Categories
North St. Louis Old North Rehabbing

The View at Home

by Michael R. Allen

Here is the view from the south window of the third floor of our house. From here, I can see nineteenth century houses and tenements, the downtown skyline and the Arch, the spires of St. Liborius and Zion Lutheran churches, the tall smokestack of the former Columbia Brewery and, off in the far distance at night, the beacon of the Continental Life Building. This is one of the best views I’ve enjoyed in the city, and it’s here at home.

Of course, all of the winter rain has penetrated our weak roof membranes — soon to be replaced, but that promise doesn’t stop a leak. The continuing pileup of snow will lead to a cold day Saturday when I will have to sweep the roofs to minimize water penetration when the snow melts. Ah, well — for now there is this view!

Categories
Demolition Forest Park Southeast Preservation Board

4485 Vista Decision Deferred

by Michael R. Allen

Today, without discussion, the Preservation Board voted unanimously to defer for six months consideration of the demolition application for 4485 Vista Avenue.

We have six months to find a better future than destruction. Ideas?

Categories
Forest Park Southeast

Opportunity in Forest Park Southeast

From Marti Frumhoff:

4202 Chouteau is for sale. They are asking $54,900. It is a 2 family getting ready to be demolished by the city and it seems worth saving.

I suspect an offer of $5,000, that’s right, $5,000, might get the winning bid. Find a realtor and make an offer. Or, just call the listing agent and make an offer. Here is the link to the MLS listing.

Categories
Downtown Neon

Serving St. Louis

by Michael R. Allen

The neon sign atop the Railton Residence, originally the Robert E. Lee Hotel, at 18th and Pine streets in downtown St. Louis. The sign frame dates to 1932, when the owners of the Robert E. Lee built it to advertise their hotel. The Salvation Army purchased the hotel in 1939 for use as one of its Evangeline Residences — homes for young businesswomen — and built its sign on the existing framework in 1944.

Categories
Art People

Big Small Town

Looking for holiday greeting cards that are witty, well-designed and show scenes from the St. Louis in which we really live?

Check out Big Small Town Designs, the effort of Bill Michalski. He’s got you covered.

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.

Categories
Demolition Forest Park Southeast Preservation Board

Preservation Board to Consider Demolition of Unique House in "The Grove"

by Michael R. Allen

On the agenda for Monday’s meeting of the St. Louis Preservation Board is the demolition of a unique house at 4485 Vista Avenue in “the Grove.” The city’s Land Reutilization Authority owns the house and is applying for demolition along with Alderman Joseph Roddy (D-17th).

Check out the last photograph on this page of a report that I wrote on the condition of Taylor Avenue, which runs to the west of the house. You’ll see that 4485 Vista is a wide, symmetrical side-gabled frame home with a center-hall plan. The centered doorway is flanked by pairs of windows, with one dormer centered above each pair. This simplicity is almost rustic — no surprise given that the center-hall house was a common choice for Midwestern farms in the nineteenth century. Very few homes of this type exist in the city of St. Louis, and no other can be found in the Grove. The date of construction is not definitive, but it’s possible this house dates to the period when the Adams Grove area was subdivided as the Laclede Race Course Addition to the city in 1875.

This house is a unique home and clearly eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Hopefully, the Preservation Board will block demolition so that a respectful owner will purchase the building from the city.

Earlier, the LRA applied for a demolition permit for the house in 2004 and was denied by the Cultural Resources Office and the Preservation Board.

If you’d like to comment on the demolition, there are several ways. You can attend Monday’s meeting of the Preservation Board at 4:00 p.m. in the 12th floor conference room of the Locust Building, 1015 Locust. You can call the staff of the Cultural Resources Office at 314-622-3400. Also, you can send written testimony to Kate Shea, Director of Cultural Resources, at SheaK(at)stlouiscity.com.

Categories
National Register

Ten More St. Louis Buildings Headed for the National Register

by Michael R. Allen

To be listed on the National Register of Historic Places, nominated buildings and sites must be approved by certified local governments and, most importantly, state historic preservation offices with their review commissions before being sent to the Keeper of the National Register at the National Park Service. In Missouri, our commission is the Missouri Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, which meets quarterly.

Its most recent quarterly meeting was this past Friday, November 17, in Jefferson City. I am pleased to report that the following St. Louis buidlings were unanimously approved for submission to the Keeper (preparer’s name in parenthesis):

– American Brake Company Building, 1920 N. Broadway (Melissa Winchester and Julie Wooldridge, Lafser and Associates)
– Carondelet School, 8221 Minnesota Street (Melissa Winchester and Julie Wooldridge, Lafser and Associates)
– Falstaff Brewing Corporation, Plant No. 1, 3644-3690 Forest Park Boulevard (Melissa Winchester and Julie Wooldridge, Lafser and Associates)
– Koken Barbers’ Supply Company Historic District, bounded by Ohio, Texas, Sidney and Victor streets (Mary M. Stiritz)
– Laclede Gas Light Company Pumping Station G, 4401 Chouteau Avenue (Doug Johnson, Landmarks Association of St. Louis)
– Robert E. Lee Hotel, 209 N. 18th Street (Michael Allen, Landmarks Association of St. Louis)
– Royal Tire Service, Inc., Building, 3229 Washington Avenue (Karen Bode Baxter)
– Steelcote Manufacturing Company Paint Factory, 801 Edwin (Karen Bode Baxter)
– United Shoe Manufacturing Company Building, 2200-08 Washington Avenue (Karen Bode Baxter)
– William Cuthbert Jones House, 3724 Olive Street (Michael Allen, Landmarks Association of St. Louis)

Unfortunately, the following nominations did not receive approval from the council:

– General American Life Insurance Company National Headquarters, 706 Market Street (Melissa Winchester and Julie Woolridge, Lafser and Associates) — tabled
– Ramsey Accessories Manufacturing Corporation, 3693 Forest Park Boulevard (Matt Bivens, SCI Engineering) — motion to approve failed by vote of 3-6

These two buildings presented significant challenges despite histories that clearly make them eligible for listing. The General American building, completed in 1977, is less than fifty years old and therefore exceptional significance must be proven for listing. The council felt that the current nomination does not make the case strongly enough. The Ramsey building is sheathed in stucco that covers its historic features, and the council wants to see the stucco removed greatly before listing. Expect to see these two nominations revised and considered at the next council meeting in February 2007.

Categories
Downtown education

The Need for Architectural Education

by Michael R. Allen

Last week, the owners of the downtown office building where I work (917 Locust Street) had a worker spend time meticulously painting the steel doors at the rear exit and elevators. Meanwhile, the building is missing most of its downspout in rear, has a section of lobby ceiling that is unpainted after a repair and is generally fraught with more urgent maintenance issues.

While the intent of the owners seems to be future conversion to condos, making the deferred maintenance logical, the timing of the door painting was more than a little strange.

Sometimes it’s easy to conclude that very few people understand how buildings work. Would it not be great if someone undertook an educational project designed not to teach people about particular architectural styles or architects but about the mechanics of old buildings? From wealthy developers down to homeowners, the need for basic architectural education remains pressing.

Categories
North St. Louis Northside Regeneration

Map of Blairmont Holdings