Kickstand down at Peoria’s Soldiers and Sailors Monument

I like a ride with a turnaround point. Usually the point is breakfast. Since Wednesday was a surprisingly unstructured day off for me—morning had somehow turned into afternoon—I decided to aim the Tern Link P7i toward the heart of downtown Peoria, Illinois. Next stop: the past.

In 1899, President McKinley visited Peoria to attend the dedication of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, near the intersection of Main and NE Adams streets.

One hundred thirteen years ago this October. And not much has changed except the entire block on which the monument sits.

The old courthouse, which sat in the center of the block, was demolished in the 1960s, its replacement an L-shaped building that hugs the sidewalk. Evidently the new structure was squeezed out of the Play-Doh Fun Factory of aimless architecture just before the wrecking ball moved in. Seems like the cheap and easy thing to do was exactly what they did.

At least they left Fritz Triebel’s work alone, even if they did wall it off on the side closest to justice.