Yes, You Can Force CVS to Do What You Want

I have been following the proposed demolition of the AAA Club on Lindell for a while now, but Vanishing St. Louis says it best here. While honestly, it's not the most urban building in the world, the AAA building is WAY better than the crap that the CVS chain builds. And speaking of them, despite what they claim, they can make buildings that respond to local tastes and context. This CVS, at the intersection of Henry and Clayton Roads, was forced to be a little more stylish than the average CVS. So yes, they will do it if you make them.

Honestly, I think the Preservation Board is a complete joke, more proficient at forcing small home owners to do their bidding than forcing major local power brokers to do what is right. I'll never forget the meeting where I saw the Board fine a private citizen for two freaking windows that weren't perfect enough for their tastes, while later on in the meeting they rolled over for a powerful local entity who shall remain anonymous. Basically, if the mayor's office or alderman wants the building saved, it will be, and if not, it's toast.

Heck, even Walgreen's tries a little bit harder if forced, as this store at Clayton and Clarkson Roads attests. Do I think these two stores I just showed are the pinnacles of Western architecture? Of course not, but they're slightly better than the average, ugly stores the two chains build.

The Italianate and Second Empire Legacy of Grand Center

While Grand Center and the surrounding neighborhoods are now well-known respectively for being the theater district of St. Louis and acres of parking lots and desolation, the area first saw life as a wealthy residential section of the city. While photographs commemorate the 1880-1900 housing stock of the area, very little of it remains, replaced by newer historic houses, skyscrapers and theaters.

But if you look closely, there are survivors of that earlier, more tranquil era of the neighborhood. On nearby Belle Place, a couple of houses scattered amongst later houses and vacant lots remind still stand.

This amazing Italianate country house sticks out on its block, several decades older than the surrounding building stock, and out of fashion by the Twentieth Century.

Nearby, a stately house with a Mansard roof represents the Second Empire history of the neighborhood. Interestingly, its newer neighbors have not survived.

Looking at the Sanborn Map for the street, it looks like there were probably numerous other Italianate and Second Empire houses on the block; the newer houses are four-squares but the map shows slender houses, more reminiscent of the older architectural styles.

If you look closely, you can see these first houses built on these streets all over the area west and east of Grand.

U.S. Steel Building, Old Empire Brewery

On Sarah, just north of Clayton Avenue and the railroad tracks is this interesting building, decked out with some intriguing ornament.

Currently, a large metal shop sits behind the building, but it is clearly much newer than the tan brick building with wonderful neoclassical details.

The lion heads, most likely in terracotta, give this building its distinctive character. I looked around, and could not figure out what this building was used for, but it may have been the office for the Empire Brewery, which once sat on this site.

The tell-tale U.S. Steel logo, which is affixed above the front door and most likely is original, points to the history of the building. I suspect that the famous steel company had a factory of some sort here, and the current metal shop is the descendent of the unique office building shown here.

Roundhouse Remnants, Clayton Avenue

Finally, after weeks of waiting for the weather to break, I made it out to the only extant ruins of a locomotive roundhouse left in the City of St. Louis. It is weed choked, and even in the winter much of the form of the of the building is obscured. You can see the roundhouse below, in the Sanborn map from the early 20th Century.

While the building is gone, the substructure is well preserved, and the actual turn table the locomotives would be turned on still survives. It seemed to be covered with blankets, but I saw no other evidence of people living on the site.

The large steel apparatus in the middle of the turn table perhaps provided electricity to the turntable, but I'm not sure.

What I found interesting is that I always had this image of the turntable being just that, a giant round disk that rotated all at once. In reality, the turntable, for lack of a better term, actually looks like more of a rotating bridge.

It is very cool to be able to see the round pit in which the turntable would have rotated, with a giant locomotive sitting on top of it.

It's hard to see, especially since dirt has been dumped on to of them, but the original concrete footings, presumably where the locomotives sat in the roundhouse, are still preserved as well. I know some roundhouses featured maintenance pits under the tracks, so the concrete may have been the sidewalks in between the rails. Nonetheless, it is a fascinating and forgotten relic of the past, right under the elevated lanes of Highway 40.

Washington Terrace Gate

I recently had my picture taken in front of the gates of Washington Terrace. The houses are just as architecturally significant and beautiful as any mansion on the more famous Portland or Westmoreland Places. The color of the brick, combined with the rich black stone creates a harmonious composition just south of the intersection of Union and Delmar.

Gates of these type are spread throughout the city, from Compton Heights to the old Vandeventer Place, to Washington Terrace.

Built right around the World's Fair, when the city was just starting to creep out to where the fair was located in western Forest Park, these houses supposedly housed visiting dignitaries to the fair. I don't know if that's necessarily true, but it makes for a good story, perhaps.

The combination of old world elements, like the rampant lion and the stark, "Norman Revival" architecture of the gatehouse itself, makes a stern message: the titans of St. Louis industry and politics live here, and you're not welcome.

Below is an historic photograph, showing the guardhouse before any of the houses have been built. It's so strange to see nothing but wide open spaces in one of the most intact portions of the city.

The two architects for the gate, Harvey Ellis, designed City Hall, Compton Hill Watertower and other notable buildings, and George Mann designed the recently featured St. Vincent's Hospital off of the Rock Road.

Full Moon Over Art Hill

Missing Roof

This house looks all messed up; judging from next door, there was once a much larger roof on this house.

Pipes

San Luis Legal Battle Continues

The Missouri Court of Appeals denied the Friends of the San Luis's appeal. Read the decision here. The message seems to be that if you want to get rid of a building you don't want, make sure to tear it down as quickly as possible, negating your opponents' efforts to stop your destructiveness.

Delmar Looking East from the Central West End

Inside the Cathedral

The Cathedral Basilica

Despite the controversy surrounding the San Luis and its destruction for more parking at the Cathedral, it still really is a wonderful, unique building.What is interesting is that the capitals on the columns and other small sculptural details appear to have been left uncarved. As has been common for millenia, sculptors often left the fine carving until the stone was in situ to protect against damage in transport of delicate stonework. It looks like they never got around to carving many of the stones at the cathedral.The late autumn light on the front was wonderful last Saturday.

Lake St. Louis, Central West End

I guess it's probably been too wet to get anything done, but still, the San Luis site is looking awful, with a couple outer walls still standing.

Last Remnants of the San Luis Are Gone