UPDATE: Butt Ugly Building

From Dave Brigham:

Thanks to my buddy Gary Holmes for letting us know that demolition began yesterday on Hartford's Butt Ugly Building (see 8-15-10 "The Butt Ugly Building").

This article in the Hartford Courant indicates that the tear-down should be complete by mid-November, and that the city, which acquired the building earlier this year, is soliciting developers from across the country in hopes of building a multi-use development.

The Butt Ugly Building

From Mick Melvin:

Driving to work every morning, I had always wondered about the huge, abandoned building located at the corner of Main and Trumbull streets in Hartford. It sits on its own little island in the middle of the city surrounded by parking lots near Route 84. I couldn’t imagine why this building was not scooped up by some developer. I searched the Internet trying to find out what was at this location, but came up with nothing. Much to my delight, I opened the newspaper one morning and there it was, “The Butt Ugly Building.”



I had no idea it was dubbed the “Butt Ugly Building” until that day. It is certainly a fitting name for the structure. When Dave told me his plans of starting this photo blog, this building was one of the first things I thought of capturing for the project. I hesitated to post any pictures because I didn’t know the history behind this butt-ugly building. As it turns out, it was the home of the H. B. Davis department store. The building has been vacant since the store closed 30 years ago.

The building has been in the headlines as of late because of legal problems surrounding the development of the property. The building has played a part in the demise of former Hartford Mayor, Eddie Perez (see 7-8-10 Hartford Courant, "City Moves to Buy Butt Ugly Building"). The new Mayor, Pedro Segarra, has plans to demolish the building next month and rid the city of this long standing eyesore.