Category: Fire

Categories
Demolition Fire North St. Louis The Ville

More Buildings Falling on MLK in The Ville

by Michael R. Allen

The St. Louis Preservation Board approved demolition of these cast-iron-front commercial buildings at 4220, 4222 and 4224 Dr. Martin Luther King Drive in the Ville at its meeting on Monday, September 24 (see report). The center building at 4222 Dr. Martin Luther King Drive burned and collapsed earlier this month. The flanking buildings are deteriorated but not beyond rehabilitation. In fact, they likely would contribute to a national historic district along Martin Luther King Drive in the Ville. Alas, no architectural survey and district nomination have been completed in recent years. Alderman Sam Moore (D-4th) requested the demolitions along with demolition of commercial buildings at 4149 and 4153 Dr. Martin Luther King Drive (see report). Those permits also were approved by the Board.

Categories
Churches Fire Midtown

St. Alphonsus Liguori After the Fire

by Michael R. Allen

These photographs of St. Alphonsus Liguori (“Rock”) Church are frpm Friday afternoon. As the photographs suggest, the worst damage was sustained by the roof. The fire appears to have spread quickly across the roof, consuming some of the trusses and rafters while causing some roof collapse behind the steeple and over the altar. Overall, though, the church retains structural integrity. Even the roof damage is far less severe than anyone could have suspected on Thursday night during the fire. No assessment of interior damage is available. Given the amount of water used to fight the fire overhead, I would expect to find extensive water damage.

St. Alphonsus church was opened in 1872, although the steeples were not completed until 1894. The original plans came from Reverend Louis Dold and architect Thomas Walsh, while noted church architect and sculptor Joseph Conradi designed the steeples and the marble altar inside. Construction of the limestone church, designed in the Gothic Revival style, had begun in November 1867. The church was built by the Redemptorists, a Roman Catholic order founded by Liguori. After racial integration in 1947, the church congregation membership became heavily African-American.

Categories
Churches Fire Midtown

Good News for St. Alphonsus "Rock" Catholic Church

Church set to rebuild – Aisha Sultan (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 18)

Categories
Churches Fire Midtown

More Coverage of "Rock" Church Fire

Pub Def (with video)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

KWMU (links to photos)

Categories
Central West End Fire

Wicke Auto Body Building Burns

by Michael R. Allen

One of the two historic buildings occupied by Wicke Auto Body in the Central West End burned this afternoon in a spectacular blaze. The 1920s-era one-story brick garage building with steel bow-truss roof is located in the 400 block of Newstead just south of Olive Street.  Television station KMOV has raw footage here here.

(Thanks to Andrew Faulkner for the alert.)

Categories
Fire North St. Louis Old North

The Strength of Old North

Some neighbors in Old North went through a kitchen fire on Saturday. The fire did not do major damage to their house, but did take out their power lines and ability to occupy the house. However, the response to the fire was classic Old North. I was at an event when I received a message from my neighbor Barbara telling me of the damage. Immediately, I left the event to help my neighbors. I arrived to find a crew of neighbors already tackling the job of gutting the fire-damaged areas. My neighbors were in good spirits.

Barbara immediately turned her attention to the job of boarding up the damaged doorway and windows on the first floor of the rear wall, where the fire was most extensive. Another neighbor who is a general contractor was set to handle the matter after visiting the prisoner he is mentoring, but we decided to give him a good break. Barbara and I joined neighbors James and David to frame our the affected openings and to cut and screw in playwood. When we all left, the house was secure and its residents could focus on other tasks at hand. The board-up took less than two hours, due to the knowledge of the group — all of us had framed our board-ups before.

Only in Old North? Perhaps not. The response nonetheless demonstrated the unique talents of my neighbors, our get-it-done attitude and the prevalent concern for our neighbor’s needs. Ours is a strong neighborhood spirit, and one on which to count when times are tough. We take the communitarian spirit of a village and add the know-how and street smarts of a city. This is a great neighborhood!

Categories
Fire Midtown

If the Anarchists Did Not Exist, We Would Invent Them (Oh, Wait, We Did!)

by Michael R. Allen

In the wake of this week’s fire at the Villas of St. Louis site, many pundits are once again raising the tired claim that local anarchists may be responsible for the fires. (Another equally dubious strand of thought blames labor unions.) No doubt that the fire is an arson, like the fires that plagues job sites in the city last year. However, the notion that local anarchists are responsible for the fire is baseless.

Local anarchists have no history of perpetrating violence, and have so many different opinions about what anarchy looks like that it’s hard to even categorize the self-professed ones together. They are far more likely to hand one a ‘zine on the joys of polyamory than teach the lessons of making a bomb. Certainly some anarchists that I know romanticize violence. After all, the idea of abandoning civil government in its entirety is an indirect endorsement of force and competition. A few local anarchists may have found the arsons last summer warranted because they proved the ham-fisted theory that all private urban development is gentrification. However, beyond one infamous ‘zine and a handful of semi-anonymous comments left on the local Indymedia site, the public anarchist endorsement of the arsons was almost non-existent. Unless one has inside information — and I doubt that the commenters on Urban St. Louis have been to the latest Colibri solstice party — the claim that “the anarchists” endorsed or committed the arsons is reckless.

The St. Louis police department has issued no evidence suggesting that anarchists or other political dissidents were involved in the fire. No anarchists have taken credit for the fires, which is what a shrewd political movement would do after perpetrating a major arson. There is absolutely no public evidence supporting the claims being volleyed online. The worst offense committed by the anarchists is perhaps a facile stance on urban development, but otherwise there is nothing on “them.”

Perhaps there is a bit of romanticizing coming from the accusers. The idea of semi-secret “terrorists in our own midst” who hold fundamentalist (political) beliefs is not a new phenomenon nowadays. Narratives of heroic developers rebuilding a city being plagued by a strange internal enemy would make for good cinema — and good rhetoric for anyone who wants to ascribe to development a moral dimension. As philosopher Slavoj Zizek said in a 1994 interview, “You formulate your identity on the fantasy that the Other is the one who automatically wants to steal from you.”

Categories
Fire North St. Louis Northside Regeneration Old North

Post-Fire Structural Assessment of the Brecht Butcher Supply Company Buildings

by Michael R. Allen

Summary

The Brecht Butcher Supply Company Buildings are three separate brick multi-story industrial buildings built between 1890 and 1900 at 1201-17 Cass Avenue in St. Louis, Missouri. The center building suffered a fire on October 6, 2006 and was condemned through emergency order of the Building Division on October 10, 2006. Subsequently, on October 31, the Building Division issued a demolition permit for both the 1890 section at 1201 Cass and the adjacent 1897 addition to its west at 1209 Cass Avenue. However, according to Demolition Supervisor Sheila Livers of the Building Division, this demolition permit was based only on evident conditions from the exterior of the group of buildings and not on a structural inspection of the interior. Livers says that she will not send a city building inspector into the two earliest buildings, which she says were structurally destabilized by the fire.

However, an interior inspection of the buildings reveals not only that the original building at 1201 Cass Avenue survived the fire with only minor masonry damage caused by the pressure of fire hoses used to put out the fire but also that the fire-damaged center building’s remains are possibly stable enough to be conserved through temporary stabilization. A thorough evaluation by a structural engineer is warranted by the current conditions, which allow reasonably safe access to most of the complex. Demolition has not started, and the owners of the building have neither endorsed nor opposed the demolition.

See the accompanying photographic narrative of the current condition here.

Elaboration

The eastern section is a four-story mill-method, bearing-wall building rectangular in plan. Several later openings on the western wall connect it to the 1897 addition and a stairwell and freight elevator at the north end that may be original to this building or built later. All openings have sliding-track steel fire doors that were effective in preventing the spread of fire on October 6. The building shows few signs of fire damage on its exterior. Its prominent Cass Avenue elevation shows visible signs of minor masonry damage likely wrought by the pressure of water sprayed by fire hoses. Under some window sills and at the cornice level, masonry elements have been dislodged although the wall remains stable. Boards and other window cladding were removed by firefighters attempting to ventilate smoke. Inside, this building also shows few signs of fire. On the first floor, there are almost no signs at all. On the upper floors, where fire doors were not closed completely, some partitions and other non-structural wooden items show signs of charring. In one place on an upper floor, at the base of a wooden column, a small section of the floor is burned from what appears to be an unrelated debris fire. This fire damage is minor. Throughout this building, the wooden columns and beams are all as true as would be expected and show no signs of fire damage or undue movement. The roof is in relatively good condition, although the collapse of parts of the adjacent addition damaged the parapet wall on the western side. Below the parapet, however, the wall remains stable with no large areas of mortar deterioration. The Building Division is worried about the condition of that brick, but it is unlikely that exposure of a former exterior wall faced in face brick would cause major structural faults.

To the west of the original building is the four-story 1897 addition. This building is U-shaped, with its long side facing Cass Avenue maintaining the wall line established by the original building. The eastern wall of this building is reinforced with structural clay tile that provided additional fire protection. This addition is also of bearing-wall mill-method construction, except for a two-story addition that fills the opening created by the U shape. This addition suffered extensive structural collapse during and after the fire. Most of this damage is concentrated in the south end in the five westernmost bays, where all four floors’ worth of wooden structural members collapsed. The recessed north masonry wall of this section, between the two wings of the building, also collapsed down to the second floor level. The side and alley walls on the north side are totally intact, though. However, the three easternmost bays of the south section retain some stability and are providing an anchor for the south wall. The structural framework is intact to the full height in the first bay from south, with various missing elements in other bays back to the start of the wing. The easternmost of the two ends of the U was connected to the main section and suffered some structural collapse on the upper two floors, although it remains intact below. The westernmost wing, perhaps a later addition although no building permit record exists, is separated from the main section by a masonry wall that prevented the spread of fire. Notably, the south wall along Cass Avenue appears stable and suffered no loss of masonry elements during the fire except for some decorative parts of the cornice.

The two-story westernmost building, built in 1900, has a steel frame with masonry walls and concrete slab floors. This building suffered no fire damage and is not part of the condemnation order for the group.

The Brecht Butcher Supply Company Buildings were built for industrial uses at a time when fireproofing was an utmost concern for St. Louis manufacturers. The construction of the 1890 and 1897 buildings in this group demonstrate the successes and shortcomings of fireproofing technology used in their construction. Overall, the fireproofing performed remarkably well and saved the 1890 building from significant damage. The 1890 building clearly does not need to be demolished as a result of the fire. The 1897 building is obviously structurally unstable and meets the criteria for condemnation. However, the building retains sufficient structural integrity to be appropriate for stabilization. The south wall could be reinforced with steel supports pending reconstruction of the structure; with proper bracing it would be in no danger of collapse. Other local buildings that were in similar advanced states of structural collapse include the Lister Building in the Central West End and the Wire Works buildings and the so-called M Lofts in Lafayette Square. (Another excellent example of an extensive recovery from structural collapse is the Mill City Museum in Minneapolis.) These buildings recovered through extensive reconstruction using Missouri’s state historic rehabilitation tax credit (see photographs). A developer is currently working to rebuild the Nord St. Louis Turnverein in Hyde Park, nearly destroyed by fire on July 4, 2006. Clearly, the Brecht buildings are eligible for the National Register of Historic Places and such listing could make available funding mechanisms to ensure reconstruction.

Conclusion

The Brecht Butcher Supply Company buildings slated for demolition are not beyond repair. The original building actually is in sound condition, while the 1897 section could be stabilized and rebuilt with urgent work. A full report by a structural engineer could determine the best course for the 1897 addition, although demolition is certainly not the only option available. If the current owner would be interested in stabilization or selling to a developer who would stabilize the building, the prospect of rehabilitation is good. At the least, the Building Division should reverse the condemnation and demolition of the 1890 building, which is not structurally compromised by the fire.

Appendix

Post-Fire Photographic Evidence: Photographs of existing conditions.

Examples of Buildings Stabilized After Collapse: Buildings with structural collapse that successfully have been rehabilitated.

Categories
Brecht Butcher Buildings Fire North St. Louis Old North

Brecht Butcher Supply Company Buildings: Post-Fire Interior Photographic Evidence

by Michael R. Allen

These photographs date to December 9, 2006 and show the post-fire conditions of the interiors and rooftops of the sections of the Brecht buildings built in 1890 and 1897. Since the section built in 1900 is not condemned and free of any fire damage, it is omitted here.

FIRST BUILDING (BUILT 1890)



The first floor of the original building shows no signs of fire damage — just clutter and debris left by former occupants and squatters.



The worst fire damage in this section is on the sceond floor, where a partly-opened fire door allowed flames to reach the acoustic ceiling tiles, which show heavy surface burning. Some wooden partitions at right burned. View looking south.



The third floor, looking south. No fire damage here.



The fourth floor, looking south. There are few traces of fire damage here.



Here is a typical post and beam connection in the building. All visible connections show good structural integrity. This is on the fourth floor.



Here’s another view of the fourth floor, looking north.



As this photo shows, the roof of the original section is intact save normal deterioration. Note the mostly solid parapet wall at right.



The terra cotta parapet on the Cass Avenue elevation lost some pieces due to the pressurized water spray of firefighters’ hoses, but is otherwise stable with fairly solid mortar joints throughout.

FIRST ADDITION (BUILT 1897)



View looking southwest through a fire door opening between the first building and the 1897 addition. Note that some structural members, although compromised, remain tied into the front elevation on Cass Avenue. The masonry walls are solid although the collapse of roof structures led to some damage.



A closer look at some of the remaining structural members of the 1897 addition shows salvageable condition.



View southwest from the roof of the 1890 building.



View to the west shows damage to the west parapet wall of the original building. Note that only the top seven courses and coping tiles collapsed, and that the wall is solid below. Temporary coping could protect this wall from moisture until rebuilding occurs.



View to the northwest shows the collapsed section of the north wall facing toward the recess. The adjacent walls of the wings seems solid.



This view west across the terra cotta parapet of the 1897 addition shows a fairly straight shape, altered by normal bowing in masonry walls. No major movement has occurred since the fire. Steel bracing could keep the wall from moving further as debris is cleared from the interior.


Categories
Fire JeffVanderLou North St. Louis Northside Regeneration

Former Syphilis Center Burns

by Michael R. Allen

The former Better Donut Drive-In at the southeast corner of Grand and Cass burned last night. This two-story early twentieth century commercial building has been vacant for several years, but is infamous as a major contact point in the city’s syphillis epidemic during the early 1990s (see Malcolm Gay’s insightful article published in the Riverfront Times last June).

Incidentally, the owner of the building is VHS Partners LLC.