Castle Ballroom

The Castle Ballroom, nominated for the National Register of Historic Places, is a little rough around the edges right now, but is still a stable and important building.

One of the few buildings left from the historic Mill Creek neighborhood, the ballroom provided entertainment for around fifty years.

While it's described as Renaissance Revival in the nomination, I would have to disagree; it is more of a severe example of classical revival architecture, though I see one element, the curved lintel over the first floor door is inspired by the architecture of Michelangelo.

Originally red brick, it was painted the garish yellow sometime later. Though in St. Louis, with its wide variety of colored bricks, it is sometimes hard to tell.

"The Disposable Neighborhood"

"122 Eyes"

I found this old video for social services in St. Louis; it features some fascinating views of a St. Louis now largely gone. I suspect some of the footage is from the central corridor demolished in the 1950's and 60's.

Sole Survivor, Scott Avenue

Why is this building still here, and the other fifty building within a two block radius all gone? It is one of the great mysteries of urban renewal; why do the wrecking balls only take 98% of the building stock, and not 100%?

Was the owner particularly tenacious, or had a friend who could provide inexpensive legal representation? Was it owned by a large corporation? Did the owners have friends at City Hall?

Regardless, looking for the UPS depot one day in Google Maps, I spotted this sole survivor of the clearing of Mill Creek Valley.

Dixie Cream Donuts seems to still be in business, but I'm not sure if it's the same company. Just look at the Sanborn map below; can you imagine the bustling neighborhood below before it was destroyed for the interstates?

Missouri Pacific Roundhouses in Between Compton and Cardinal North of Chouteau

I also determined that there was a large brick roundhouse right in the middle of the Mill Creek Valley just east of Compton Ave. The two Sanborn maps show the whole complex; for a sense of place, the little wood roundhouse is the same structure in both maps.

No traces of the roundhouses remain, and the entire area is now occupied by what I think was the Villa Lighting Warehouse.

Union Station Train Shed

Such an amazing space, and in my opinion much more useful as a wide open space, clear of impediments.We will see what the future holds for the train shed.

Union Station, Interior

Wow, it's been a while but Union Station's mall is just about empty. What were once Dierdorf and Harts and a bookstore now sit empty. Abandonment is sort of like a snowball; if it starts rolling it can be hard to stop the momentum.But on a happier note, the hotel is still just as stunningly beautiful as it has always been since its renovation. The side lobby still elicits the same sense of style that it had a hundred years ago.The detailing, with its gilding and Romanesque Revival elements are still crisp and clean.The lighted floor, which my father said were once common throughout the United States, still impresses me.

Union Station

I've always been impressed with the exterior of Union Station, a grand edifice that sits on what was once Chouteau's Pond, as well as Mill Creek.Once the busiest train station in the world, it is much more quiet nowadays. I let the limestone, Richardsonian Romanesque Revival building speak for itself.

Grand Hall, Union Station

The Grand Hall of the Union Station hotel always impressed me as a child. Coming back as an adult, it still impresses me for different reasons.For a turn of the century, Richardsonian Romanesque building, this hall is one of the most perfectly preserved that I have seen, and not cluttered with later additions or other alterations.The stained glass is stunning as well, complementing the the lavish interior of the vault.

Council Plaza and Grand Center Part 2: Urban Renewal

Above is a Sanborn Fire Insurance map of the intersection of Forest Park and Grand Boulevards, where the Council Plaza would later rise in the 1960's. As can be seen in the map, Forest Park used to dead-end at Grand, at a now gone Handlan Park. Looking to the east on the map, one can see the western end of the sprawling Mill Creek Valley, torn down in the 1950's.Looking at this aerial photo east towards downtown, the extent of the clearance of Midtown unfolds for the viewer. It is stunning at how much was demolished, and in its place the familiar snaking path of Highway 40 (actually built on top of Market Street or Manchester Avenue) as well as the other on-ramps and other streets built in the aftermath of the wholesale clearance.What is fascinating is the viewer can track the building of Council Plaza; first Grandview Apartments went up, and the remaining three buildings, including Council Tower. Below, one of the first developments built was Laclede Town, once a model for urban renewal but not mostly torn down and replaced by green fields for SLU and Harris Stowe around Compton Avenue.I've been told that Mill Creek still flows through a sewer in the area. Ironically, sixty years since clearance, some land still sits vacant.

All photos from "This is Our St. Louis" by Harry M. Hagen.

Council Plaza and Grand Center Part 1: Beginnings

There has been much talk recently about the fate of the former DelTaco building in Grand Center; the gas station turned taco stand was part of the Council Plaza development, which transformed the area in the 1950's and 60's as the nearby Mill Creek Valley was demolished to the east of Grand, creating what locals called Hiroshima Flats. But long before the rise of Grand Center as an entertainment district and St. Louis's second downtown, it was a fashionable residential neighborhood, due west of the original core of the city. Above is the intersection of Grand and WashingtonMere blocks from the declining private street of Vandeventer Place, in its time the most exclusive address in the city, people lived in squalor. Outside latrines besmirched the beautiful, but dilapidated Second Empire masterpieces that had long been cut up into rooming houses. Beyond a doubt, the living conditions of the streets west of Union Station and east of Grand were unacceptable, but the choice for wholesale clearance is debatable. Lafayette Square has proven that even the most rundown neighborhoods can be returned to their former beauty.
To the south, the stately Grand Viaduct took traffic over the Mill Creek Valley, carefully assuring that the middle and upper classes of St. Louis could avoid the more unjust living conditions of the city. Tomorrow, we will look at how the Council Plaza development helped reshape the heart of Grand Center.

All photos from "This is Our St. Louis" by Harry M. Hagen.

Touring Mill Creek, 1940's