Destroying the 3900 block of McRee Avenue
By August, the last remaining building on this block was the Regal Foods Store building located at the northeast corner of McRee and Lawrence avenues. This sturdy 1910’s storefront building was ripe for renovation but instead was headed toward demolition. During demolition, wreckers salvaged nearly every piece of masonry and lumber because all of it was in great shape.
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Destroying the 4000 block of McRee Avenue
This was another block of mostly-sturdy residential buildings. The 4000 block contained some ecclectic juxtaposition of common 19th and early 20th century St. Louis vernacular housing, as the photograph below of the 1910’s four-flat, 1890’s two-flat and 1900’s four-square single-family home demonstrates.
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Destroying the 4000 block of Blaine Avenue
Note the obvious physical integrity of most of the buildings scheduled for demolition. Here is one general shot and photos of buildings on the north side of the block:
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These were the buildings on the south side of the block:
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Displaying the 3900 block of Blaine Avenue
McBride and Sons continued to construct the display units in the 3900 block of Blaine Avenue in Botanical Heights. Along with the homes came fencing along 39th Street, sod lawns (after an unsuccessful seeding effort) around the intersection of McRee and Blaine. Only two older buildings, one shown below, remained standing in this block.
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