Bartmer Avenue, West End

Tucked in the bend of Page Avenue are two blocks of stunning homes from the turn of the century. Laid out on curving streets like Compton Heights, Bartmer Avenue is a little rough around the edges now, but still filled with beautiful houses, including these two. I also realized I had been very close to this street several years ago, while exploring Chamberlain Avenue, but the blocked streets prevented its discovery until now.

The nearby Union Methodist Church owns the house above, and the church's guard, Derek, told us that a man once came and offered to buy the house itself and haul it away to another site. They declined.

Union Methodist is a stunning example of Modernist architecture, and look for a post in the future about this amazing building, perfectly intact for sixty years, at my colleague's site, B.E.L.T.

Borderlands, Skinker Parkway and Kienlen Avenue

Most St. Louisans have driven Skinker between Highway 40 and Delmar, but it continues on for several more miles and changes its name to Kienlen Avenue, skirting the border of the city and county.

What is surprising is the large number of relatively recent, if certainly bombed-out apartment complexes lining the street.

The area, long rural throughout St. Louis's history, has a distinctive suburban quality to it. It doesn't seem like a great place to live without a car, but it seems many of the residents rely on public transit.

There is still a lot of activity, as this seafood restaurant in a former Church's Chicken(?) attests. It might not always be pretty, but it is certainly still alive.

The Neighborhoods Around Lewis Place

North St. Louis is just one gigantic wasteland, right? Wrong, particularly just north of the Central West End, around the historic Lewis Place, the streets are lined with houses just as stately as those to the south of Delmar.

In fact, the entire western end of the city, stretching to the city limits, was once the wealthiest part of the city. While Lafayette Square was full of boarding houses and factories, its wealthy residents long departed, the areas around the West End teamed with some of the most important leaders in St. Louis industry, including the DeWitts, who lived on West Cabanne Place.

These neighborhoods survived suburban flight, but they're now at a critical stage where many of the residents, having bought the houses in the 1960's, are now passing away or moving out of the neighborhood. As with all neighborhoods, the question remains: who will replace them? Will young, energetic people move in and update the houses for the new millennium, or will suburban slumlords buy them and turn them into decrepit rental properties that breed crime?

Tan Brick Up North in the West End

I live on the south side; its north and south streets make it hard to get a sense of place sometimes in relation to downtown, unless you're on Gravois. But up north, the street grid is actually aligned not with the cardinal directions, but rather logically with the shortest, "as the crow flies" route. And because of that, the streets and avenues of the north side often times provide you with fantastic views of downtown.

Likewise, out by Fountain Park, Lewis Place and the West End (not to be confused with the Central West End), the brick starts to change from that ubiquitous red to tan.

Obviously, tastes and styles change, but I almost wonder if brick manufacturers throughout St. Louis felt that need to compete and try to find the next trend in brick. Regardless, it's an interesting change of pace to see an area so full of non-red brick buildings.

Even the red brick has evolved on this magnificent former synagogue; the brick has a different, richer red surface coat compared to the classical red brick deeper in the city.

Page and Union

I'll be honest; I haven't followed the issues surrounding the ongoing fight to demolish this lovelorn commercial building at the corner of Page and Union Blvds over the last couple of years. When I went up to photograph the building on Friday, it was only the second time I had even seen the building. For more in-depth information on the issues of this building, turn to Ecology of Absence, which has carefully documented the ongoing efforts to demolish this building.What is striking to me about this building is not necessarily its architecture, which is unique, with inset bay windows alternating with pilasters on the second floor, but rather the pastiche of various mom and pop stores that occupied the building over the years. They represent a rich history of commercial activity that once anchored this corner of the West End.Something's fishy, including the fact that demolition most likely began before actually obtaining a demolition permit.The backside of the building is gone, most likely illegally demolished, or perhaps the natural decay was accelerated through the removal of windows or roofs.The building is trashed on the interior, but well within the realm of being viable for rehabilitation. From what I've heard, though, no one will have the opportunity.While preservation efforts often focus on the more "well-traveled" parts of the city such as Downtown or the South Side and the Central West End or even the area within the clutches of the McKee plan, I am worried that the less well documented areas of the North Side west of Grand will slowly and silently slip away as attention is turned elsewhere. Much of Wells-Goodfellow, the West End and Walnut Park are in the same stages of urban deconstruction that faced JeffVanderLou, St. Louis Place or Hyde Park thirty years ago. Thirty years from now, will that huge swath of land west of Grand, south of I-70, north of Delmar and east of the city limits be the target of yet another wacky, silent attempted conquest as is now unfolding further east? I hope not.

West End North into Wells-Goodfellow

Chamberlain Avenue, West End

Chamberlain Avenue is a unique corner of the West End; in the span of a block of this curving street are a handful of stunning houses, stately apartments and even some ranch houses. See it from the air.

West Cabanne Place

I had the pleasure of finally seeing West Cabanne Place two weekends ago. It is truly spectacular in its sense of neighborhood cohesion; people actively checked out what I was doing on their block instead of being apathetic. Likewise, the neighborhood president greeted me when I walk by; we struck up a conversation about the street. We need more streets citizens care about.

Funky Apartments in the West End

I was intrigued by what looked to be 1950's in-fill on a now desolate street in the West End. What is the story behind this place? Why did it decline so quickly?

Page Boulevard

Page Boulevard is one of the great avenues that passes straight through North St. Louis, providing a fascinating view straight toward the Mercantile Tower, or whatever it's called this week. Lining the grand boulevard is an amazing mix of public and private buildings, often loving preserved or severely deteriorating.Much of the housing is abandoned, collapsing and destitute, but yet still clings to a certain dignity; it could be easily renovated if there was the willpower.This building above sits in relatively good condition, illustrating how simple maintenance protects historic structures easily.I would love to have a Corinthian portico on my house! This august residence above needs some restoration, but its columns with their acanthus capitals could come back to life.This former synagogue is now under the protection of another congregation, keeping it safe for the time being.But yet, some life clings to buildings such as the ones above; perhaps Page came return to its former glory.

Checking Up on North St. Louis

I decided to get out and photograph some new places on the North Side, and check up on some old favorites. While I was inspired by some grand new buildings and some great little secrets, overall I was greatly disheartened at the general decline that has continued in the area.First off, above, is a beautiful apartment building now under demolition in the West End. I can't believe that such a great building could get to this point.Also, the commercial building on Page at Union continues to sit in limbo, rotting as the church next door capriciously hopes for its collapse, I assume.The general condition of housing on Page Blvd, a short drive to downtown, continues to suffer the fate of thousands of buildings before them; such inspired architecture is not easily replaced by the short sighted aldermen of the city.Much to my chagrin, the deterioration of my favorite church on the North Side, St. Augustine in western St. Louis Place, has apparently suffered a serious loss of copper sheathing along the parapet of the nave. Not good; I know a congregation is holding on in the massive edifice, but I am wondering if the weight of preservation costs is starting to overwhelm their resources. This seems to have just happened, as I photographed the church relatively recently and it was fine; one piece of copper now rests on top of the front entry doorway.Likewise, the current owners of Bethlehem Lutheran seem hell-bent on running their majestic church into the ground; the only thing that's changed in this picture is the lushness of the weeds and trees growing around them.The house above appears to have changed little since I first documented it after the arson spree of last summer in St. Louis Place and JeffVanderLou, as can be seen here from my post last year.And finally, brick rustling seems alive and well in one small corner of the city west Jefferson; I have not seen such a completely harvested house such as this one in a long time.

The verdict from my Saturday examination is not good; it seems the continued failed policies and short sighted, selfish motives of individuals continue to set back the northern half of the city. Will new leadership in the Board of Aldermen change the tide of neglect?