I almost fell on my knees and cried when I saw THIS.

That's right: They're actual windows, breaking the "golden era," straight-out-of-Ceausescu's-Bucharest brickwork monotony of the former Mutual Trust Bank building.

Bless Matt Chalfant.

Forget mayor.

Make him procurator, immediately.

The online.com/40020cgi/mweb.exe?request=ks">Indiana History Room Archive provides glimpses of what this building has been over the years. First, circa 1931, looking north. The bank is to the right, and was a bit kitschy, even then.

Then, during the 1937 flood. Notice the smaller building in the center, temporarily submerged, and soon to be subsumed.

Roughly 1961. The bank has a new facade, and has stretched to the south in its present-day configuration. The little building is gone. Maybe part of it is still back there, somewhere.

Finally, a cringe-worthy sketch of the late 1960s Soviet bloc bunker chic refit. We all know too well how that turned out.

Blech.

Did I mention the blessed reappearance of windows?

Here are two views of the Bank Street side, where the triumphal arch has been mercifully removed. First, new stairs in the defile between the former bank and Kaiser Tobacco; then, the interior space where Habana Blues will relocate.

As I was on my knees today, sobbing, I noticed a big crowd at Endris Jewelers for the business closing sale.

Trust me. Endris was wall-to-wall all day.

Whether Bob "My One Way Is the Highway and Therefore the Only True Way" Caesar serves another term on the city council, and irrespective of City Hall's ability to implement Jeff Speck's walkability suggestions (the confidence indice is plunging with each day that passes without an unemployed John Rosenbarger), probably this section of Pearl Street will revert to two-way traffic.

If the experience in other cities is reliable, when it does, business will be better for all merchants.

Bob will have missed it, and that's a shame.

Habana Blues scores Horseshoe Foundation loan, and Business First tells all.

Interestingly, the article mentions the former bank building, known to old-timers as Mutual Trust, then more recently, National City. It's the one with the artless brick overlay, to the left (above) and in the Business First photo -- where the Habana Blues "coming soon" banner currently hangs.

However, the BF photo itself is centered on the adjacent Hieb Building, where restoration of the facade has been underway of late. I persist in assuming relocated restaurant will be behind the banner in the former bank, but am I assuming correctly?

Yesterday I ran into developer Matt Chalfant, owner and renovator of present and future Habana Blues locations, and we agreed that it's a power move for Leo Lopez and the business. I thanked Matt for what he's been doing downtown, and he replied that it's just one building at a time, and then the next one.

Exactly.

Where is Habana Blues going?, by Caitlin Bowling (Louisville Business First)

Habana Blues has received a $50,000 revolving loan from the Horseshoe Foundation of Floyd County, which will help the Latin tapas restaurant move to a new location in New Albany.
Habana Blues opened at 148 E. Market St. in New Albany in 2010 but is moving about two blocks away to 320 Pearl St. The building formerly housed a bank but has been empty for at least four years.
In order to make it a restaurant, Habana Blues owner Leo Lopez said workers will have to redo everything. "It's going to be a lot of work."

Finally, a proper demolition: The Triumphant Multinational Banker's Arch is no more.

Whatever Matt Chalfant ultimately does with this, tearing down the arch already qualifies as an improvement.