This was shot a few days ago (not by me) of a church near my town. I never attended there (I was inside it once, for reasons that escape me); I always thought it was ugly.
Thing is, I remember when it was BUILT. I am getting old. <sigh> The good stuff is at about 2min 20 seconds.
ToasterChurch
It was always called the Toaster Church. It was built because of a falling out a certain congregation had with another local church here. After it was built and that “schism” had died down, it drifted into various other Christian hands (at one point it was Mormon), then it stood empty and started to look run down. It was just across the street from the local HS. It was used often as a landmark for giving directions (turn left at the toaster church and then go 2 blocks, you can’t miss it…)
It’s not that I grieve its passing, it’s just that I’m starting to notice how many things I took for granted are no longer present (and they’re building a convenience store there–ugh).
I don’t know anybody who ever attended there, and it really doesn’t mean anything personal to me, but as you say, it’s just been there for as long as I’ve been going by. Another individual thing gone, to become just another whatever.
Oh, well. Feels a little sad, but I’m not really sure why.
Wow, that was rather spectacular. But I can understand your sadness. Can’t think of anything similar. Maybe the student union at OSU. Ugly building, but I spent quite a bit of time there before they tore it down. The replacement building looks like it will be much nicer.
We have a “toaster church,” too, but ours is wider and shorter (and still standing).
For me, it’s not when they tear down old stuff I know, it’s when they tear down old stuff and rebuild stuff much better and nicer than what it was before. I think this is a Baby Boomer/Generation X thing – we couldn’t afford to spend any more money when you were younger, but now we’ve got the cash to make long-overdue improvements.
Somehow this hurts my feelings, like I missed all the good stuff.
There’s a church just like that near where my mother used to live. My son always thought it looked like a book standing on its side … like with the spine to the top and the pages to the ground.
I know how you feel with the lost childhood bit. 3 years ago, they tore down the high school where my two grandfathers, my father, mother, various uncles, cousins, my brothers, and I went to school. Granted, it had been added on to over the years, but the original building was still there. No longer.
And Recruit Training Command, Orlando, is now a suburb. I knew that would happen, as it was virtually empty when I left, but it still comes as a shock to see.
Sometimes I think about going back to my hometown to see what stuff “really” looked like, not through a kid’s eyes. But I think it would weird me out. I especially am torn about seeing my house – I loved it but I have heard some of what the current owners have done to it and that would really throw me.
That video was cool! The church looked like it had been cheaply built-notice how the frontloader operator kept backing away? He was never sure when the whole thing would collapse. I wonder if this church was build in conformance with code-it looked really cheap and tcky-tacky.
The house I lived in from age 7 to 21 was torn down in 2000. That was kind of sad for me, but it was falling apart so it was much more of a blessing for my dad as he got bought out for the land.
It was built in about 1970, so who knows? It was plain paneling inside, too–vast expanse of wood with itty bitty windows (I don’t recall any stained glass). Like being in the hull of ship, I suppose, but upside down. Essentially, it was ugly as hell.
