The flower shop at 398 Hope Street closed in 2011. After neighbors opposed efforts to demolish the building in order to construct a drive-through coffee shop, PPS included the building on the 2012 Most Endangered Properties list. The site had been used by florists since the 1880s, when it was operated by Eugene McCarro. Insurance maps dating to the early twentieth-century show that the building’s last configuration was largely in place by 1919.
The shop’s façade was built to the sidewalk, in keeping with the historic, walkable nature of the greater Hope Street area. The community was interested in any proposal that sought to preserve the character of the neighborhood, as indicated by the grassroots neighborhood group Preserve Hope Street.
LOST: The building and greenhouses were demolished and replaced by a new commercial complex, set close to the street, as desired by neighbors.
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