by Michael R. Allen
A wall tie with no wall to anchor on the Mullanphy Emigrant Home. May the weather be mild for the rest of the week.
Author: Michael R. Allen
by Michael R. Allen
Jim Shrewsbury, President of the Board of Aldermen, and Barb Geisman, Deputy Mayor for Development want to help preserve the Mullanphy Emigrant Home and the Nord St. Louis Turnverein. Geisman should be commended for stepping in to hold off on the emergency demolition that the Building Division seeks.
The cost of demolishing the Mullanphy Emigrant Home and the cost of rebuilding the wall seem to be the same, and slightly less that the $100,000 that owner Paul Hopkins seeks for a sales price. The results of either approach could not be more different: the loss of a historic building that enhances the near north side and also is a valuable economic asset, or demolition for a relatively worthless vacant lot.
Either way, the city fronts the money for work costing less than the money the owner seeks. How does demolition make sense?
If the owner’s insurance will pick up the demolition cost, it could pick up the cost of rebuilding the wall and enhancing the value of a historic building. However, without a development plan the building may face similar hurdles in the future. What it needs most of all is a change in ownership. Hopkins will have to take a loss to keep the building standing.
As for the Turnverein, there is less certainty on its future but no immediate danger of further collapse, since all that fell were walls already destabilized by a roof collapse. Some bracing on the remaining ports on those walls and removal of the building material inside would buy some time — but, again, we must not stop working to find a real future.
Time is of the essence for a historic assets that are worth something to more people than just the owners. I am glad that some city officials understand what needs to be done.
by Michael R. Allen
The Building Division has issued emergency orders of condemnation for the Nord St. Louis Turnverein and the Mullanphy Emigrant Home. These orders would bring about demolition. The Building Division is waiting a few days before proceeding to see if staff at the city’s Cultural Resources Office or other interested parties can put together plans to stabilize both buildings. These plans inevitably involve changes in ownership, and normally cannot be effected too fast. If you can help, call the Cultural Resources Office at 314-622-3400.
The owner of the Mullanphy Emigrant Home, Paul Hopkins, does not want the building to be demolished. He is interested in any reasonable offer for his building. To arrange to make an offer, please call Sean Thomas at the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group at 314-241-5031.
by Michael R. Allen
No mention of any storm damage in the city of St. Louis in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
The most recent story on KMOV Channel 4 also does not mention any damage in the city. While any storm damage is sad, their aerial shots only show damage to suburban locations — and personal motorboats — in the region. In addition to St. Louis, Granite City and East St. Louis received damage on Sunday. On the 6:00 p.m. news program, KMOV did show a shot of one of the flag poles at Kiel Opera House that was blown over.
KSDK Channel 5 and KTVI Fox 2 also omit the city from their coverage.
All outlets are reporting the tragic death of Delancy Moore, an East St. Louis civic leader who was inside of the K & G store in Fairview Heights when a tornado struck. Moore was purchasing Easter suits for poor boys that attend the church where he was pastor.
by Michael R. Allen
Our exurban buddies at Blairmont Associates LC have another name, Path Enterprise Company LLC, chartered on February 2, 2004.
Let’s review the other names that seem wrapped up in the scheme to acquire hundreds of parcels in the city’s 5th and 19th wards on the near north side:
N & G Ventures LC, chartered on January 28, 2003;
Noble Development Company, chartered on February 4, 2003;
VHS Partners LC, chartered on June 28, 2002;
and, of course, Blairmont Associates LC, chartered on June 14, 2002.
The companies have a two-week registration spacing, with two companies created in each year. Is there another company for 2004? Yes. There is one more with an interesting connection that I will discuss in the future. I have no knowledge of any companies created last year or this year.
The address for some of these companies is at Eagle Realty Company, 721 Olive Street Suite 900 in St. Louis. However, campaign finance disclosure reports list a different address: 1001 Boardwalk Springs Place in O’Fallon, Missouri. This happens to be the office of McEagle Development Company, developers of WingHaven and failed developers of BaratHaven.
Tornados and developers all seem to track from the west through the city. Do they both leave destruction behind?
The answer coming from the tired shells of the Clemens House and the Mullanphy Emigrant Home is yes.
by Michael R. Allen
On April 2, 2006, a wall of severe weather struck St. Louis, causing tornadoes to form in several areas. The near north side was hit very hard, and one of the most notable buildings sustaining damage was the Nord St. Louis Turnverein. Unfortunately, winds ravaged the most vulnerable part of the abandoned landmark: the original portion, dating to 1872, that had suffered a roof collapse two years earlier. The roof of the gymnasium fell inside during heavy winter snows in 2004, leaving the brick walls unanchored. As water continued to enter the brick walls, it created major bulges in the east and west walls. During the strong winds on April 2, these bulges led to extensive wall failure because the walls had no structural anchor.
Historian and preservation consultant Karen Bode Baxter and engineer Alan Scott toured the building on April 5. Baxter reports: “Without a roof, it was bound to start having wall problems, it was an opportunity just waiting for a strong wind.
The good news appears to be that the damage was isolated to one section of this larger complex and the remainder of the building does not appear to be insurmountable. Most of the complex does not appear to have major structural problems, at least according to the initial inspection by the structural engineer.”
Without urgent action, the building could be demolished and lost forever. Also hit on April 2 was the Mullanphy Emigrant Home just south in Old North St. Louis.
Photographs taken immediately after the storm struck.
Categories
Another Brick Story
by Michael R. Allen
Some neighbors excavated paving bricks from brick sidewalks in Old North in the construction zone — 41 new homes are being built and nine buildings are being rehabbed as part of the North Market Place project — that are being paved with concrete. They stored them alongside of our house. Then they dug more and stored those alongside of our house.
Now that we are anticipating building scaffolding along the length of our house, the bricks need to be moved. I have been moving them by hand to a new stack in the middle of the yard. First, I moved them in two’s — one in each hand. Then, I moved them in fours, arranged in alternating directions so they stayed a manageable square unit. I graduated to groups of six before triumphing at carrying stacks of eight this past weekend. I have completely moved the newest accumulation and have gotten about 20% of the first pile gone.
There are easily 500 bricks between the two piles. They appear to date to the 1870s or 1880s. Our neighbors may use some of them, but as part of storing them we are using them to build beds and fill in missing areas in our paved area (we have extensive original brick paving around our house).
There are thousands more of the bricks in the neighborhood, under grass and weeds or being uncovered as the new homes are built. I hope that neighbors continue to save them, because we are glad to store them in our yard (actually four fenced city lots) and have plenty of room. What we lack is the time to dig pavers ourselves.
by Michael R. Allen
The intersection of Belmont and Johnson in downtown St. Louis is long gone. Belmont Street ran east-west from 14th Street to 16th Street, between Clark and Spruce. Johnson Street ran north-south between Clark and Poplar, between 14th and 15th streets. The two streets were narrower than the primary arteries around them, and served the warehouses and other businesses that existed in this pocket of dowtown St. Louis near the railyards.
These streets disappeared over the years first as businesses expanded and then as surface parking took over the area. New railroad tracks into Union Station were built in the 1950s and obliterated the streets completely. The tracks ran below grade and created a wall that was compounded by the already-existing wall-like railyards to the south and Union Station train shed to the west. Today, this pocket of downtown is mostly parking lots, with the Drug Enforcement Agency and Veterans’ Administration occupying buildings in the area built in the last 12 years. For years, this area was the preferred site for any number of plans for a new train station and other transportation portals. Now, the new multimodal transportation center will rise just south of the elevated section of I-64/40 that runs through here. This pocket will serve as a gateway and will sport a raised walkway between the MetroLink station on 14th Street and the multimodal center.
Back to the story: If you are standing at the site of the intersection today, you are probably on the MetroLink tracks. Stand clear!
Photographs from February 5, 2006 (Michael R. Allen)
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Exterior Photographs from March 11 and 14, 2006 (Michael R. Allen)
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Interior Photographs from March 14, 2006 (Michael R. Allen)
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Does anyone know where one can find this sign?
Hint: It’s in St. Louis, north of Delmar Boulevard.