Demolition on N. George St. August 2012

[Willis]

Couldn't help but noticing:

Click the pics for closer views

New Halfway House?

[Willis]

I wonder if APUS is planning another building?

Click the pics

[rooneymom]

what a beautiful old house. that just breaks my heart.

[Tony]

Those panoramas break my heart. Find a better angle and take a single pic. Or just don't stitch them together when they cause such serious distortion that a straight element becomes noticeably curved.

As to the building itself: It looks old enough that it would probably make sense to demolish it and build a new, more "green friendly" one.

[Black Dog]

It's always sad, though sometimes necessary, to see old buildings come down to make way for new. I noticed that recently the old railroad buildings at the edge of Charles Town between Rt. 51 and Summit Point Rd have been demolished. I wish I'd realized that's what was happening and would have taken before/after pics. Some people will now never know what was there. I always thought that they'd have made a cool retail village. Of course, I don't know what shape they were in structurally, who owned them and who would have been able to invest the gazillion dollars it would take to rehab them. It may be that they belonged to the railroad and they took them out to get a safety liability off their hands.
Sometimes it's necessary to take old buildings down but it's good to have a photo record available so people know what things used to look like around here.
I'll have to dig up the pic I have of the old Summit Point train station that used to sit across the tracks from my house. It's just an empty lot now and most people don't know what used to be there. Our Post Office was also on the property but I haven't found a pic of it. I have seen it, though. The PO building was rebuilt as a shed/garage on a property up the road. I'll post it if I can find it.

[Willis]

I wish I'd realized that's what was happening and would have taken before/after pics.

I wish I had too. So many changes throughout the county and so few folks willing to take photos. Criminy, almost everyone has a camera in a cell phone if not an actual, genuine one with them. And they are capable of taking quality pics, nowadays. You're right, BD, once those old scenes are gone from sight, it won't be long till they're gone from our collective memories, too

[Tony]

Oddly, people tend to take pictures of other people rather than buildings. But it's the buildings that become much more interesting in the long run.

[derricksonb]

I've been of the opinion for quite some time that most of Charles Town and Ranson are in dire need of a facelift. If that means razing exisiting delapidated buildings in order to make room for newer and more efficient structures that improve overall property value and fit the current and future needs of the tenants then I'm all for it.

Although I will repreat that JeffCo needs to look at the examples of combining retail, office and residential spaces as they did at The Village at Leesburg (Wegman's Shopping Center) if they ever expect to revitalize the downtown area.

[Pfeifcat]

I wonder if APUS is planning another building?

Yes, APU bought that property and quite a bit around and behind it.