Preservationists, avert your eyes. Based on the reaction we got the last time we published a photo of the former Esquire Theater (58 East Oak Street) with a small hole poked in it, these photos of the facade pretty much torn asunder will make people lose their minds.
Interestingly, in the close-up photograph you can see the extra rows of cinder blocks put in place to turn the formerly sloping auditorium floors into level floors for the new steakhouse.
What really dismays us, though, is that Sarah’s Candies next door is closing because of the Esquire renovation and expansion. She’s also closing her Loop location inside Macy’s on State (111 North State Street). Sarah is going to do something else now.