Earlier this week I made a post about a long forgotten and abandoned section of downtown Alexandria that used to be a thriving industrial area in years past. The crown jewel of this nearly deserted part of town is the Alexandria Iron & Supply facility. This scrab metal company served the community for over 70 years before it filed for bankruptcy in 2018. In 2019 part of the complex burned to the ground under very suspicious circumstances.
Though this facility has only been closed for five years now the location looks as if no one has stepped foot on the property for decades. It just goes to show just how quickly the vegetation will overtake things that are not cared for.
Exactly a year ago I visited this area and photographed an adjacent location that once served as the railyard for the Rock Island Railroad. I was lucky to have been able to get those shots when I did because it's so overgrown now.
As I mentioned in my previous article, it looks as the city of Alexandria has big plans for this area. A local resident informed me that there is a proposed water park to be built nearby. There are also plans for a greenbelt and a walking trail to be developed just yards away from this location. It would be hard not to imagine that the city would want to turn this property into a shopping district or something like it.
For now it is just another example of a once prosperous business here in Louisiana that became extinct.
Comments
Post a Comment