Author: Michael R. Allen

James Clemens, Jr. House: Theft

Post author By Michael R. Allen
Post date November 30, 2005

by Michael R. Allen

On Wednesday, November 16, the editors of this site spotted three men and a pickup truck in the front yard of the Clemens House. The men were loading cast iron from the porch of the main house, including the intact pediment. Much of this ornament had fallen off of the porch in the last six months, and the men simply had to lift pieces off of the ground and into their truck. In fact, it appears as if they did not attempt to remove any parts from the porch.

We alerted the police, but nothing came of our call.

Here is what the thieves took with them:

Keep an eye out at antique shops, museums and scrap yards for this unique piece of St. Louis history. While it may turn up locally, the more likely scenario is that it was either scrapped or sold through an intermediary to a dealer in a place where no one will recognize the stolen parts.

Here is what the Clemens House looks like before and after the porch collapse and theft:

The porch on October 31, 2004

The porch on November 25, 2005

Abandonment, speculation and architectural theft — the fate of the Clemens House is very familiar in this city. But how can we send such an exceptional building to an unexceptional death? Our city needs no more architectural bloodletting; we are ready to heal. The Clemens House should be preserved.

North St. Louis Northside Regeneration

Northside Speculators by Any Other Name…

Post author By Michael R. Allen
Post date November 29, 2005

by Michael R. Allen

There is a company called VHS Partners, LLC that may be ran by the same people behind Blairmont Associates LC.

Both have the same addresses for tax bills (those of Eagle Realty Company and Roberta DeFiore), the same agent (Harvey Noble) and only invest in north side neighborhoods in the 63106 and 63107 zip codes. The only difference is that most of the VHS Partners’ properties are west of Florissant and east of Grand between Delmar and Natural Bridge, while Blairmont Associates sticks to areas east of Jefferson and west of Broadway between Cass and Branch. Oddly, neither Blairmont or VHS has many properties in depressed Hyde Park. At least not under these names.

Century Building Downtown Parking

Channel 5 Covered Bad Piers on Ninth Street Garage

Post author By Michael R. Allen
Post date November 28, 2005

by Michael R. Allen

Piers Being Re-Worked on Snakebit Site – Mike Owens of TV station KSDK Channel 5 reported on the delays in the Ninth Street Garage on the Wednesday, November 23, newscast. Watch the report on the KSDK website.

Here’s a story that broke first in the blogs and was picked up on television news. I feel good about helping get the story to the attention of news organizations with wider audiences. (Note that the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has yet to report the problems with the parking garage gone wrong.)

Downtown

Shopping is a Feeling

Post author By Michael R. Allen
Post date November 25, 2005

by Michael R. Allen

A quick survey of the downtown Famous-Barr store earlier today showed that it was far from being crowded. There were no lines at any registers, and plenty of space to walk around the store at a fast clip. I was very disappointed, as I always have been in the ten years that I’ve been doing holiday shopping at the store.

St. Louis Centre, of course, was a ghost town. A windowpane in the skywalk over Locust Street near a Famous-Barr entrance was missing and covered with plywood. The tile floors are caked in more grime than many abandoned houses I’ve been inside. Gold’s Gym will be opening inside the mall at the corner or 7th and Locust, but will wisely have its only entrance off of the street.

At least Papa Fabarre’s, the lovely cafe inside of Famous-Barr, was bustling on Wednesday when we joined a friend for lunch there. Federated would do well to leave Fabarre’s alone, unless they want to completely kill off the store. Fabarre’s has been a consistent and largely unchanged part of Famous-Barr for many decades, and has not lost any of its charm. Its menu is broad and simple, with low prices that only a department store could afford to get away with. (I frequently get a grilled cheese sandwich with tomato and fried there for $4.64 including tax.)

Anything unique about the store is departing next year, except for Fabarre’s. Right?

James Clemens House North St. Louis Northside Regeneration St. Louis Place

James Clemens, Jr. House Today

Post author By Michael R. Allen
Post date November 25, 2005

James Clemens House North St. Louis Northside Regeneration Old North

Who is Blairmont Associates?

Post author By Michael R. Allen
Post date November 23, 2005

by Michael R. Allen

Today I discovered that the beautiful former Brecht Butcher Supply Company warehouses between Hadley and Florissant along Cass Avenue, immediately north of the Greyhound Station, are owned by none other than Blairmont Associates. Readers may recall that Blairmont Associates is a troublesome and largely anonymous group of speculators that has purchased hundreds of acres in the city’s Fifth Ward, mostly in the Old North St. Louis and St. Louis Place neighborhoods.

Blairmont owns the James Clemens House, the scene of an unfortunate robbery last week. (More on that soon!)

No one has found much about them, as their corporate registration was done through a third party and their mailing address was at Eagle Realty Company.

The city Assessor’s database record for the Brecht buildings gives a new address, however.

According to the record, Blairmont Associates’ address is 4131 Davis Street in Boulevard Heights. 4131 Davis Street is a private residence owned by Roberta M. Defiore, Ph.D., who is employed by St. Louis University and assists the St. Louis Archdiocesan Office of Urban and Community Affairs, the strategic planning arm of the Church.

Interesting. But I still don’t know who Blairmont is. For all that I know, this record is in error and the address is wrong. The record leaves out the customary “LC” behind the name of Blairmont, but that’s probably one of those danged old typos Claire mentioned.

Word is circulating that the city’s Building Division is suing Blairmont over the condition of the Clemens House.

Whatever is going on, Blairmont may want to come forward and tell Fifth Ward residents the who, what and why they want to know — before suspicions run too deep.

Century Building Downtown Parking

Bad Piers

Post author By Michael R. Allen
Post date November 22, 2005

From the minutes of the October 4 meeting of the Missouri Development Finance Board:

“Mr. Miserez asked Ms. Kathleen Barney to give a project status update on the Ninth Street Garage construction issues. Ms. Barney reported there were deficiencies in many of the piers poured and that with a total of 56 piers, 16 of the poured 37 piers were discovered to be substandard. The Office of Administration monitors the construction for MDFB and is considering that all the piers are bad. The developers of the project have hired experts to evaluate the piers, which has caused a delay to the project. Ms. Barney reported that the problem is the developer’s responsibility and there will be no additional costs to MDFB.”

We reported the news about the concrete pouring on August 16.

(Thanks to Arch City Chronicle for the link.)

Century Building Downtown People

Update on the Century Building Legal Battle

Post author By Michael R. Allen
Post date November 21, 2005

From Roger Plackemeier:

To the curious and interested…..

awhile back I sent out an update message on the Century Building malicious prosecution suit. At the time I reported that we had had a hearing on the motion made by the plaintiffs to disqualify Matt Ghio as our attorney. During a hearing on Friday for another matter we learned that Judge Ohmer had denied the disqualification motion back on September 30th, but neither side had been notified. Chalk one up for the good guys!

Thanks to all who sent messages of inquiry and support.

Fire Hyde Park North St. Louis

One of Hyde Park’s Oldest Houses Damaged by Fire

Post author By Michael R. Allen
Post date November 20, 2005

by Michael R. Allen

The fire-damaged Kettman House on November 17, 2005.

An early-morning fire struck the house at 1522-24 Mallinckrodt on a cold day in October.Â One of the earliest houses in Hyde Park, the building at 1522-24 Mallinckrodt was originally built by brickyard hand Bernard Kettman in the 1850s. Kettman, who was born in Hanover, Germany, leased the lot from Ann C.T. Farrar until he was able to buy it outright in 1863 for $1,440.00. In the meantime, he built the house and occupied it with three other German families whose fathers worked in the brickyards. Kettman later built a nearly-identical building at 1520 Mallinckrodt, which still stands.

The Kettman House in 1981 (far right). Photograph by Mary M. Stiritz for Landmarks Association of St. Louis

The simple building in the Federal style, was initially two rooms deep with four apartments and an attic. Access to the lower apartments was from the street while access to the upper apartments was through rear stairs and gallery porches. Later alterations have reconfigured the building into two adjacent two-story dwellings, which now have separate owners.

Rear of the Kettman House on November 17, 2005. Note that the gallery porch plan still exists in modified form (exterior stairs are missing).

At present, both sides are rental units. I had attempted to purchase the house at 1518 Mallinckrodt Street and had spent some time getting familiar with the block. When I asked an occupant of 1524 Mallinckrodt if she owned her home, she replied emphatically that “I don’t own that rat hole.” Thinking that I was an investor and not a prospective owner-occupant, she wanted to rent 1518 Mallinckrodt from me. While her comments may be an exaggeration, they indicate some level of neglect of this building in recent years. The fire damage has rendered both units unlivable, but neither owner has taken the time to board the building. The next buildings to the west are an abandoned bungalow and alley house both owned by the LRA. Across the street are two large abandoned four-flats with substantial decay, one owned by the city and another owned privately. The decay seems to have taken root here, and the fire is almost expected. I regret that I was not able to take the risk to put down roots of another kind on the block.

Source

Stiritz, Mary M. and Jane Porter. Hyde Park District City Landmark Certification. Landmarks Association of St. Louis, 1981.