Fan Fair

Source:http://www.thedenvereye.com/fan-fare-discount-city/

In Aurora, Colorado sits one of the ugliest buildings ever built - Fan Fair Discount City.  It sits on 10 acres of land on Havana Street.  It was built in 1961, and used as a discount warehouse for about twenty years before being abandoned in the mid-80s. It has been an eyesore ever since.  It is surrounded by a chain link fence and grass is growing in the cracks in the parking lot.

The logical thing to do would be to tear it down and redevelop the site.  Unfortunately, it is contaminated with asbestos and benzene and it will cost more than $1 million to demolish it.  The City of Aurora voted in 2013 to buy the property for $4 million - after it has been demolished.  The developer seems to be in no hurry to start the demolition, and estimated costs keep rising.  Meanwhile, historical preservationists want it placed on the National Register of Historic Places to celebrate its ugliness, which makes it even more necessary to preserve (" In a world of diminishing resources, it makes less and less sense to demolish and replace even a difficult and controversial piece of architecture.").

And so it sits, a black hole of urbanity, sucking the life out of the surrounding area.