Located in the Clichy district of Paris, t was a re-construction of the Hippodrome Theatre (1900) which had 5,500 seats. Another re-construction of the Hippodrome took place in 1930 when architect Henri Belloc created a fantastic super cinema in an Art Deco style, named Gaumont Palace (middle). Seating was provided in orchestra and two balcony levels. It was converted into a 3-strip Cinerama theatre from 17th September 1963 until 13th October 1964, after which it was a 70mm cinema. The Gaumont Palace closed in 1970, the last film to play was Martin Balsam in "Tora, Tora, Tora". It was torn down in 1972 and replaced by an outlet of the Castorama chain (bottom).' -- Cinema Treasures
Seattle
'The Denny Hotel (top, circled in red) was built in 1889 by developers including Arthur Denny but in-fighting and market woes kept it unfinished until 1903. That year (renamed the Washington Hotel) it had a remarkable guest in Teddy Roosevelt and enjoyed brief success before being torn down for the Denny Regrade in 1907 in which the hill was literally flattened. The hotel stood where the Moore Theater (bottom) is today.
'The Seattle Hotel (also known as Hotel Seattle) (top) was the third of three hotels located in Pioneer Square in a triangular block bound by James Street to the north, Yesler Way to the south, and 2nd Avenue to the east, and just steps away from the Pioneer Building. It was a triangular-shaped building (much like the Flatiron Building in Manhattan, New York), with its narrow face located at the junction of James and Yesler. Abandoned by 1961, the Seattle Hotel was torn down and replaced with a parking garage, derisively called the "Sinking Ship" (bottom) as part of the initial stages of an urban-renewal plan that would level all the old buildings in the district. The old hotel's demise kicked off a preservation movement which led to a revival of the Pioneer Square district.' -- Washinton.edu
Montreal
Expo 67 (the abbreviated title of the Universal and International Exhibition of 1967) was open from April 28 to October 27, 1967 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The site consisted of two islands and a peninsula in the middle of the St. Lawrence River. The admission ticket was referred to as a passport. Single-day, seven-day and season passports were sold. When purchased at the expo a single day passport was $2.50 for adults and $1.25 for children; seven day passports were $12.00 for adults; and season passports were $35.00 for adults. All passports entitled the holders to free entry to all pavilions as well as unlimited use of the mass transit system -- Expo-Express. Pages in the passport could be filled with "visa stamps" at the various National Pavilions. The original site was demolished to make way for the rowing course of the 1976 Olympics Games' -- alamedainfo.com
Zurich
'A project (top) by the artist Thomas Demand has been organised by the City of Zurich and is located at Escher Wyss Platz, an important and unusually messy part of the city’s transport infrastructure. The project coincides with the restoration of the 1960s Hardbrücke road viaduct, and the construction of a new tram line (bottom). The project locates two modest buildings under the road viaduct. They appear as archaeological fragments of a street that stood there previously, or as structures carefully tailored to fit the precise topography of the heavy concrete structure of the Hardbrücke. The image for these buildings refers to the ‘Stubborn Nail’, a story from Chongqing of private owners who held out against all odds in their small house while developers demolished the city around them. For what, in the end, was demolished in China, the City of Zurich has generously found a place.' -- architecturetoday.co.uk
'Zurich Tonhalle (top) was considered one of the top live music venues in Europe and played host to the major composers and orchestras of the late 19th century and early 20th century. It was demolished, despite a major outcry from preservationists, in the mid-1930s and replaced in 1937 by the Zurich Kongreshaus (bottom) which, with around 4,800 m2 of exhibition space – twelve rooms plus foyers – can accommodate up to 3,000 people, and is now the setting for business conferences and trade fairs.' -- chandos.net
Hong Kong
London
'The Crystal Palace was a cast-iron and glass building originally erected in Hyde Park, London, England, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. More than 14,000 exhibitors from around the world gathered in the Palace's 990,000 square feet (92,000 m2) of exhibition space to display examples of the latest technology developed in the Industrial Revolution. Designed by Joseph Paxton, the Great Exhibition building was 1,851 feet (564 m) long, with an interior height of 128 feet (39 m). The Crystal Palace was enlarged and stood in the area from 1854 to 1936, when it was destroyed by fire.' -- Wiki
'The medieval London Bridge had 19 small arches and a drawbridge with a defensive gatehouse at the southern end. Contemporary pictures show it crowded with buildings of up to seven stories in height. The narrowness of the arches meant that it acted as a partial barrage over the Thames, restricting water flow and thereby making the river more susceptible to freezing over in winter because of the slower currents. The decision of King John to allow shops to be built on London Bridge slowed down the traffic crossing the river. Nearly 200 places of business lined both sides of the narrow street. Various arches of the bridge collapsed over the years, and houses on the bridge were burnt during Wat Tyler's Peasants' Revolt in 1381 and Jack Cade's rebellion in 1450, during which a pitched battle was fought on the bridge. In 1212, perhaps the greatest of the early fires of London broke out on both ends of the bridge simultaneously, trapping many in the middle and reportedly resulting in the death of 3,000 people. Another major fire broke out in 1633, destroying the northern third of the bridge. Finally, under an Act of Parliament dated June 1756, permission was obtained to demolish all the shops and houses on London Bridge.' -- oldlondonbridge.com
'St. Thomas's Hospital was described as ancient in 1215. It was a mixed order of Augustinian monks and nuns, dedicated to Thomas Becket which provided shelter and treatment for the poor, sick, and homeless. The hospital was located in Southwark, just south of London Bridge. It was in the grounds of the Hospital in Southwark that the first complete translation of the bible into English was made. In the Second World War St Thomas’s was badly damaged, and the pavilion type buildings were demolished in the 1960’s. What was built in its was a large completely out of scale white tiled box, probably perceived as modern at the time but completely wrong for such a location opposite the palace of Westminster. We lost what was one of the most wonderful compositions of architecture of the age.' -- concrete overpass
'The International of 1862, or Great London Exposition, was a world's fair. It was held from 1 May to 1 November 1862, beside the gardens of the Royal Horticultural Society, South Kensington, London, England, on a site that now houses museums including the Natural History Museum and the Science Museum. The building consisted of a main structure with two adjoining wings set at right angles for machinery and agricultural equipment; the wings were demolished after the Exhibition. Its main facade along Cromwell Road was 1152 feet (351 m) in length with a triple-arched entrance located at the centre, and ornamented by two crystal domes, each of which was 260 feet (79 m) high. Parliament declined the Government's wish to purchase and save the rest of the building and the materials were sold.' -- Wiki
Chicago
'Even though some of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition massive buildings took more than a year to construct, they were designed to be temporary. Faced in a stucco-like product called “staff” (made of plaster and horse hair), they could hardly be expected to stand up to years of Chicago winters! Consequently, little remains of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair which once graced Jackson Park, south of the Loop.' -- firehow.com
Amsterdam
Paleis voor Volksvlijt (top) and its replacement
'The Stedelijk, Amsterdam's museum of contemporary and modern art, normally is located at the Museum square, together with its bigger brothers, the Van Gogh - and Rijksmuseum.The historic building has been under total reconstruction for more than five years. After moving from temporary space to temporary space, part of the Stedelijk's collection can currently be seen at Stedelijk CS near Amsterdam Centraal Station until the end of January 2011 when the building is scheduled to be demolished. The Post CS building was designed by a famous modernist, Piet Elling, and is considered to be a classic of its type, but obviously not quite classic enough.' -- virtualtourist
Warsaw
'In the 19th century Wola became a major industrial/blue-collar district of Warsaw (top). During German occupation, part of today Wola District became a part of the Warsaw Ghetto, and was completely demolished (middle). In the ruins of Wola, during Warsaw Uprising 1944, Germans, RONA, and Cossacks committed mass murders on civilians. In the Uprising died 200 000 civilians. Now, after decades of negligence, Wola District is one of the major booming areas of Warsaw (bottom).' -- Skyscraper.forum
Melbourne
'Flinders Street (top, bottom) is a notable street in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Running roughly parallel to the Yarra River, Flinders Street forms the southern edge of the Hoddle Grid. It is exactly one mile (1609.344 m) in length and one and half chains (30.1752 m) in width. It was once home to the Melbourne Fish Market (middle), an ornate building constructed in 1890, covering 23,000 square metres, and of similar design to Flinders Street Station. The market was demolished between 1958 and 1960 after which the site became a public carpark.' --Wiki
'The term Coffee Palace was primarily used in Australia to describe the temperance hotels which were built during the period of the 1880s although there are references to the term also being used, to a lesser extent, in the United Kingdom. They were hotels that did not serve alcohol, built in response to the temperance movement and, in particular, the influence of the Independent Order of Rechabites in Australia. The Federal Coffee Palace was the largest and tallest building in Melbourne when it was built in 1888. The building became a hotel in the 1950s. It was proposed as a possible option for Melbourne's first casino however was instead demolished in 1972 to make way for an office development.' -- Wiki
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p.s. Hey. Here's your first nudge to get me some Joy Division-related something or other for the JD Day. Thanks! ** Killer Luka, Well, never underestimate the sheep-like opinions of the Academy Awards, I say. It's so strange, and I don't mean that in a negative way, when people do the whole star-fetish thing on someone you know well and three-dimensionally. The split there is really odd, interesting. Thanks about the books, pal. ** Bernard Welt, Oh, is that it? The cupcake thing started as a foreseeable way to be gluttonous and watch your weight at the same time? Well, that's better than it having started because some character on 'Sex in City' ate a cupcake. That's what I was afraid was the case. As I'm sure you're well aware, Jimmy Hughes was one of the big superstars of early gay porn, based mostly if not entirely on his magazine appearances, period. I don't think he ever actually appeared in a porn film, if memory serves. Wow, Mae West. You never know what's going to go viral in the comments arena here. Or I don't. ** David Ehrenstein, I took wild guess on who might be waiting for me at the end of that link and did a two-step around. Thank you for the warning, ha ha. ** Bollo, Purple jacket? Well, no wonder. Purple is the most misunderstood color maybe. ** Empty Frame, Hi, man. Things are okay but kind of stressful right now, but what can one do? Writing-related despair is totally normal, yes, as far as I can tell. Well, you've been having a good old time, haven't you? Glad you're keeping the beefy and hairy off the streets. Well, and the cadaverous too. Especially them. ** Jax, Hey, Man, you're just steaming. I was for a while there, and now I'm in that in between phase, which is no fun. Yep, editing, sigh, I miss it. It's the shit. There was a dolphin on Flipper? No, I don't I remember that all. You're lying, ha ha. Thanks about the visa hopes. You could cut the tension over here with a ... you name it. Fucking Mubarak. As one of the protesters said last night, he did both the most sadistic and stupidest thing he could possibly have done. ** MANCY, Really? You don't like cherries? Seriously, I'm pretty sure you're the only other person I've ever known who's anti-cherries. High five, man! Thanks, obviously, for reading 'EAYOR'. There's a second, newer book of essays on my work, and I think 'The Sluts' gets deconstructed and all of that in in it, although I'm not totally sure. Not that I'm saying buy it. Academic books are crazy expensive. Anyway, yeah, thanks, man. ** Scunnard, Oh, nice! I'll go look at the French Slate site. Very cool! You can join me in French cult figuredom. Me? Uh, this and that. A bunch of video gaming at the moment. ** Alan, Hey. I had read that Ashbery was translating 'Illuminations' a while back, but is it actually finished and coming out? Wowzer. Yeah, that's big. That's a must with a capital M. 2001 is going to be seriously killer on the amazing books front. My waiting-excitedly-to-buy list is getting massive. My in-the-know friends call me Jimbo, and so can you, if you like. ** Patrick deWitt, Hey, man. No problem. I'll slip a mention about that to Chrystel the next time I see her, either today or first thing on Monday. I'll let you know. ** Bill, Oh, maybe Lepage just shows his face and stuff in these parts quite regularly. Yeah, JT's novel came out yesterday, I think. Thanks for the visa wishes. They're much appreciated. ** Trees, I love that gay porn/ physique store in SF. I think it's probably the last of its kind. Excellent on the move and on the Math time. New poem, cool. I quick skimmed it, and it looks terrific. I'll let my eyes use it more carefully when I'm done here. Everyone, writer, multi-talent, man about town and d.l. Trees has a new poem up on his so wonderfully tiled blog Nightmare Sex Tape, and I urge you go read it, if that isn't already obvious. Do so asap and as easily as this. Enjoy the wares and wiles of NYC, man. ** Dusty rose, Wow, you're from near Hereford? That's trippy. I was there once, but it was when I was 8 years old or something. Two of the theater pieces I've done with Gisele were actually booked at a venue in Houston and then canceled. The first time it was because they booked it without realizing that I was involved, and it turned out the curator hates my work, so he canceled the show as soon as he found out. The second time, 'Jerk' was booked, and 'Jerk' is 'about' the Dean Corll murders that happened in and near Houston in the early '70s, and after the show was booked, one of Corll's long lost victims bodies was discovered and dug up by some fluke, and the venue immediately cancelled the show thinking it would be too controversial under the circumstances. Starbucks has unusually good scones. Or the French Starbucks do. Best to you. ** Steevee, I find gyms very unsexy, but then I've hardly ever even set foot in them. I'm sure it doesn't help that in most cases I see muscle building as a strike against a body's allure if anything. Thank you a lot for the good thought on the visa thing. We're going to need all the luck and good thoughts we can get. ** Little foal, Ha ha ha, yes. Now you've got my head spinning with storylines to illustrate that utopian Potter vehicle. The cyst wasn't so gross. We all have our little unpleasant things. Or, I mean, err, don't we? Yeah, I've watched some of the St. Louis Boytoyz vids, and I think I know the blond bottom you mean. He kind of gives me the willies because he seems like he might be a bit feeble minded, or, oops, mentally different or special or something. So, those porns make me kind of uncomfortable, which is not, you know, uninteresting at all. Love to you. ** Polter, Hey. I just tried to email you at the address on your profile, but it didn't work for some reason. My address is dcooperweb @gmail.com. I guess we can coordinate by email? I'm not sure where they're putting me up yet, but I'll try to find out. Cool. ** The Dreadful Flying Glove, Thanks, man. Yeah, We've been not thinking about the visa thing for a couple of years, and now that it's back, the whole gloom and worries and powerless feelings 24/7 stress has flooded back in full-on form again. Ugh. We'll see. Thanks a lot too about the JD Day thing! A lovely, non-broiling day to you. ** _Black_Acrylic, That's for damn sure. ** Sypha, Yeah, I hope the doctor on Wednesday gives your issues a very thorough going over and gets the bottom off this nonsense at last. ** Misanthrope, Who updates my Wiki thing? Dpn't know. It might be Michael/ Kiddiepunk since he does my website, but I've never asked him. No, I'm not as excited as you are. Ever. About anything. Even xXBiebzXx. Oh, then we can make syrup out of MW. There must be someone on this blog who would love to drink that. ** L@rstonovich, I have this feeling that I'm going to put off reading Proust for so long that I'm never going to read him. Actually, that's kind of cool. 'He never read Proust'. I like the way that sounds. Vegan cupcake is an oxymoron, but, dude, I'd eat one. Gobble, even. I'd rather eat your sticky buns. Jesus Christ, that sounded all Chef on 'South Park'-style weird. You know what I mean. Who does the voice on the Welles audiobook? Not Welles? I've been on a 'Welles is God' kick the last couple of weeks. I rewatched 'Lady from Shanghai' with Gisele as research for our maze theater piece, and holy crap, Welles is the Man. He is The Man. Oh, your Paris guy is the Trumans guy. Cool! ** Postitbreakup, And why is that exactly? Not that I can't think of plenty of good reasons to dislike that venerable holiday. ** Okay, uh, yes, the post: I don't need to explain it really. I find demolished, cool buildings haunting. I went on a journey to find some the other day. I did. I collected them for you to see in case you might find them interesting. And that's the deal. Pure and simple. See you tomorrow.
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