Stacy Park/Reservoir

Few people passing by on Olive Street Road in Creve Coeur realize they're passing a 100 million gallon reservoir for the City of St. Louis.

Built in conjunction with the Howard Bend Treatment Plant in the early 20th Century, the reservoir received water pumped uphill from the plant, and then gravity took the water downhill to the city.

There are a couple of interesting buildings around the site, and interestingly, I did not see a single sign stating the purpose of the structure. If you look at Google maps, you can see there is a right-of-way going east from the reservoir that is probably the path of the water pipe.

Rock Hill Presbyterian, Totally Gone

I drove over to Rock Hill Presbyterian last Thursday, expecting to see some jagged walls sticking out of the ground, slightly more dismantled than I had seen it the Saturday before. Instead, I saw nothing. The church was completely gone, and I gasped when it dawned on me what had happened. According to the Post-Dispatch, they took it down "carefully" in three hours, numbering stones as they went. I seriously doubt that. What a joke.

Fairfax House, bizarrely floating on steel stilts, had been moved to its corner of purgatory on the north end of the site, ridiculously close to the road and completely devoid of context. I feel bad for all of the people who have worked so hard restoring it to its past appearance.

Anyways, it's been long established that the leadership of Rock Hill are a bunch of revenue addicts, willing to do anything--even sell their grandmother's wedding ring, or historic church--for their next fix. I predict here now that at least one, possibly two, of the currently operating gas stations in Rock Hill will go out of business in the six months after the UGas opens. It will be interesting, and depressing, to see if the fiefdom even comes out of this with more tax revenue than before they sold their community's soul.

But what's truly pathetic is the decision of the Giddings-Lovejoy Presbytery to sell such an historic church to UGas, fully aware that it would mean its demise. Sure, it was the smart business decision, but certainly not the smart moral decision. While I'm sure the Presbytery had full legal title to the church, I would argue that they did not hold the spiritual title to it. It belongs to the slaves, immigrants and the generations of members who first built and then attended services for almost 170 years. Was their hard work and devotion so meaningless?

Rock Hill Presbyterian Demolition Continues

The demolition of Rock Hill Presbyterian continues, and the windows have now been removed and presumably stored for safe keeping.

The apse of the church has been removed, but I do not know if that was constructed of stone or not, judging from the foundations below where it once was.

The interior of the church is now visible, and the smell of old wood permeates the area.

I thought they said they're saving the stones, but there are dozens of stones tossed around the site. There is no sign of pallets, where the stone could be stacked safely.

The lintels above the windows have been removed as well, though I don't know if those are going to be saved either. I'm starting to suspect the rebuilding out in Warren County is going to be a far cry from the original church.

Rock Hill Presbyterian Being Destroyed

Time has run out for the historic Rock Hill Presbyterian, and the wrecking crews have arrived and have already largely demolished the 1950's Sunday School wing to the east of the church.

Honestly, having attended church in this building in the 1980's, that is not really any big loss; it was a classic example of "sick building syndrome" and detracted from the simplicity of the original rock church.

As of Saturday, the original stone church, renovated after a fire in the 1930's was still largely untouched, the stain glass windows in place; whether there is any interior demolition occurring I do not know.

So apparently a winery owner has bought the church, and it will be disassembled and moved to Warren County. Sounds good, but the original church will be gone; only its stones, moved to a new site and placed in different positions, will remain. The new church will be nothing more than a pastiche of the original structure. My favorite line from the Post-Dispatch article is this:

"But no one had anticipated that [the church] would be so expensive to move."

It's made out of stone! How easy did you think it was going to be?! The whole thing stinks, and I want to know what was really behind this whole deal to build this gas station. What is the IQ of the Rock Hill city council?

The aspect of the whole U-Gas proposal that mystifies me the most is the seemingly inhospitable lay of the land where this gas station will now go. As you can now see more easily, the site is actually a giant hollow, buffeted on the west by a giant retaining wall that holds up McKnight Road. Surely huge amounts of fill will have to be brought in to make the site usable as a gas station.

By the way, it bears repeating; there is a gas station a grand total of maybe 500 feet from the new gas station. How would you like to be the owner of that place?

And even more infuriatingly, there is a dumpy, run-down strip mall across the street. Geez, do you think that maybe the gas station--or even the church--could have possibly been moved there?

So in a couple of weeks, the "city" of Rock Hill (I use that term loosely) will still have one run-down strip mall and one less incredibly historic church. Does it make sense to you?

Movement on Rock Hill Presbyterian?

Supporters of saving the Rock Hill Presbyterian Church received a boost this week when the Rock Hill city council endorsed their plan to move the church. They didn't give them any money to do it, but it's an important first step.

Please Come Out and Speak in Favor of Saving History

Dear Friends:

This coming Tuesday evening the Rock Hill Board of Aldermen will conduct a vote to determine whether or not they will allow the historic Rock Hill Presbyterian Church and historic Fairfax House to be moved onto City owned property at 827 N. Rock Hill Road. This is the very last option left open to save this historic structure from the wrecking ball.

If the City turns down the business plan that has been submitted by savetherockhillchurch the church will be torn down in just a matter of weeks. There are simply NO other options left as we could not find a lot in close proximity to where the church currently stands.

We are asking all who care about this incredibly important structure to turn out for this meeting to show their support in saving this very historic structure. You don't need to speak. Just sit in a chair. Your presence speaks volumes.

For further details please see our website at www.savetherockhillchurch.org

Board of Aldermen Meeting
Tuesday, Feb. 7th at 7PM
The Rock Hill City Hall
320 West Thornton
Rock Hill, MO 63119
314-968-1410

Sincerely,
Donia Dymek Hunter
Fairfax Restoration Inc.

Rock Hill Presbyterian To Be Demolished

I normally don't get too controversial on this website, instead seeking to building consensus and appreciation for the saving of the historic built environment of St. Louis and its surrounding communities. For the planned demolition of Rock Hill Presbyterian, I cannot be diplomatic. Simply put, Rock Hill's cynical ploy to offer to save the structure if private citizens can magically find hundreds of thousands of dollars in a short period is reprehensible. Reading their offer, I realized I had heard the same such hollow olive branch from the owners of an historic mansion recently demolished in Kirkwood: "We're not bad guys, we love old buildings, but it's your fault, you crazy preservationists, because you couldn't come up with the money to move the building before our arbitrarily short deadline ran out."

Let's review some of the facts:

1) Rock Hill is allowing U-Gas to demolish a church built by slaves before the Civil War for a gas station.
2) Rock Hill already has three gas stations, which is already a violation of its own ordinance against having so many gas stations.
3) Rock Hill, infamous as a speed trap, has numerous abandoned store fronts lining Manchester Road.
4) Rock Hill currently has its city hall in a strip mall/run-down building.

I remarked to myself recently that Americans spend billions of dollars each year as tourists in iconic, beautiful cities such as Rome, London or Paris in order to experience what humanity has accomplished in the art of the urban environment. How sad it is that many Americans don't realize or care that we are free to make cities as beautiful as the aforementioned cities, but we choose a gas station over an historic structure. Let me ask you, would Rome allow the demolition of an historic church for a gas station?

Perhaps the church can still be saved, but it will require your help to do it. Start by visiting this site as well as their Facebook page and see what you can do.

I-55

I wish I could go back in time and tell the mayor of St. Louis that he was making the biggest mistake of his life by building the interstates through the heart of the city. Sixty years later, our nation is addicted to a product that can only be procured through great expense or from nations who use the revenue to oppress their own people, or even attack us. And more importantly, the interstates eviscerated the city, robbing it of cohesion, thousands of houses, and customers who would have added millions in tax dollars every year.

Garage, University City

I've seen this garage a million times, just south of Delmar in University City, and I've always been impressed with the beauty of the green terracotta tiles.And coupled with the roof of the main house, it creates a wonderful ensemble of green in a city of red brick.

Lever Soap Factory, Pagedale

I'm trying to find out more about the abandoned soap factory in Pagedale off of Pennsylvania Avenue. Did you or someone you know work there? Know anything about its history? I learned that it was only abandoned in 2001 when Lever "streamlined" its operations worldwide, after being in use for approximately fifty years.

Rock Hill Presbyterian Revisited

After having visited the Rock Hill Presbyterian Church back in March, I decided to swing by to snap some new pictures.It was shocking to see how out of control the weeds had gotten, with some growing to the size of small trees, despite not actually being trees. The Giddings-Lovejoy Presbytery's maintenance of the property, regardless of the final outcome, is shameful.More importantly, I wanted to document the church for myself before it is torn down. Luckily, I learned tonight that a six month moratorium has been placed on its demolition, while avenues for its removal to a new site are explored.Move a stone church? There isn't going to be anyone who has that kind of money. While the technology exists, it is totally unfeasible for this situation.The latest cry from the pro-business lobby towards preservationists is that they should buy these buildings if they want to save them. That is a specious argument. While the church is private property, it is part of all of our history. Built by slaves before the Civil War, it was once a simple country church, as you can see in this photo. Some things, like our history, are more important than revenue.A fire in the 1930'a necessitated a renovation, and logically the architects turned to fashionable Gothic Revival, a style you can see represented all over Central St. Louis County.
I will be honest; the 1958 Sunday School wing could be sacrificed if the gas station has to be built, but even when it was built it was not a simple or modest design as this original rendering shows.The intersection of Rock Hill/McKnight and Manchester Roads is already a travesty, and the church on its corner is the only vestige of Rock Hill being anything other than just a bland suburban intersection. Huge numbers of storefronts sit empty near the church, either a symbol of the economy, or as I suspect, overbuilding on the part of the city, who, like all other St. Louis County municipalities, is seeking to increase their meager slice of the tax pie that the county possesses. I also suspect that the city is hurting financially after the recent retirement of one of their top earners.Rock Hill has long had a reputation as a speed-trap, and while the city fathers have repeatedly voiced their support for the aggressive speed enforcement of their police department, I must state that the city's reputation has clearly affected business. I know many people who will not shop (or even pass through) Rock Hill out of this fear.So in review, the city of Rock Hill is allowing the demolition of an historic church, originally built with slave labor, for the construction of a gas station, because they probably need the tax revenue.Yes, a gas station.

Modernist Bank Re-Skin, Webster Groves

I strongly suspected that this building, a bank, received its arcaded front some time in the 1960's. The brick wall just looked older, or not quite right.Ah ha, looking at the wall facing the alley, you can see a dentilated cornice, that reveals that this bank was once constructed in a different style.

Cool Apartment Building, Webster Groves

This post-modern looking apartment building is right on Lockwood, in the heart of Webster Groves, but I think it fits in well with the street wall, relatively.I was expecting a pool in the courtyard, but unfortunately there's just a parking lot. I love the repeating concrete blocks.

Webster Groves Train Stations

Webster Groves was a city built by the access to railroads, and the two major stations that served the area still stand. The one in downtown Webster Groves is now a Montessori school, while the southern train station, serving the Frisco Line, sits empty, though well-preserved. Sitting right by the tracks, one must wonder what use it could serve. Perhaps a small company would be a perfect tenant.

Eden Seminary, Webster Groves

Eden Seminary, in Webster Groves features a beautiful, if standard English Gothic main building, but I'm more intrigued by the library built in the lawn in front of the older academic hall.The massing of this strange, Brutalist building seems to be the same as some traditional depictions of the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem.Take a look for yourself here, and see if there's a correlation. It would make sense, considering it's a seminary's library.