CITY BEAT: MANY BUILDINGS THAT ONCE DEFINED DECATUR’S CORE AREA HAVE DISAPPEARED INTO FOND MEMORIES

     I don’t think it is any secret that I’ve been a businessman and publisher in downtown Decatur for a lot of decades.
     Since I started Osborne Publications, Inc., in the mid-1960s I’ve watched, with a range of emotions, the downtown that I knew first as a kid, teenager and later, as a businessman, evolve into a place that is quite different than it was when I was young.
     This week’s “Scrapbook” feature on pages 4 and 5 of the Decatur Tribune is about the old downtown Decatur that I once knew.
     Larry White sent me the photos years ago and, of special interest to me, the photos were shot in the 1960s —the time that I was working hard downtown to achieve the American Dream in business.
     Actually, the photos in “Scrapbook” this week only scratch the surface of all the buildings that were once standing downtown, but have been demolished over the years.
     Today’s downtown has some newer structures that didn’t exist in the 1960s and other buildings of the 1960s have been given new life and look great.

     However, it seems more and more, as I grow older, I look at parking lots and green spaces and think of the buildings and businesses that once occupied those spaces and how I thought at the time they would always be there to enjoy.
The Carnegie Library, Decatur High School, Carson Pirie Scott, dime stores, Newmans…the list of once thriving businesses, and the buildings they occupied, is almost endless and the photos of those buildings stir a lot of memories as someone who was there when downtown Decatur was a retail, office and financial paradise.
     The photo in the center of page 5 is one that is of special interest to me because that’s exactly the way it looked when I looked east out of my office window on the fifth floor of the old Standard Office Building at 132 South Water Street in the mid-1960s.
     All of those buildings across State Street from the Standard Office Building, except the brick building at bottom right, are long gone and a parking lot occupies the entire space.  Check out the “Scrapbook” article with photos of now long gone buildings in downtown Decatur.

          • WHILE I am on the subject of downtown’s past, the big Raupp’s Shoes sign that was on that building in the 100 block of North Water Street has been removed.
     It’s the first time in my life that I can look at that block and not see the sign.
     The recent closing of Raupp’s is another “sign” of a changing Decatur and America and the way people shop for what they need in 2026.

     • SORRY to receive the news that former Decatur Mayor Erik Brechnitz has passed away on April 21 at the age of 87 in Florida.

     According to City of Marco Island officials, Brechnitz passed away April 21 following a period of illness.
He moved to Marco Island in 1995 and continued his public service, serving as a city councilman for eight years, including four years as chairman,
     Brechnitz had a long career in public service in Decatur. He served on the Decatur City Council for 10 years before being elected mayor where he served for several years.
     Brechnitz had a career in financial services, most recently with Raymond James & Associates. He was a graduate of the University of Missouri and also served in the United States Air Force.
     Brechnitz’s wife of 45 years, Nancy Brechnitz, died Aug. 22, 2024, after a long illness. His son, Erik C. Brechnitz Jr., died May 20, 2020.
     J. Kyle Foster, a reporter for the USA Today Network in Florida, wrote:
     “Brechnitz didn’t shy away from controversy and rarely suppressed his opinions. He challenged speakers, fellow council members, city managers and city staff alike.”
     That’s the Erik Brechnitz I knew during the years I covered the city council for this newspaper.
     Later, years after he left Decatur city government, during the years I served as mayor, I had some conversations with Brechnitz regarding some issues facing the council, mostly about financial aspects of an issue.
He was a valuable resource, not only for me, but for the city manager and council. I remember a time or two he met in private session with the city council to hear his expertise on a financial decision facing us.

     ALTHOUGH Brechnitz moved away from Decatur many years ago, I still see his name every day, when I look out my office window.
     On the front of the One Main Place building at Main and Main streets, the words “Brechnitz Group of Raymond James” are displayed in gold letters to identify the firm that is an important part of the business community to this day.
     With the passing of Erik, the list of former Decatur mayors who are still around after being elected to the office by the people of Decatur, is a very short list. Hopefully, it will not get any shorter anytime soon.

     • HONORING — This past week, we’ve lost so many people whose lives have touched so many over the years.
The obituaries of several people I’ve known over the years are in this week’s (and last week’s) Public Records on page 20 and 21 — and I could write columns on each one of them and how I knew them.
     I did not personally know Timothy George Wittmer of Decatur who passed away last week at the young age of 45, but I appreciate his service to this community. Tim served us through the Decatur Police Department for eighteen years assuming many roles and he retired as Sergeant on December 12, 2025.
     My condolences and prayers are with his family and friends, as they are with several who have recently passed away who I’ve known over the years.
     I guess, since I’ve been active in Decatur area for so many decades, I’ve met a lot of people in Decatur and Central Illinois and I am touched by their passing and remember what they did for others (including me).
     They are more than names on the obituary page of this newspaper. There are many longtime subscribers of this newspaper, that I know through their notes and letters and kind words about our efforts.
     I definitely recognize the names of so many of those people when they observe special birthdays or anniversaries, etc., and feel a loss when they, or a close family member passes away.

     • I WILL be back on WSOY’s Byers & Co. on May 7 at 7:00 a.m. as I am most Thursdays during the year.

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