Buildings Have Feelings Too

In the movie The Sixth Sense, young actor Haley Joel Osment utters the iconic line “I see dead people.” Well, I think I may have a sixth sense.

I hear buildings talking to me.

Okay, I see you edging a little further away from me on the sofa. I know it’s all in my imagination. But I can’t help feeling there’s something sad about a huge, ornate building that formerly housed a popular, thriving business, now standing empty and abandoned. The Trussville area has its fair share of these.

Take, for example, the edifice on Trussville Crossings Boulevard. The one next to Zaxby’s. It used to be a Costa’s restaurant. We ate there several times. But it has stood empty now for several years, falling apart and getting overgrown with weeds. Every time I drive past it, a melancholy feeling comes over me. I feel like I can hear it calling out to anyone who will listen, saying “Hey, I used to be pretty and popular. I used to be loved. Now I’m forgotten and alone. Nobody cares. Won’t somebody please buy me and fix me up? I want another chance!”

I get the same vibe from the former Moe’s Southwest building across the street. Or the former Wendy’s/gas station structure on Highway Eleven. Or the store that housed The Straw Hat at the corner of Main and Chalkville Road, which has also been a pizza shop and a soda fountain/pharmacy.

Others just seem injured and in waiting for medical care, like the fire-damaged Kemp’s restaurant by the railroad tracks. And don’t kid yourself. They are very jealous of the shiny new structures going up all around them, like the new school administration building, the Rodney Scott barbecue place and the Hero donut shop. “Sure,” I hear them saying. “It’s easy to attract attention when your paint is fresh and your landscaping is manicured, when you’re the hot, new business in town. But will they still love you when you’re old and your novelty has worn off?”

The emanations I get are not always downers. Take the former K-Mart building off Chalkville Road. I clearly remember the early nineties when Trussville was considerably under-retailed. K-Mart was really the first major chain of its kind to come to town. We were all so happy that our sleepy little burg was getting some shopping! But as the flood of other stores poured into the city, K-Mart began to fade, and when it finally shut the doors for good, the huge, vacated building seemed to heave out a sigh that I felt with every passing journey.

Small wonder then that when these buildings do get a second life, they are overjoyed. That Former K-Mart is being revived with not one, but three different tenants. Ollie’s, Tractor Supply and a pet store are bringing life back to the old brick and mortar, and it gives me a good feeling. I can almost see the smile on the walls when I pull up into the parking lot. I can hear the Chinese buffet and Mexican restaurants next door shouting “Welcome to the neighborhood. Thanks for the new foot traffic!”

I felt like I was picking up on joyful sounds from the old Food World, when Fresh Market moved in, and eventually got an exciting new neighbor as Ace Hardware took up residence to rescue the Tuesday Morning space. I swear I hear giggling when I pass the old Zoe’s restaurant, as Five Guys prepares to take over.

Sometimes I think I feel impatience, almost like a foot tapping or fingers twiddling. When Edgar’s Bakery opened, that stately white companion building next door was all dressed up, but with no one to embrace. “C’mon,” it would call to me. “Look how pretty I am. Surely someone wants to dance with me.” And finally, it was “spotted” by Eyes On Main (pun intended).

So the next time you are driving through town, and you pass a building that is empty, or newly occupied, or brand new, don’t be surprised if feelings come over you. Feelings that seem to talk to you. It doesn’t make you weird. It just makes you like me.

Well, I guess that does make you a little weird.