http://dderek.com/blight Photoblog documenting vacant storefronts, empty buildings, and urban decay in Mason City, Iowa. Wed, 30 Sep 2009 11:52:54 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en This building is located at 2810 South Federal Avenue, near the Rose Bowl.  Quality Stores, Inc. went bankrupt in 2001 and had to shutter many stores, while Tractor Supply Co. bought up a bunch of the leases.  This town ain't big enough for two places that sell Carhartt coats! Of course, ... http://dderek.com/blight/ct-farm-and-country/ Hunting for property information can sometimes be a crap-shoot.  Obviously based on the signage it's owned by Brallier Plumbing, and the lot next to this one is owned by Brallier, but I was not able to locate the specific property listing for this parcel on the 600 block of south ... http://dderek.com/blight/600-block-s-federal-and-7th-st-se/ The intersection in this photograph is 4th Street Southwest and South Federal Avenue.  This intersection probably has the most traffic during the day, and is highly visible.  The decaying building foundation you see in the photo is 425 S Federal, former location of Mechanical Air Systems, which was a large ... http://dderek.com/blight/425-s-federal/ I don't recall there ever being anything in this building, but I'm sure there was some forgettable business in here.  I like the building despite its simplicity.  Was this some sort of Home Decor store?  It's located across the street from the Casey's on South Federal Avenue, amongst the plates ... http://dderek.com/blight/element-building/ The Firestone building is located on the 100 block of west State Street. Various businesses have occupied this building, but I've never been inside.  I don't know the condition of the building, but it's always been one of my favorites.  It's located across the street from the Principal Financial building, ... http://dderek.com/blight/firestone-building/ This building was initially a Target store.  When the nation's first SuperTarget location was built on the west side of town in the 90s, this facility sat vacant for many years until Hobby Lobby occupied it. After Wal-Mart built a new Supercenter location, they vacated their Plaza West location.  That building ... http://dderek.com/blight/1510-s-federal/ This building was built in 1882 and has some work done on it recently.  It's the third in a line of empty buildings on the 200 block of North Federal, which is only a block from City Hall, Central Park, Southbridge Mall, the Park Inn Hotel, and the rest of ... http://dderek.com/blight/len-jus-building/ Former Holiday gas station, South Federal near Happy Wok and Diamond Vogel Paints.  It's been vacant for several years, but I can't recall exactly how many.  It's amazing how fast a structure can look like it's been closed for far longer than it actually has. http://dderek.com/blight/former-holiday-gas-station/