Dan Frye Warehouse departs

I’ve always loved the Dan Frye warehouse–built in the late 1800’s.  I could always imagine it converted to something wonderful (studios came to mind…) but the city has always seen it as an eyesore.  It and the White Seed building are the only two remaiining buildings on the riverfront that relate to the way Salem was built–from the river east.  In the 1970’s the area was a busy industrial zone with many warehouses, trucks, trains, etc.  Now it’s a park (and a nice park–I’m not complaining about that) and the Frye warehouse is seen as a blot.  This week it’s being torn down, which will be quite a task as it’s solid concrete.

And here’s a view from the conference center–somebody wrote to the paper that the warehouse was an ugly blot in the way of the view west, but I always considered it a view into our collective past.