Category: South St. Louis

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Fox Park Local Historic District South St. Louis

Interview: Why Residents Want the Fox Park Local Historic District Expanded

by Michael R. Allen

On Monday the Preservation Board granted preliminary approval to a proposed expansion of the Fox Park Local Historic District (local historic districts explained here) in south city. The proposal was strongly supported by the Fox Park Neighborhood Association. The Preservation Board considers local historic district petitions twice on an advisory basis before they are introduced in ordinance form at the St. Louis Board of Aldermen, where the Housing Urban Development and Zoning Committee again holds a public hearing.

After preliminary approval this week, I interviewed Fox Park Neighborhood Association President Ian Simmons about the ins and outs of the proposal.

The proposed boundaries of the expanded Fox Park Local Historic District. Courtesy of the Fox Park Neighborhood Association.

Why do people in Fox Park want to expand the local historic district?

Ian Simmons: We want a cohesive neighborhood. All of the homes in our neighborhood are basically of the same stock and are all equally part of Fox Park, so there is no good reason why they should not be part of the district. Neighbors, who have lived in Fox Park for longer than I, have seen tremendous growth and prosperity enrich the neighborhood, but at a far greater pace and scale in the northern half that is within the historic district. We believe that distinction is related to the presence of historic standards guiding rehabilitation and restoration, as well as, of course, the availability of historic tax credits. While the expansion of the local historic district will not directly make those tax credits available (that will take a National Historic Register nomination), there is a danger that, in the absence of historic standards in the proposed expansion area, we may lose our historic structures, features, and value.

This landmark corner commercial building at the northwest corner of Magnolia and California is inside of the district expansion.

What outreach has the Fox Park Neighborhood Association done to build support for the expansion?

Simmons: During the early stages of this process, I reached out to just about every neighbor I knew or ran into that lived in the proposed expansion area and asked them if they would support the initiative; everyone was positive and enthusiastic about the idea. Once our Board formed an ad hoc committee to handle the exploration and initial steps, we added some of those supporters to our committee, and also reached out to and obtained the support of the DeSales Housing Corporation (which owns and/or manages over ten percent of the homes in the expansion area). Then we reached out to our elected officials about writing the petition. At the request and direction of Alderwoman Kacie Starr Triplett, we held three informal community meetings to reach and inform the neighbors that we had not run into, who are not members of the Association, and/or who do not attend Association meetings.

These meetings were prior to the drafting of any petition, and were held on different days and different times, so as to allow neighbors who wanted to attend the opportunity. We mailed postcard notices to all the recorded owners of the properties in the proposed expansion area. I also wrote about the meetings and the proposed expansion in our spring newsletter, a copy of which was posted on the doorstep of every home in our neighborhood weeks before the first meeting. The meetings gave the neighbors a chance to have their questions answered about how the expansion would affect them, and to express any opposition. Besides at the one which was held during our March Association Meeting, attendance at the community meeting was lighter than expected, but supportive — there was no showing of opposition.

This lovely residential row is on the north side of Russell Boulevard just east of California Avenue within the existing local historic district.

Can you talk a little bit about the boundaries and why the current boundaries are proposed?

Simmons: The route we are taking expands the boundaries of an existing district. This approach was chosen instead of creating a new district next to the existing one. For the same rationale as described above, we felt it would be better to have the same historic standards apply throughout the whole neighborhood. Also, this way, if we want to change our standards, we only have to change one ordinance. So, the boundaries of the expanded district will be Highway 44 (to the North), Nebraska Avenue (to the West), Jefferson Avenue (to the East), and Gravois Ave. (to the South). Those boundaries are proposed because they are also the boundaries of the Fox Park neighborhood. The expanded district basically moves the existing Southern boundary from the alley South of Shenandoah Avenue and Victor Street, to Gravois.

What, if anything, are you changing in the existing standards? Have you found that some of those standards are now out-dated?

Simmons: At this time, no changes are proposed to the existing standards; if signed into law, they would apply as they stand now to the proposed extension area. The only instance of “out-dated” standards, which was identified by one of our Board members, is that the existing standards do not allow the use of “green” roofing materials. It is possible that changes to the standards may be made at a later date, once the district is extended; of course, any changes would come at the request of neighbors, and only after much discussion and input from them.

If you could advise another neighborhood looking to enact a local historic district ordinance, what would you say?

Simmons: Don’t be discouraged and don’t give up! If the membership is supportive, the neighborhood association has a few people who are willing to step up, do a little footwork, and be patient, and the alderperson(s) in the proposed district are hard-working and in favor, it can be done! Even if rejected the first time, or the steps along the way take what seems like forever, at least the conversation has been started and you have moved this important process forward.

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Historic Preservation Preservation Board South St. Louis

Preservation Board Spares Chouteau Avenue Buildings; Now What?

by Michael R. Allen

On Monday, the St. Louis Preservation Board unanimously voted to uphold the Cultural Resources Office’s denial of an application to demolish the commercial buildings at 2612-30 Chouteau Avenue. The applicant, Crown 40, Inc., was represented in testimony by Charles Mace of Chuck’s Brick and Demo and John Zumwalt of Crown 40. Speaking against demolition — briefly, because the Board already seemed ready to reject the appeal — were Andrew Weil of Landmarks Association, Lafayette Square resident Jason Stokes and myself.

Zumwalt testified that Crown 40 purchased the properties to prevent a competitor from purchasing the buildings and opening a gas station that might compete with Crown 40’s new Crown Mart gas station near I-44 and Jefferson Avenue. Crown 40 has no intention of building a gas station on the site but — and this gets weird — wants to buy the two buildings to the east, demolish all of them and some day build something new there. This desire is odd because the corner building is occupied by a dental clinic that was not represented in Monday’s proceedings. The other building is for sale.

Perhaps 2626-30 Chouteau (the large wagon company warehouse at right in the photograph above) is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. In my professional opinion, the other buildings are not — not even as a district. The alterations have damaged historic integrity, and there is not sufficient context for a larger listing.

Of course, many buildings are preserved without official landmark designation and without tax credits. Can these be? Sure, but the owner doesn’t seem interested. What can change his mind?

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Rehabbing South St. Louis Tower Grove East

White Roof Coating, Ahead of Summer

by Michael R. Allen

After completing major tuckpointing and chimney rebuilding, we decided to apply a white elastomeric coat to our flat roof this month. This roof was a three-ply modified bitumen roof with a black, heat-trapping emulsion overcoat. The roof was old enough to coat but certainly not getting younger under the toll of ultraviolet rays. A mod-bit roof needs about one year to leech out oils before coating, and ours was well past that mark. Time to coat!

Now why would we go through the trouble of applying a white coat? There are two major reasons:

Energy efficiency and global warming. A white coat can reflect up to 80 percent of solar radiation, reducing overall planet temperature but more immediately reducing building, neighborhood and city temperature. One white roof is small local block against the urban “heat island” effect and many of them can have wide impact. The white roof will reduce the internal temperature and the need for air conditioning, which in turn reduces the electricity usage and so forth. (There is some question about possible heat loss effect of a white roof in winter. At St. Louis’ latitude the sun’s rays are vertical in the summer and at a low slant in the winter, so the available winter solar heat is much less than the summer heat. At other latitudes, a white roof might not be of such benefit as here and points southward.)

Longevity of the roof. An elastomeric coat will block ultraviolet rays that slowly break down asphalt roofing. Coats should be reapplied every 10 years or sooner if needed. With timely reapplication, the coverage can extend the life of the roof to 40-50 years, reducing cost as well as waste of nonrenewable roofing materials.

While the mason had the scaffolding set up, we used his pulley to hoist up the 5 gallon buckets of coating. We used five $72 buckets of Henry Solarflex 287, which completely covered our 1300 square foot roof. When the scaffolding was down, we used a tall ladder for travel to the roof.

Working with a friend, we spent about eight hours washing the roof and applying the coat. Since we had just had masonry work, the roof was dirty and required over two hours of scrubbing. The mod-bit roof dried quickly, however. We applied the coat with a 4″ brush on the parapet sides and 9″ rough rollers on the roof. We avoided a few new flashing repairs made around the rebuilt chimneys.

Most of the roof was covered with two coats, but some areas required three coats. (A one year old roof won’t take this much work). We left a spot near the ladder for exit and came back to finish in a half-hour a day later. Now the roof is too bright to look at, just in time for summer. We’re not big air conditioning users — it’s expensive and not very sustainable, although certainly necessary for a few weeks — so we definitely look forward to the building heat reduction.

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Preservation Board South St. Louis

Saving What Is Left on Chouteau

by Michael R. Allen


So much of Chouteau Avenue has been cleared of street-facing historic buildings that the character remaining is hard to find. The mention of Chouteau is more likely to conjure suburban-style industrial buildings with front lawns and parking lots than a measured urban environment. I hold no complaint against the presence of businesses like Villa Lighting and Andy’s Seasoning, since they provide jobs in a centrally-located part of the city within easy travel of city residents. However, I do lament that the influx of larger uses has meant destruction of the character of the street. Chouteau used to be very different, even just a few decades ago.

But all is not lost — yet.

The three-story building housing Preston Art Glass Studio is a reminder of the historic density of Chouteau Avenue. Although the front wall was once relaid, the building retains historic features including a lovely cast iron storefront. The difference between walking past this building and the newer buildings on Chouteau could not be more stark.

Across the street is a row of six historic buildings, two of which are occupied and four of which are now endangered. Right at the corner of Jefferson and Chouteau is a two-story brick building (barely visible here) housing a dental office. There is a Chinese restaurant in the building to the west. There are two gaps in the street face, but this group provides a welcome transition between the residential streets of the Gate District and Lafayette Square, with front gardens and street trees, and the harsh contemporary industrial environment on Chouteau to the west and, to a lesser extent, on the east.

Gas station operator Crown 40 Inc. applied to demolish the four buildings from 2612-2630 Chouteau, and had its application denied last month by the city’s Cultural Resources Office. Crown 40’s appeal is on Monday’s agenda of the St. Louis Preservation Board.

Perhaps the showiest of the buildings is the two-story building at 2612 Chouteau, with a fine cast iron storefront.

No matter how shabby the buildings of the row are, they sure are easier on the eyes — and on the pedestrian — than newer outposts of commerce on Chouteau.

The end building once housed a crude industrial use — it was a print shop for the Lindstrom Wagon Company around the turn of the 20th century. The graceful transition to the street kept the use from oppressing its surroundings. I wish that the same could be said about what is getting built on Chouteau a century later.

The potential for a higher use is strong. There is a lot of consumer power in the vicinity of Jefferson and Chouteau, and the Gate District is woefully under served by neighborhood business — because planners tore down most of the corner storefronts inside of the Duane Plater Zyberk-planned urban experiment. Well, some old urbanism exists here and could serve both the neighborhood and the hundreds of workers employed on Chouteau and the nearby LaSalle Street floral row. A gas station might be handy — of course, there already is a new Crown Mart just north at I-40 and Jefferson — but how about a deli or a neighborhood bar and grille?

The Preservation Board meets at 4:00 p.m. on Monday, April 26 at 4:00 p.m. in the 12th floor conference room at 1015 Locust Street downtown. Send written testimony to Adona Buford at BufordA@stlouiscity.com.

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North St. Louis South St. Louis St. Louis Place Tower Grove East

Operation Brightside Blitz Days

by Michael R. Allen

Juniata Street looking east toward Roosevelt High School in Tower Grove East.

 

Dodier Street west of Leffingwell Avenue in St. Louis Place.

 
The two blocks pictured here both were part of today’s Operation Brightside Blitz Day. My neighbors and I were out working on our block this morning. Since there is no such thing as a self-cleaning city, citizen cleaning is essential to keeping blocks looking lovely. Government provides the basic services, but citizens create quality of life. We have to be active stewards of our houses and our blocks. No one is going to clean our alleys and sidewalks for us, even in the most ideal world. There are Blitz days coming up in other areas of the city and you should do your part. There’s nothing more rewarding than working with neighbors to make St. Louis look beautiful!

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Demolition Marine Villa South St. Louis

More St. Louis Carnival Supply Demolition Photographs

by Michael R. Allen

Reader Anthony A. sent me these photographs of the St. Louis Carnival Supply Company buildings being demolished. These photographs date to March 22nd and show some of the painted signs underneath the metal cladding. Since the wreckers did not remove the cladding first, the signs were never fully revealed. The buildings are now reduced to rubble piles.

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Compton Heights Historic Preservation Preservation Board South St. Louis

Another Chance for the South Grand YMCA?

by Michael R. Allen

In August 2006, the St. Louis Preservation Board approved demolition of the former YMCA building at 2232 S. Grand Avenue (built in 1936 and designed by Study & Farrar). Yet in March 2010, the building stands alive and well. This recession has led some owners to preservation by default as financing for new commercial construction is difficult to obtain. Meanwhile, the consistency of historic tax credits and the state and federal level provide a reliable financing component. The YMCA building is a contributing resource to the Compton Hill Historic District.

Perhaps the current owner of the YMCA will rethink the past plan to demolish the building and construct a new three-story mixed-use building in its place. The owner is trying to develop a large area that includes a significant parking lot and the old Pelican’s restaurant building at Shenandoah and Grand. There certainly is ample room in this larger site for a smaller new building, parking and retention of both historic buildings. Advocacy failed to save the YMCA in 2006, but economy may do the trick. We’ll see.

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Demolition Marine Villa Preservation Board South St. Louis

Carnival Supply Building Demolition Underway

by Michael R. Allen

The weary old St. Louis Carnival Supply building — or, rather, buildings since two buildings comprise the structure — is being pushed into the Big Sleep. The south St. Louis landmark, located at 3928 S. Broadway in Marine Villa, is being demolished this month to make way for expansion of a parking lot serving a strip retail center next door. In December 2009, the St. Louis Preservation Board unanimously approved demolition on the condition that the owner, KOBA LP, first obtain a building permit to make facade improvements to the three-story commercial building to the north, which was originally proposed for demolition.

At this point, readers would learn very little from any further complaint about the demolition. How easy is it to take a stand against something that already happened? Oh, easier than tying your shoes — but not as useful. There is a bigger lesson to be learned for ever-wired local preservationists: politics is still local.

When I spoke on historic preservation matters at a meeting of the Chippewa-Broadway Business Association (CBBA) in August 2009, the proposed demolition was a hot topic. Nearly all local parties were opposed to the demolition, although not simply on the basis of architectural merit or urban character. There was considerable concern that the proposed Grace Hill clinic slated to move into the retail strip center will draw patients away from St. Alexius Hospital across the street. St. Alexius has been a neighborhood fixture for over a century, and active in local affairs, including the Business Association.

The community rallied around the hospital, and the first attempt by KOBA LP to secure a demolition permit from the Preservation Board in August — for both buildings — was denied. Aldermen Ken Ortmann (D-9th) and Craig Schmid (D-20th) as well as the CBBA were opposed. Things changed, though, and agreements were reached. The opposition withered. the Preservation Board’s action made it clear that KOBA LP would not be able to get a permit for the building at 3928 S. Broadway, so they withdrew plans to wreck it. By the time of the December Preservation Board meeting, I was the only person to speak against demolition. The game had changed, at the community level.


The demolition contractors did not remove the 1960s metal panels from the 1890s-era commercial building, so the only glimpses of the colorful older signs on the facade come through big holes. The old signs look playful and fun; hopefully there is a photograph of the building before cladding somewhere.

Of course, the buildings are both sound and without the later concrete block addition at the rear of the property, there is now plenty of space for extra parking behind the historic buildings.

Alberta Street runs between the building under demolition and the building being preserved. This intact street is typical of Marine Villa. Vernacular brick houses of varied form, height and setback create a delightfully organic streetscape. Alas, the solid frame of two corner commercial buildings will soon be gone, and a parking lot exit will spill out onto this quiet residential street.

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Fox Park National Register South St. Louis Tower Grove East

Historic Districts In and (Mostly) Around Tower Grove East

by Michael R. Allen

Last night’s Tower Grove East Neighborhood Association meeting included a presentation by Lynn Josse on the different types of historic districts, how they work and how they get created. Lynn distributed a flier that included the following map.

As the map shows, a large swath of Tower Grove East and the southern end of Fox Park are surrounded by districts but not included in any. All or part of 45 blocks in Tower Grove East have no historic district status, and thus no availability of rehabilitation tax credits being used all around south city.

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Mid-Century Modern Neon Public Policy South St. Louis

That Donut Drive-In Sign

by Michael R. Allen

The animated neon sign at the Donut Drive-In, 6525 Chippewa Avenue in Lindenwood Park, returned to life on November 1, 2008. Donut Drive-In first opened in 1952 on what was then Route 66, the nation’s “Mother Road.” Many of the St. Louis stretch’s neon signs have disappeared, but not this one.

The owners of the donut shop could not afford to restore the Route 66 icon on their own, but were able to complete restoration using a matching grant from the the Route 66 Corridor Program administered by the National Park Service. The Missouri Route 66 Association was instrumental in assisting the owners with the grant process.

Since its creation by the National Park Service in 2001, the Route 66 Corridor Program has helped allow property owners to act in the public interest when otherwise unable. (Perhaps the National Park Service needs a name that tells people that its noble work is not limited to preserving open space.)