Location: 1228 N. 9th Street; St. Louis, Missouri
Type of Project: Section 106 Mitigation
PRO Services: Historic Building Recordation
Commencement & Completion: 2012
The Cochran Tower Building at 1228 N. Ninth Street in St. Louis (Independent City), Missouri, was the only survivor of the 12-building John J. Cochran Garden Apartment public housing project, completed in 1952-53 and designed by Hellmuth, Yamasaki & Leinweber (same architects as Pruitt-Igoe). Originally one of twelve high- and mid-rise buildings on an 18-acre site, Cochran Tower now stands as the sole survivor amid a setting of two and three story multi-unit housing to the north, east, and west.  Housing to the north and south is new construction, part of the Hope VI project which has already replaced the other Cochran buildings.  Southeast is the three-story Cambridge Heights building, which has assumed the senior housing function formerly assigned to Cochran Tower.  To the east, the three-story  Neighborhood Gardens complex is recently rehabilitated.  Directly across 9th Street to the west, the row of 19th century housing that stood at the tower’s construction has been razed; the site is now a playground for the Patrick Henry School.
With federal funding in place for demolition to complete the conversion of the old project into the new mixed-income Cambridge Heights neighborhood, the St. Louis Housing Authority entered into a memorandum of agreement with the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. The SHPO determined that the tower was eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places, and required that demolition be mitigated by a recordation of the historic tower. PRO’s Lynn Josse was primary author of the recordation.