Description

Front Street, downtown Belleville. Stately architecture lines this street. If you look up, w-a-a-y up, you will see some of the finest examples that artisans had to offer. These buildings and this architecture have endured for generations. Devastating fires have reduced some to rubble. But, with courage and tenacity, the far-sighted fathers of this city rebuilt or reinvented the shells, the downtown once again rising, like a phoenix, from the ashes. The grime of time and sometimes neglect caused some of the beauty to be hidden. Now, these grand edifices are being lovingly restored, returning to their former glory and splendor. As you stroll the streets of the downtown, perhaps you have wondered about this city as it was born, reached puberty and kept growing. If you are of a certain age, perhaps you have wondered about those iconic buildings remembered from your youth. Are they gone? Or, have they taken on a different persona? Author, Connie Carson reminds us to look around and, yes, to look w-a-a-y up at the elegant memorials of our past. With the help of “researcher extraordinaire”, Patti Spice, the stories of these majestic old structures come to life in Facades on Front: The Lives and Legacies of Downtown Belleville. Bonus photos of street scenes might refresh some memories.