| I patronized Jim's 76 Station in Wheaton, Illinois
for minor auto repairs for many years. Jim and his mechanics were very nice
people. So I was saddened by their sudden closing. Jim, it seemed, simply
locked up one night and went elsewhere to work. That was about five years
ago.
Whomever owned the building let it sit there, weathering into the landscape. Last Spring, someone smashed in the front window, allowing anyone, especially an inquiring photographer, to walk in and nose around. I was astounded by the emptiness there. So many once-busy tools. No more calendar entries of appointments. There was such a timeless nature of what remained stirring up memories. These old keys were still awaiting a long gone customer. Other implements lay there gathering dust. A bird skeleton rusting along with a car hoist. It felt to me like I was walking through a graveyard. So much of the trappings of the workers here still remained, idled forever, eventually to be bulldozed along with what ever remains of the structure. Very sad. Last I heard, someone bricked up the front window. Sealing the tomb. |