Preservation Research Officeby Michael R. Allen
Lindsey Scott and Jason Deem sent out news that there are two new websites chronicling the vibrant life of Cherokee Street, the city’s most diverse and lively neighborhood commercial district:
Cherokee Street News, a blog.
Cherokee Street Photos, already featuring hundreds of photographs, including historic images.
by Michael R. Allen
As I navigate the city, I am always on the lookout for storefront additions to historic homes. Regular readers will recall some recent posts of mine celebrating the sometimes-ungainly but always-intriguing vestiges of a city teeming with commercial life. The example above is located on the 2800 block of Lafayette Avenue just east of one that I chronicled seven months ago (Just Another Vacant Building?, December 21, 2007). That example was one of the prevalent types that stand in front of the parent house.
This one here, located at 2819 Lafayette Avenue, is of the gentler type. Built on the side lot of a stately single-family residence, the one-story flat-roofed addition creates more square feet of space on one level than the sort placed directly in front. I’m sure the builder’s concern was with the economy of the structure, but the end result led to an addition that left alone the lovely front elevation of the Romanesque Revival house next door, built in 1893. That move proved fortuitous, as the front elevation retains original its limestone porch, granite details and wooden windows. The addition itself, probably built in the 1930s, is complementary without being dull. Spaced courses of pale brick, a continuous soldier course over the storefront opening and a framed frieze of angled brick offer simple but forceful masonry expression. We still have dozens of these additions left, and each one is a unique compromise between cost and ambition, change and history, old and new. These additions remind us that cities are creatures built for growth, and “historic” architecture is a tangle of buildings — including historic buildings that block other, prettier historic buildings buildings.
I don’t know if prolific tagger Ed Boxx (also known as Rexx Ram or Red Foxx) is really dead, or if he faked his death as a prank.
I don’t know who Ed Boxx really is, and I don’t think that I know anyone who has met him in person.
I have no idea what is meant by “Get Up, Get God.”
I don’t know how I feel about the artist’s use of historic buildings as tablets for his work. Actually, I do. I don’t like it. But I don’t like it a whole lot less than I don’t like property owners letting their buildings deteriorate to the extent where they don’t even try to clean up grafitti.
One thing that I know for certain is that this Ed Boxx piece on the dormitory buidling of St. Mary’s Infirmary captures my attention and admiration. The skyline drawing, the colors, the imitation of the building’s rooftop cross in the work — this is pretty deliberate work. I’d rather not see this work on this building, but that’s not the root problem. Not at all.
The Rehabbers Club brings you an exciting Saturday:
Saturday, May 17
9:30 a.m.
Start at 900 Utah Street
This month’s meeting focuses on south Soulard and eastern Benton Park/Marine Villa, historically part of the same development pattern but separated by the construction
of I-55.
Meet at 9:30 a.m. at 900 Utah (at S. 9th Street, south of the Anheuser-Busch Brewery). We will visit Ray and Maureen Kenski and hear about their long road to opening up a B&B in this gut-rehabbed former multi-family building. It’s one of several buildings in the area recently rehabbed by local developer Kraig Schnitzmeier. His project across the street at 3306 S. 9th just won one of Landmarks Association’s Eleven Most Enhanced Awards, and we’ll have the opportunity to hear Kraig talk about the transformation of this derelict property into a
stunning home.
3306 S. 9th Street. Photo courtesy of Kraig Schnitzmeier.
Our next stop will be a special Preservation Week visit to the Chatillon-DeMenil Mansion (open to us at no charge). DeMenil board member Bill Hart will tell the story of the dramatic rescue and restoration of the mansion 40 years ago and give a special tour highlighting its ongoing rehabilitation challenges. We’ll also have the opportunity to view rarely seen photographs of the blocks to the east, demolished for I-55, which demonstrate the continuity of the urban grid before the neighborhood were severed by highway construction.
Our final stop on the tour will be “The Simon Complex”, as it is sometimes called, on the 1900 block of Cherokee Street. Ray Simon’s project started in the late 1980s and continues today, in the process creating a shaded, secluded courtyard shared by businesses and residents of the antebellum front buildings and the 1890s alley house. This type of semi-private space was once common in the City, but prohibitions against alley dwellings reduced their number considerably. The mix of commercial and residential uses, private and shared space is uniquely urban and
completely magical. Don’t miss it.
The final stop is also (by no coincidence) the site of the Rehabbers Club Used Book Sale, which benefits the Chatillon-DeMenil Mansion. This year we have a strong collection of books including rehabbing, architecture, local interest, gardening, decorating, and tons of fiction. There are also many really nice supplies (mostly of the handled flex-file variety) for your home office. If you can’t make the tour, stop by the sale at 1912 Cherokee from 10-4 Saturday or 12-4 Sunday.
by Michael R. Allen
Here’s a quick report of some actions at yesterday’s St. Louis Preservation Board meeting.
2915 Minnesota Avenue: Preliminary approval for demolition of flounder house granted 4-2. Terry Kennedy, Mary Johnson, David Richardson and Anthony Robinson in favor; Melanie Fathman and Mike Killeen opposed.
4477 Olive Street: Unanimously deferred until the July meeting to provide more time to explore alternatives.
4568 St. Ferdinand Avenue: Demolition permit denied 4-3. Killeen, Fathman, Robinson and Richard Callow in favor of motion to deny; Johnson, Kennedy and Richardson opposed.
by Michael R. Allen
On Monday, the Preservation Board will determine the fate of this old city-owned flounder house at 2915 Minnesota Avenue in Tower Grove East. The 710-square-foot home lies outside of the boundaries of the Tower Grove Heights Historic District, making it ineligible for rehab tax credits without landmark designation. Clearly, the building is eligible in its own right — there are fewer than 30 flounder houses left in the city, and the building type is indigenous. Alderwoman Kacie Starr Triplett (D-6th) is seeking demolition, while the Tower Grove East Neighborhood Association strongly opposes demolition. Triplett’s application was deferred by the Board two months ago to provide the Cultural Resources Office (CRO) time to develop a pro forma showing that rehabilitation is feasible.
Working with developer Will Libermann, who recently rehabbed a flounder house at 3330 Missouri Avenue in Benton Park, CRO has arrived at an impressively economical budget; see its report here. Liebermann’s plan would restore the derelict home to former beauty while creating badly-needed affordable fully-rehabbed, historically-sensitive housing. (His other flounder sold for $125,000.) With the neighborhood behind preservation, there should be a clear outcome but Triplett remains stridently in favor of demolition.
Should the Preservation Board approve demolition, there would be yet another decision creating a housing gap between upper-income residents who can afford fully-rehabbed historically-sensitive homes and lower-income residents who largely cannot. Here is the rare opportunity to cut against the gap. While the home is smaller than your average multi-family conversion, it is a great size for a single person or a childless couple.
The Preservation Board meets Monday, April 28 at 4:00 p.m. in the 12th floor conference room at 1015 Locust Street downtown. See the full agenda here.
by Michael R. Allen
On March 24, the Preservation Board of the City of St. Louis considered an application by the congregation of Resurrection of Our Lord Church to remove an original wall and construct a grotto. Designed by Murphy & Mackey and completed in 1954, Resurrection of Our Lord Church became a City Landmark in 1976. The City Landmark status allowed the Preservation Board to review the proposal to remove the wall; otherwise there would be no legal protection. The Board voted to defer the matter pending consultation with a registered architect. I submitted the following testimony in my capacity as Assistant Director of Landmarks Association of St. Louis:
In Murphy & Mackey’s design for Resurrection of Our Lord Church, both building and site plan are integrated elements. The architects undertook a total design of the lot so that each element is an intentional part of the church, and cannot be removed and altered without causing alteration to the total composition. The wall running along the courtyard demarks the courtyard entrance space from the private and less formal realm on the other side. The presence of the wall heightens the religious experience of entering the church with a mind cleared of worldly concerns.
The City Landmark protection extends to the entire design. While placement of the grotto on the site is an intrusion on the original design, it is both reversible and a reasonable concession to the current congregation’s right to use the property.
However, removal of the wall would be a permanent disfiguring of the landmark design. The Preservation Board should not allow removal of the wall. The staff recommendation is a fair compromise.
Ever wanted to see Craig Schmid perform in a play about prohibition of alcohol?
Next Sunday, you’ll get your chance when the Chatillon-DeMenil House Foundation presents a radio-style reading of The Prohibition Revue written by sisters NiNi Harris and Sheila Harris. Alderman Schmid, Bill Hart, Lois Waninger, Bob Officer, this blog’s Michael Allen and others will be reading the parts of the people who shaped the prohibition episode, from early temperance days to ultimate repeal. The story combines the words of citizens, businessmen and officials with the lyrics of both “dry” and “wet” songs. Expect singing!
When: Sunday, March 16 at 2:30 p.m.
Where: Chatillon-DeMenil House, 3352 DeMenil Place
The play reading is free and open to the public. For more information, call 314-771-5828.
by Michael R. Allen
The St. Louis Preservation Board meets on Monday to consider a rather short agenda.
Notable items on the agenda include:
by Michael R. Allen
This work by prolific graffiti creator Ed Boxx can be found down near the eastern terminus of Espenschied Street, by the former Carondelet Coke plant. Who can disagree with the message? Admittedly, few will see it but perhaps those who do need the instruction more than those who won’t. Such work raises questions: What does one make of positive messages inscribed on private property not being used and not likely to be reused? This “graf” graces the side of a damaged box trailer on the old St. Louis Ship property, which no doubt will be scrapped if its owner ever does anything more than let it sit and rust. Why not let one person’s scrap become another’s momentary canvas?