An architectural nightmare...

I work in beautiful downtown Kenosha, Wisconsin and though over the past few years there have been many improvements that I can appreciate, I have to honestly say that downtown Kenosha is an architectural nightmare! Don't get me wrong. We have some very beautiful buildings. Our post office and court house being two of them. But in both those cases the city fathers, for some reason, have attached some of the ugliest "necessities" around! The post office, for example, is gorgeous...from the front. At it's backside is a flat, squatty dock where the trucks pull in. I get the need for a dock but it could at least look like it belongs to the building. The courthouse too is great but it's flanked by the modern monstrosity that is our "Safety Building" on one side and a parking ramp on the other. Again, both well needed buildings but, seriously, make it work! Across the park from the courthouse is Reuther High School. Again, a classically beautiful old building but isn't it about time that pile of rubble that once was the entrance off of Sheridan Road be completed and cleaned up? Are you listening Kenosha Unified? Um...probably not.

The building I work in used to be an old roller rink. It was Red's Roller Rink at one time. For those Kenoshan's reading this (yes, that means YOU, Paul! Haha!) Red's was a fixture for all grade school kids in Kenosha for years. I think every 5th grade class had their class "trip" to Red's. This building is situation across from the new(er) Trolley Barn and almost right on the harbor. It's beige with a brown stripe. Not just any beige...it's a kind of yellowish beige that can only be duplicatd when you have a UTI, if you get my drift. And the horizontal stripe...well, I like to refer to it as the "skid mark". Granted, we are a small not for profit and we did make great strides in beautifying by doing some nice landscaping out front. Across a parking lot from us is another business building. It's short, squatty and two toned. Apparently someone defaced it at one time with graffiti and the owner painted over it...badly...in a different color. It's an eyesore!

My point is this. There are many fine improvements going on in downtown Kenosha. Storefronts are coming back to life after many years of being empty. There are new businesses going in - restaurants, coffee shops and stores. Harbor Park is a jewel in Kenosha's crown. I love it and use that area often for walks, nice days out and about, and the Harbor Market. I'm even a fan of our trolley system just because it's unique and fun. I just wish the downtown association would pay some attention to the existing buildings and make sure that they are being kept up in a manor fitting the architecture that does exist there. They need to set some standards that will keep Kenosha on the right track and make our downtown a beautiful, thriving city center.

I love Kenosha. Lived here most of my life. It's good to see the downtown coming back but I do wish it was coming back in style.