Paint Jobs Spiff Up Downtown Reno

Masonic Building (center) next to the Truckee River in downtown Reno, Nevada.
Photo © Stan White

Over the last few weeks, crews power cleaned and painted a couple of downtown Reno's more unsightly old buildings. It's about time. They've been dirty and covered with peeling paint for years. However, the facelift doesn't fix the awful architecture. I guess it was cutting edge in its day, but that day is long gone. When the economy improves, it sure would be nice if the owners updated those things. Meanwhile, I'm not complaining about a little less city center blight.

The structure in the center of the picture is the Masonic Building, which is less than a block from City Hall and had been moldering by the river for I don't know how long. Last spring, Reno Murals put a beautiful Nevada scene on the west side of the building facing the new Palladio condos. Now, the rest of us are at least relieved of the grimy pigeon poop and graffiti look.

The other spiffed up building is behind those in the picture, at the corner of 1st and Virginia Streets. A new owner had placed big For Lease banners on it, but there don't seem to be any takers so far. Perhaps they will have better luck now that the place looks like someone actually maintains it. Many moons ago, before urban sprawl sent such businesses scurrying to the suburbs, one of the original tenants was JCPenney.

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