Possumblog

Not in the clamor of the crowded street, not in the shouts and plaudits of the throng, but in ourselves, are triumph and defeat.--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

REDIRECT ALERT! (Scroll down past this mess if you're trying to read an archived post. Thanks. No, really, thanks.)

Due to my inability to control my temper and complacently accept continued silliness with not-quite-as-reliable-as-it-ought-to-be Blogger/Blogspot, your beloved Possumblog will now waddle across the Information Dirt Road and park its prehensile tail at http://possumblog.mu.nu.

This site will remain in place as a backup in case Munuvia gets hit by a bus or something, but I don't think they have as much trouble with this as some places do. ::cough::blogspot::cough:: So click here and adjust your links. I apologize for the inconvenience, but it's one of those things.


Wednesday, June 02, 2004

Another one bites the dust. Fer real.

Old Opera House collapses in Opelika

Jason Nix
Opelika-Auburn News
Wednesday, June 2, 2004


A 126-year-old building condemned four years ago collapsed around noon in downtown Opelika Tuesday, raising questions about why the city had yet to demolish this prominent, public safety hazard.

The sound from the 11:55 a.m. collapse could be heard from at least a block away, as the clay-based mortar that had held the structure together since 1878 suddenly gave way, covering North Railroad Avenue with bricks and debris. No one was injured, though Opelika police have closed the roads between Eighth Street and Sixth Street along North Railroad Avenue, until the rest of the building can be demolished and cleared.

"At first, I thought it might be a bomb," said Betty Messer, a city employee who was across the street shopping when she heard the sound. "I ran over to see what it was, but there was so much dust you couldn't even see where the building had been. I didn't know what was going on."

The now-demolished Renfro Opera House hosted Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show in 1907, and has since housed a variety of businesses, including First National Bank, A&P Grocery and Tabb Fabric Shop.

No business license has been issued for the building since 1993, when its last tenant left. In the 11 years since, the Opera House has gone through a period of neglect and steady decline. Its owners, the Multi Marts Corp. of Tacoma, Wash., have made no attempt to restore or maintain the building.[...]

I was down there for five years during college and never even knew this building was around. And, of course, now it's not.


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