Posted May 23, 200718 yr I've been lurking on this page for some time. This is my first attempt at posting some pics of a city. Unfortunately, what prompted it is really a tragedy. Last Friday night, coming home late from work, I noticed quite a bit of commotion in the Downtown district of the town I live in. As I got closer, I was shocked to see what remained of the heart of our town. I haven't heard what it was exactly, but the building caught fire near the back of a restaurant and spread rapidly through the entire block. 20+ fire departments were called in to put the blaze down. I'm originally from Ohio, and I know times are tough there, but they are equally tough in Linden, nestled just South of Flint, Mi. Despite the state of the Domestic Auto Industry, our little town has somehow managed to develop a rather solid base of buisness in Downtown. My wife and I are just a short walk from town, and we make an effort to spend as much locally as possible. We were especially looking forward to a new Coffee Shop going in as an expansion of an existing Spa. All told, 4 buildings were burned or damaged in the blaze, about 1/3 of downtown. At least one building will need to be razed, and we are hoping they rebuild to match the historical character of the town. So, in addition to the damage, I've included some pics of our town. It reminds me a lot of where I grew up in Ohio. After the fire... The flames jumped the alley and caught the next building on fire. The Dental Studio and "Sammy's", our Ice Cream shop. Town Hall and Fire Station The Mill houses the library and the town museum. Across the Shiawassee River is an amphitheater where they have music and Movies in the summer. The old waterwheel has been restored. A stroll down Bridge Street: Tom's Coney......mmmmmm One of the two buisnesses I think I am a major supporter of.... The "Opera House": The other buisness a lot of my money goes to.... When I get back to Akron for some football games, I'm hoping to get some pics of "Roo Town"!
May 23, 200718 yr Thanks for the photos. I meant to stop by Linden last summer when I went to Fenton and Holly. Now I really wish I would have so I could of got photos of those buildings before the fire.
May 23, 200718 yr FEAR THE ROO!!! "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
May 25, 200718 yr What I heard is that they will have to demolish the building because the brick was damaged in the fire. I also heard that they might build the new building to look exactly like the old one. I hope the yellow building across the block is also replaced with something that looks a bit more historical, but that place looked like it can be repaired.
May 26, 200718 yr sorry about your news linden. still a lot of charm left in the city though. nice work
May 26, 200718 yr It is always painfull when a small town loses one of their more historical and notable buildings downtown. I remember what a loss it was to lose the central block of Hamilton Square in Saginaw to a fire. A really ornate 10 story hotel caught fire and it became so structurally damaged, that it collapsed sideways onto the surrounding buildings, which then all caught fire as well. The entire block contained a lot of history, and all was lost except for 3 story structure. Since then, they've rebuilt half of it with a faux historical look. It just isn't the same though.
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