Nearly there...
We express our admiration for the civic buildings
The taxi driver and I.
We like these stately edifices
That escaped the blitz and architectural cleansing.
There are pediments and fascias
Architraves and cornices
That retain some grandeaur and some elegance,
Although banks are now night clubs,
Post offices and fire brigade HQs
Are hotels and restaurants.
But their outward / outer form remains
Like a valet forced to wear a party hat
Some like gentry on hard times in genteel poverty
But getting by
Or waiting for something to turn up.