We stood on Washington Avenue Saturday afternoon watching large equipment roll through one of the older standing buildings in Greenville.
We knew the coming firestorm on social media would be interesting to watch, but also a bit disheartening.
A few things to be sure of:
• The city’s application for demolition of the building was approved about one year ago;
• The building was beyond repair;
• The last organization to own the building, MACE, had control of its destiny when it took ownership more than a dozen years ago;
• Just because a building is old, doesn’t mean it is a truly historically significant edifice; and
• There is sadness in losing a building as beautiful as the former Elks Lodge was.
We are not among those who are sad to see the building fall down now.
We are among those who are sad the organization who owned the building before the city allowed it to fall into such a state of disrepair.
Now, we have a path to the construction of a new green space in downtown Greenville. The site will soon be clear of debris and work can begin.
Many will say the Greenville City Council used the cover of storm damage to the building to act quickly in its demolition.
This assertion is true, and they should be commended for the quick thinking.
We are sure many have heard the phrase, it’s better to ask forgiveness than permission.
The city has our forgiveness, and they already had permission.
