Category: North St. Louis

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Historic Preservation North St. Louis SLPS

SLPS Facilities Plan Can Avoid Mistakes of Past

by Michael R. Allen

After twenty-five years of vacancy, Carr School at 1421 Carr Street north of downtown is severely deteriorated. Much of the central roof has collapsed, pulling ornamental dormers out of shape. Windows and doorways are unboarded, affording access to a sea of collapsed ceilings and wooden roof members. A quarter-century has left the building in need of serious repair, and the surrounding Carr Square Village with a massive burden. The school was once a showy centerpiece and now has become a symbol of north side decline.

The plight of Carr School is relevant now as the St. Louis Public Schools implements a Facilities Management Plan via consultants MGIT of America, Inc. The district hosting a rapid-fire series of evening meetings for public input on the plan. The schedule is online here. The meetings started last night at Carr Lane VPA and run through December 17 at schools across the city. Why the meetings are crammed into a short period during the busy holiday season is not certain. Obviously, the district is seriously seeking input to avoid prior school closing pratfalls. Hopefully the schedule and geographic range do not make the meetings difficult to attend for parents and concerned neighbors.

The schedule lists several possible concerns that may be expressed. An encouraging sign is that “historic preservation” is prominently listed. To take that concern from the flier to the meetings, though, citizens should select a meeting or two and attend to discuss preservation issues with SLPS staff and consultants.

While no other closed public school has sat empty as long as Carr School, others from the 1994 and 2003 rounds of closings still await certain futures. Carr School is a magnificent work of architecture, and one of architect William B. Ittner’s most idiosyncratic school designs for the St. Louis district. Its plan, style and mosaic murals are unique among the schools built. Of course, all of Ittner’s works are singular, as are those of other district architects like Frederick Raeder and Rockwell Milligan. St. Louis never had “cookie cutter” schools.

While the district cannot be expected to keep all schools open or within its inventory, the district should work hard to ensure that none of the fine historic school buildings sits empty for years like Carr School. The facilities plan needs a strong, detailed preservation component. The district needs to examine alternatives to current real estate policy, including allowing charter schools to purchase or lease decommissioned public schools. Schools are the anchors of many city neighborhoods, and while they may not all be schools forever they should remain anchors through reuse. In 25 years, we should be celebrating successful preservation planning for the district and its beneficial impact on neighborhoods. To that end, city residents need to participate in the current facilities management plan.

Categories
Housing North St. Louis Old North

"The Junction" and Old North’s Housing Balance

by Michael R. Allen

The massive Meier and Pohlmann Furniture Company factory stands on the south side of Palm Street between 14th and Blair in Old North St. Louis. Built between 1891 and 1901, the factory has always been a formidable mass whose form and use are at odds with the surrounding patchwork of homes, corner stores and flats. Now a proposed development might accentuate that separation.

Developer George Kruntchev proposes to rehabilitate the factory into 54 income-restricted apartments called “The Junction.” Old North residents have risen against the development, and with good reason. For one thing, the 54 units include many three-bedroom units that might push the building’s occupancy to well over 150 residents. That is quite a social shift in a neighborhood that to date has been absorbing new residents one small building at a time. Another reason for the opposition is the concentration of type of housing unit, again an unprecedented shift in a neighborhood known for its amazing economic diversity. Old North has always been an antidote to cookie-cutter, stack ’em high housing development, be it condominiums or subsidized housing.

The most troubling aspect of the project may be the last-minute nature of community awareness. The Missouri Housing Development Commission (MHDC) will consider issuance of 9% tax credits for the project on December 12. The first neighborhood meeting on the project was last Saturday, November 22. At the meeting, residents learned that Mayor Francis Slay and Alderwoman April Ford-Griffin (D-5th) support the project, apparently without the benefit of neighborhood consultation. Not a single resident spoke in favor of The Junction project as it stands. The range of residents at the meeting went from middle-class rehabbers to renters to long-time residents. I’ve never seen Old North reach such a solid consensus on any development issue.

The news of the project shocked many because residents knew of a very different project called The Junction. Kathy Sorkin, Vice President of E.M. Harris Construction, had purchased the Meier & Pohlmann factory a few years ago for a multi-unit residential project that would have mixed market-rate and “affordable” (i.e., MHDC-financed) units. That project was appropriate to Old North, with a creative mix of units styles and prices. Unfortunately, MHDC did not approve and the project faded away. At some point, Sorkin sold the building to another party who sold it to Kruntchev.

Kruntchev has a range of impressive development accomplishments to his credit, including the rehabilitation of Grant School in Tower Grove East. Kruntchev even attended the November 22 meeting in Old North, directly facing community opposition. Much of the developer’s work consists of MHDC-financed projects that involves historic preservation. Had Kruntchev and the community engaged each other long ahead of the scheduled MHDC meeting, I doubt that the situation would be polarized. Alas, somehow there was a communication breakdown as those who should have brought the community to the table failed to do so.

Of course, as Kruntchev pointed out to residents, one might assume that The Junction would sit well with a neighborhood whose neighborhood organization has been co-developer on some fairly sizable MHDC-backed projects. That’s a good point, although neither North Market Place nor the 154th Street project has concentrated as many as 54 units in one building.

Still, Old North residents have grown weary of the arrival of more MHDC income-restricted housing. That housing serves a purpose, but when it overwhelms the owner-occupied and market-rate development of a neighborhood, real trouble begins. The harsh neighborhood opposition to The Junction shows a palpable fear that Old North could very well lose the balance needed to attract homeowners to the neighborhood.

When I gave a tour fo the near north side for listeners of the Charlie Brennan show in May, people were very excited by the development progress that they saw in Old North and St. Louis Place. Yet one question that came up was when will homeownership catch up with the newly-built or rehabbed rentals all around. People noticed the imbalance, not with fear but with genuine curiosity. Anyone who has visited successful urban places see diversity — in people, in housing, in uses. When you don’t see it, you wonder why it’s missing.

After all, the quality of a neighborhood is not measured in dollars invested, units created or ribbons cut. Awhile ago, perhaps the Junction would not have thrown Old North off balance. Now, it very well could. It’s time to adjust and figure out a different path for that project so it does not disrupt Old North. Now is a tough time to spur new development, but it’s also a tough time to risk the future of an entire neighborhood.

Categories
Historic Preservation Housing North St. Louis Northside Regeneration Old North

The "Mini Mansion" on Palm Street Needs Urgent Assistance

by Michael R. Allen

The house at 1501 Palm Street in April 2005.

The house at 1501 Palm Street in November 2008.

Sixteen years means a lot in the life of a vacant building. To the house at 1501 Palm Street, owned now by by Blaimont Associates LC, the past three years have been rough. The beautiful mansard-roofed “mini mansion” dates to 1883, and is a great example of the small scale use of the Second Empire style. The house is singular for the Old North St. Louis neighborhood, and it has marked the corner of 14th and Palm streets for 125 years. In the vast scheme of its life, the past 16 years are a small part of the history. If they prove fatal, however, those years will be the most definitive.

The house sat vacant for a long time before Blairmont purchased it, and the previous owner is to blame for some of its current woes. In 2005 that owner, George Roberts, began demolition halted by the city’s Cultural Resources Office, which had not yet reviewed the demolition permit. That work left a large hole on the west wall. Three years later, the hole is agape, and the roof structure above in terrible disrepair. Thank goodness for partition walls — without them, the roof would have collapsed by now.

The roof sheathing is missing on over half of the house, and the joists collapsed in many places. The amount of water that entered the house in 2008 is frightening to contemplate.

One of the finest details of the house was the repeat of its slate-clad mansard roof on the rear elevation, replete with tin-framed dormers. That roof collapsed in 2007, and is now almost completely gone.

As the photographs show, the masonry walls remain sound, and that condition has prevented a catastrophic collapse. However, the south chimney has lost its top courses in the past three years.

Recently, Blairmont maintenance contractor Urban Solutions cleared the yard of debris and erected a temporary fence around the house. What’s next? The house is in imminent danger of a roof collapse and requires serious structural work. As far as I can tell, under the Distressed Areas Land Assemblage Tax Credit, repairs to prevent this house from collapsing are eligible for 100% reimbursement just like the fencing, trash hauling and lawn work. If a developer were applying for that credit, the cost of such work would only be carried until the issuance of the credits. The issuance, of course, requires a redevelopment ordinance and political support. In preservation-minded Old North, there is a clear way to gain respect and built support: save buildings like the house at 1501 Palm Street.

Categories
Academy Neighborhood Historic Preservation North St. Louis Preservation Board South St. Louis

No Bad News from Monday’s Preservation Board Meeting

by Michael R. Allen

On Monday, the St. Louis Preservation Board meeting yielded no bad news:

  • Washington University withdrew from preliminary consideration plans to demolish a one-story commercial building at 622 N. Skinker in order to build parking for the “Corner Building” at Skinker and Delmar, which the university is rehabbing. The Board granted preliminary approval for a variance that allows for wind turbines to be built atop the Corner Building. The university is exploring other options for parking, including building a new multi-story building that would extend along Skinker from the corner building to Enright Avenue.
  • The board denied preliminary applications for demolition for houses at 1826 Warren Street in St. Louis Place and 5155 Cates Avenue in the Mount Cabanne-Raymond Place Historic District. Neither owner bothered to attend the meeting!
  • At the request of a representative of the New Life Evangelistic Center, the Board will defer consideration of an appeal of staff denial of a demolition permit for the house at 4722 Tennessee Avenue in Dutchtown. The matter will likely be placed on the January board agenda since the December meetings are traditionally short and free of review or appeal items.
  • The board approved on preliminary review a plan to demolish a two-story brick garage at 1106 Dolman Avenue in Lafayette Square. The garage has a split foundation and is beginning to collapse. Owner Mike Drinen plans to reconstruct the building, which likely dates to the 1920s.
  • The board voted to deny a permit to retain seven windows installed without a permit at 2003 Senate Street in Benton Park. The owner installed a total of 18 windows on the house between 2004 and 2008, and wrapped the sides with aluminum. In 2006, Benton Park became a local historic district and wrapping was prohibited by district standards. Although the seven windows are not exclusively on the front elevation and not all front windows are in the seven now denied, all denied windows were installed since the local district standards went into effect. The board’s vote is an endorsement of honoring local district standards, and sets a good precedent. Work at 2003 Senate had stopped for two years before the last seven windows went in. While the old work was legal, the new work was not. Some projects evolve for years or decades and the start date of local standards should be enforced, not the start date of slow-moving projects. Ambiguity there would undermine citizen efforts to establish local district standards.
    • Categories
    Historic Preservation LRA North St. Louis Northside Regeneration St. Louis Place

    Christian Niedringhaus’ Endangered Warren Street Residences

    by Michael R. Allen

    The Christian Niedringhaus residence at 1826 Warren Street in November 2008.

    On the 1800 block of Warren Street stand two houses tied to the history of one of St. Louis’ foremost industrialist families, the Niedringhauses. Brothers William F. and Frederick G. Niedringhaus are the best known members. The brothers founded the St. Louis Stamping Company in 1866, and oversaw the growth of the tinware maker into an industrial giant that took out the first patent for enameled “Graniteware” and grew so large that the company created its own city across the river, Granite City. (Read more here.)

    The two famous German-born brothers worked closely with their other brothers and relatives, with many family members working for the Stamping Company. Like the Anheuser-Busch and Lemp breweries or other German-owned industrial companies, the St. Louis Stamping Company was a family affair. One of the key first-generation brothers was Christian Niedringhaus, who served as Superintendent of the Stamping Company for its meteoric rise before eventually turning the job to his nephew William H. Niedringhaus, son of Frederick W. (not G.) Niedringhaus. (The repetition of names in various combinations makes the family tree complicated.)

    In the 19th century, most of the family lived on the near north side. Few addresses where family members resided remain standing. Two homes occupied by William H. Niedringhaus remain on Sullivan Avenue in Old North (both are occupied, including one by this author), and two homes occupied by Christian Niedringhaus remain on Warren Street in St. Louis Place. A small home briefly occupied by Frederick W. Nideringhaus remains on Knapp Street in Old North. Later addresses in the Central West End — where the family members migrated as wealth grew — are still extant.

    The two homes on Warren Street are vacant and endangered. In fact, the owners of Christian Niedringhaus’ home at 1826 Warren are seeking demolition, with the matter on tomorrow’s Preservation Board agenda.

    The house at 1826 Warren Street in August 2007.
    Niedringhaus built the house at 1826 Warren in 1892. In style and pedigree, the home is distinctive for this pocket of St. Louis Place. The house is built in the American Foursquare form with deep roof overhang, a form not widely used in St. Louis Place aside from the showy residences on st. Louis Avenue. The other distinction is that Niedringhaus hired the well-known architectural firm of Beinke & Wees to design the house; few homes off of St. Louis Avenue in St. Louis Place can be attributed to architects. The home is fairly modest for a person of Niedringhaus’ station, showing the family’s trademark practicality.

     

     
    Details like an egg and dart sandstone course above the foundation, granite front steps (get the reference?) and a finely-detailed front porch add elegance to a very simple home. The interior is similarly elegant — spacious rooms detailed precisely but not extravagantly. Alas, the house has been vacant for a decade and in disrepair. For some reason, the roof has experienced damage in the passage of the last year. After unsuccessfully seeking rehabilitation financing, the owners are now pursuing demolition. The Department of Public Safety is submitting the demolition to the Preservation Board for preliminary review. The Cultural Resources Office is recommending denial, and Alderwoman April Ford-Griffin (D-5th) is opposed to demolition.

    This house and Niedringhaus’ previous residence next door at 1820-22 Warren are two of the dwindling number of remaining contributing resources to the Clemens House-Columbia Brewery Historic District. That district cannot afford to lose any more buildings. Both 1826 and 1820-22 Warren are irreplaceable parts of a fragile, but beautiful historic district.

    1820-22 Warren Street in November 2008.

    1820-22 Warren in August 2007.

    The house at 1820-22 Warren Street is more modest than 1826 and more typical of the vernacular houses of St. Louis Place. Built in 1883 for Niedringhaus by a contractor, the simple brick facade terminates in its one ornamental part — a wooden cornice that retains most of its details after years of neglect. This double house has split ownership that raises concerns: 1820 Warren Street is owned by a holding company controlled by Paul J. McKee, Jr., while 1822 Warren is the property of the city’s Land Reutilization authority. For some reason, the boards securing first-floor entrances have been removed in the past year.

    The 1800 and 1900 blocks of Warren are pretty well-kept. There is a lot of vacant land but most of the remaining buildings are occupied, including two multi-family buildings built by Frederick W. and William H. Niedringhaus on the 1900 block. Preservation of the Christian Niedringhaus residences is crucial to saving the sense of place of these two blocks.

    Beyond stopping the demolition of 1826 Warren, what can be done? That’s a question that Alderwoman Ford-Griffin and McKee need to help answer. Obviously, large redevelopment will be a long process, even if McKee could make an announcement tomorrow. Meantime, how can we safeguard the historic buildings that should be integral to future plans? Divided ownership puts the burden for mothballing on several owners, including owners who can barely afford demolition. Public funding is needed as well as private responsibility. With the market down, a big rehab wave in not likely. However, that does not mean demolition is the only course — that means we need a smart preservation plan for the Clemens House-Columbia Brewery Historic District.

    The Preservation Board meets at 4:00 p.m. Monday, November 24, in the 12th floor conference room at 1015 Locust Street downtown. The meeting agenda is online. Correspondence to the board may be sent to BufordA@stlouiscity.com.

    Categories
    Academy Neighborhood Historic Preservation North St. Louis Preservation Board

    No Reason to Demolish Fine House on Cates

    by Michael R. Allen

    The house at 5115 Cates Avenue in the Mount Cabanne-Raymond Place Historic District is on tomorrow’s St. Louis Preservation Board Agenda. The owner is seeking a preliminary review on demolition, via the Department of Public Safety. (That arrangement is supposed to allow the owners to “test” the Preservation Board before hiring a demolition contract and shelling out a down payment.)

    There is absolutely no reason for demolishing this house. Built in 1901 and designed by Benjamin Cunliff, the only major alteration to the house has been the replacement of the original porch columns. The stately Classical Revival house is perfectly sound, with all four walls solid as the day they were finished. The roof seems intact. Most window and door openings are secured. Under the city’s preservation ordinance, the condition of the property and proposed re-use of the site (crabgrass farm) do not meet the criteria set forth that allow the Preservation Board to grant demolition. For that reason, the city’s Cultural Resources Office is recommending denial of the preliminary review.

    Beyond the house itself, this block is a largely intact one lined with rows of homes just like these — American Foursquares designed in a range of revival styles. The streetscapes here bear a resemblance to those of Tower Grove South and Shaw. The potential for this neighborhood — technically the Academy neighborhood — to become as healthy as its south side counterparts is strong, but rests on preservation of its distinctive architecture.

    The Preservation Board meets at 4:00 p.m. Monday, November 24, in the 12th floor conference room at 1015 Locust Street downtown. The meeting agenda is online. Correspondence to the board may be sent to BufordA@stlouiscity.com.

    Categories
    Demolition Hyde Park JNEM North St. Louis Riverfront

    Long Lost: First Home of Bremen Bank

    by Michael R. Allen

    The following scanned clipping comes from the January 9, 1949 edition of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

    Some readers know of the 1927 Bremen Bank building diagonally across the intersection of Broadway and Mallinckrodt streets; that lovely historic building remains the home of the Bremen Bank.

    This clipping is interesting because its caption tells the story of what has happened to large buildings built for specific large tenants when the original tenant moves out. First another large user might come along, with a less prominent use of the space (her, a real estate office). Then comes a second wave of office use, and further depreciation of value. Finally, the property is eyed for a larger development. The story here ends a few months after this blurb appeared in the newspaper. After Mallinckrodt purchased the lovely old bank building, it wrecked it. While the blurb mentions federally-subsidized atomic energy activity, Mallinckrodt actually wrecked the Bremen Bank for a worker parking lot. To this day, the site remains vacant save a small building built on the east end if the parcel in 1994.

    In 1949, such industrial expansion along Broadway north and south of downtown was not uncommon. Such expansion came on the heels of the 1947 city Comprehensive Plan, which streamlined land uses to industrial in formerly mixed-use areas along the riverfront while calling for a zoning plan that would allow such anti-urban uses as surface parking on a major thoroughfare. Alas, that zoning plan remains in place, while the land use plan finally changed in 2005. Also remaining is the notion that industrial sites need to spread outward, surrounded by parking and open land, and not be more integrated into city neighborhoods. A clipping like this demonstrates that there are formidable constants in historic preservation and urban design. Nearly sixty years later, a lot remains the same.

    North Broadway around Bremen Bank, however, does not remain the same. Mallinckrodt’s expansion — much of it for parking — erased most of the pedestrian quality of that street scape. Besides the bank, only a few other small businesses are open there. Interstate 70 forms a barrier between this area and the populated section of the Hyde Park Park neighborhood to the west. The city government officially draws the Old North and Hyde Park boundaries at I-70, further enforcing the separation. Had things progressed differently, the old Bremen Bank could have been retained along with other buildings on Broadway, with Hyde Park connected to its major employer and to the riverfront.

    What is puzzling is that at the same time the 1947 Comprehensive Plan’s call for creating an industrial wall along the river was being drafted, civic leaders were also plotting the construction of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial downtown in order to improve the central riverfront. Did no one see the conflict between the policies? There was already an organic urban connection to the river, and it could have been enhanced as the city began its loss of industry. Industrial expansion policies — and, I should point out, the Memorial itself — decimated the street grids, neighborhoods and buildings that bound the city to the Mississippi. The long-term consequences of the old policies are haunting us today. And we don’t have as many resources like the Bremen Bank building around to help reconnect us to the riverfront as we started with.

    Categories
    Academy Neighborhood Demolition Lafayette Square North St. Louis Preservation Board Shaw South St. Louis St. Louis Place

    Preservation Board to Consider Five Demolition Proposals on Monday

    by Michael R. Allen

    The preliminary agenda for the St. Louis Preservation Board’s regular monthly meeting on Monday, November 24 is now available. The agenda contains five demolition proposals.

    Three proposals are preliminary reviews requested by the Department of Public Safety, seeking condemnation for demolition on private properties located at 1824 Warren Street in the Clemens House-Columbia Brewery Historic District (St. Louis Place), 5115 Cates Avenue in the Mount Cabanne-Raymond Place Historic District (Academy) and 3927-29 Shenandoah Avenue in the Shaw Historic District. The fourth preliminary review is requested by a homeowner for a historic garage at 1106 Dolman Street in the Lafayette Square Historic District.

    Then there is a staff denial of a demolition permit for the frame 19th century house at 4722 Tennessee Avenue in Dutchtown South. A different owner went through the same motions last year, and in June 2007 the Preservation Board upheld staff denial of the demolition permit. The current owner, New Life Evangelistic Center, is a tenacious organization, so this may be the most contentious item on the agenda.

    Categories
    Demolition Historic Preservation Housing LRA North St. Louis

    Lost: 4405 & 4409 Evans Avenue

    by Michael R. Allen

    I have taken so many photographs of north St. Louis buildings that I often fall behind in tracking the subjects. The buildings shown above are a good example, since this photograph dates to August 2005, their demolition took place in 2006 and I noticed their loss in 2008.

    When I stumbled upon this pair on Evans Avenue in Lewis Place I was struck by the versatility of the pyramidal turret. At left, the house at 4409 Evans Avenue uses the turret to punctuate the top of a projecting bay window.

    The otherwise plain house stood out with the addition of that striking but basic architectural form. Next door, the flats at 4405 Evans use the turret in a different way.

    Brick quoins and terra cotta panels adorned the Classical Revival building, but that center-placed turret was the crown. Rising above the flared gable’s peak, the turret drew the eye toward the sky, balancing the view of the building with a strong sense of the natural world around it. The architect’s skyward aspirations were immodest but also inspiring. Here, as in so many other instances in St. Louis, a building for the common person was addressing the street with architectural finery and any power above with a tall turret.

    The vacant lot now on this site draws the eye downward, at ragged grass and the droppings of careless pedestrians and motorists. There is nothing transformational about the vacant lot, and no hint of any aspiration — even toward reuse of the site.

    Categories
    Architecture Demolition Housing LRA North St. Louis O'Fallon

    Lost: Tudor Revival Apartment Building on Warne Avenue

    by Michael R. Allen

    The other day, I passed the southwest corner of Warne and Greelea avenues in the O’Fallon neighborhood and noticed that the apartment building once on the site was gone. The photograph above shows that building, whose address was 4225 Warne, in August 2005. The Land Reutilization Authority wrecked the building in August 2007. Vacant since 1991, the building deteriorated badly under the ownership of Jourdan and Jo Ann Jordan who finally defaulted on taxes, although the couple took out small building permits for work in 2004. Once LRA obtained the property, the roof was missing over half of the building, with massive water damage inside.

    So went one of the city’s most picturesque multi-family buildings. The Tudor Revival building had a sense of whimsy, as evidenced by the irresistible small turret and the crenellation. The differentiation of setbacks also showed a smart sensibility on the part of the architect. From among a cluster of modest frame buildings arose this masonry jewel on Warne Avenue. Just west, on the opposite side of the street, is Harrison School. Just north is the commercial strip on Florissant Avenue with its southern dip down Warne. This building clearly intended to line up alongside the fancy commercial buildings and hold its own architecturally. For many years, it did.