by Michael R. Allen
Last night’s Tower Grove East Neighborhood Association meeting included a presentation by Lynn Josse on the different types of historic districts, how they work and how they get created. Lynn distributed a flier that included the following map.
As the map shows, a large swath of Tower Grove East and the southern end of Fox Park are surrounded by districts but not included in any. All or part of 45 blocks in Tower Grove East have no historic district status, and thus no availability of rehabilitation tax credits being used all around south city.
One reply on “Historic Districts In and (Mostly) Around Tower Grove East”
I moved to a beautiful house in Tower Grove East last October. The building was built in 1902. I live next to a house that won the Homer award. We love our neighbors, our neighborhood, and the businesses around our house. I am happy that our family calls Tower Grove East home.
I would love to be able to say that we, as a neighborhood, could get historic status. But we have lots of work to do on the way. The buildings behind me are boarded up and have been abandoned. Gunshots can be heard on a regular basis. People drive down the streets at 50 mph ignoring stop signs completely. Our house was broken in to while we were sleeping less than a month after we moved in. Kids walking home from school litter, and yet none of the schools seem to do any local litter patrol.
On our journey to gain historical status, maybe we should remember what being a neighbor meant back when this neighborhood was young. Maybe we should take the time to teach our children the same lessons.