WW: Goodbye M's Pub {Linky}

There's something cool about old buildings. What makes a building that doesn't talk cool? Maybe it's the old painted signs, the texture, and vines on the outside brick facade. Perhaps it's the fact that you know many souls have been in that old building. People older than you that enjoyed that same space that you were in. It could be the food, the lighting, or the art that hung on the walls inside. It's as if buildings really can talk.

We've had a lot of talk around town about old buildings. First there was ConAgra Foods that decided to uproot their business to move to Chicago. They've been here as long as I can remember. The town tore down old buildings just for ConAgra. Omaha even gave ConAgra tax cuts to stay here. When they talked about moving many people were pissed. Jobs are being cut, the historic buildings were demolished long ago, and we can't have them back.

The guy that owns Omaha Steaks also owned a few historic buildings. The city wanted to buy those buildings to make parking garages. That didn't set well with people around here.

Then a fire happened. Not just a little fire. A big fire. There was a -20 wind chill the night the fire was tackled.

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One of the waitstaff at M's Pub smelled gas. No one else could smell it. She ran outside to see if someone was working on anything. Sure enough there was. Those people are more than likely going to have a huge lawsuit! The waitstaff told everyone to get out of the building! Shortly after an explosion occurred. Only a few were injured from glass windows. Thankfully no one died.

I was worried about my brother-in-law who is a firefighter. Years ago he helped put out a different fire in the old Butternut building - also downtown. He was not on duty that night.  Firefighters from all stations were called to tackle this fire.

Now M's Pub looks like an ice building. They have thawing machines out there. Other businesses are shut down from water damage. It's like a ghost town in our downtown area. It makes me sad. I think about jobs lost, people loosing their homes above the space, and sadly this building spoke to me; proving that building do in fact speak.

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When I went there this weekend instead of people playing music by the cobble stone streets, shoppers going from one shop to the next, it was like a ghost town. 

Mica was staring at a bit of history. Remembering when he went to eat at M's Pub.

Someone's apartment; no longer livable.

 

A historic building left burnt, iced over, and fenced off.

 

I'm happy no one was hurt, but I'm sad this piece of history is gone.