Wendy's, East St. Louis

For some reason, when they tore down the rest of the Wendy's, they left the sign. On the other side it says "CLSED."

Also, I will be presenting about the exciting future of St. Louis Patina at 7:00 PM at the Contemporary Art Museum on July 12th, in conjunction with PechaKucha St. Louis. I hope to see you there.

Venice Power Plant, Half Gone

I've been fascinated by the demolition of the Venice Power Plant, which I've covered before in the past.

Unlike a lot of demolitions, which start with the clearing of the interior, the demolition here is proceeding from front to back, revealing the still intact interior spaces before they're torn down.

I know nothing about power plants, other than they burn coal, creating steam that powers a generator; perhaps what those giant funnels do is pour coal down into the boilers.

There are four of them, and there were once four smokestacks, so I presume that is what they are.

There is a whole complex of other outbuildings, which I presume will be torn down as well.

If you or anyone you know worked in this plant, I would love to hear from you.

Armour Meat Packing Plant's End Coming Soon

Armour Meat Packing Plant, June 23, 2012

A couple of years ago, the new Mississippi River Bridge website published the following satellite image of the path of the Illinois approaches to the new bridge. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that only a portion of the historic stockyards around the old mule pens were in the way of the new road. My favorite ruin in the St. Louis area, Armour Meat Packing, sat uncomfortably close, but nonetheless safe for the time being.

You can understand my chagrin when I recently visited the site and found this new satellite image had been uploaded. If you look closely, you can see that new access road planned to be perpendicular to the new I-70 ends right in front of the main buildings of Armour. I would assume they plan on extending that road further, which of course would go right through the plant. Perhaps it's time for you to see it before it's gone.

Old Army Munitions Plant

Not much has been happening to the old Army Munitions Plant since it was demolished several years ago.

Apparently the site was polluted, but it sits amidst a large group of warehouses and other industrial use facilities.

Other than illegal dumping, not much else is happening here.

The Horseshoe, Completely Gone

I had the opportunity to get a ride up to the infamous Horseshoe, a section of one way street that loops around a desolate corner of Wells-Goodfellow.

I asked one of my students, a St. Louis police officer, about the area, and he informed me that he actually grew up on the Horseshoe, and its terrible, violent reputation was well deserved.

Sadly, what a developer had thought would be a perfect neighborhood where children could play in the streets without fear of vehicular traffic became a recipe for another kind of traffic. Since the street was one way, the police had to enter at the top of the Horseshoe, providing plenty of time for drug dealers on the lower half of the loop to be warned of their approach by their confederates.

The official explanation for the Horseshoe's demolition was that it was in a flood plain and the land was needed for MSD's use as a retention pond.

Maybe so, but I can't help but think it worked out well that Wells-Goodfellow was finally rid of this street.

It's so sad to see what was clearly a beautiful quiet oasis in the city to come to this. Every house is gone now.
Watch a sensationalized show about the area.

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.

3719 Texas Flounder

Built in 1884, one year before its brick neighbor, this wood frame half flounder seems relegated to the scrap heap after tomorrow. It's a shame, because it could at the bare minimum provide a nice porch to its neighbor.

Holy Name Catholic Church, East Central Kansas City

I have no idea why Holy Name Catholic Church is being torn down, except that shortsighted leaders see more value in the cut stone than in the stunning work of Gothic Revival structure they're destroying.

Nominated for the National Register of Historic Places, it is now being torn down, one stone at a time, until what you see here is all that is left of the church.

You would think this is in some completely bombed out neighborhood, but in reality the neighboring blocks are relatively stable, with beautiful rehabs and new, seemingly expensive houses.

I guess they thought that an historic church was a detriment to their property values? More so than a vacant, weed-choked lot?

As I always say, just because you lack the imagination to see this church restored to its former glory instead of demolished, doesn't mean you should get in the way of someone, maybe not even born yet, who has the vision and drive to find a new use for the church.

Read about the history behind the church in the 1960's here.

The images remind me of pictures of post-war Germany after it had been bombed at the end of World War II.

See it from the air here, before most of the church was demolished.

In just a few short months, the entire church will be gone, and its striking presence will be gone as well.

As you can see, the stone is being carefully stacked and hauled off to another location. How stupid and short-sighted...

"Obsolete" and "Blighted" Neighborhoods

This was the plan that basically condemned a large portions of the buildings inside Grand as "obsolete." While it might be trivial, much of what was labeled thus was in fact torn down. "Blighted" areas are now some of the most prized, and in some cases, the most troubled areas of the city today. Thank God they didn't get their way completely.

What They Wanted to Do to Soulard

This was the plan to completely demolish Soulard and turn it into the suburbs.

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.

Pevely Dairy, Coming Down

The Pevely Dairy complex is being torn down, though you might not necessarily see it from Grand.

In fact, the street facade is still perfectly preserved until SLU gets the necessary demolition permit, so perhaps there is still a chance they'll see the light.

The office building isn't the perfect urban building, but replacing the glass block windows with better windows would go a long way to making it look much better.

In the meantime, go enjoy the uniqueness of this structure, from the white bricks forming the Pevely name on the smokestack...

...to the little patches of green terracotta high up on the parapet of the office building.

When the new Grand Bridge opens this year, commuters will not have to worry about any pesky buildings blocking sight lines at the corner, and can confidently fly around the corners with little worry of anything coming--certainly not pedestrians, other than the few unlucky souls who transfer buses at this most forlorn corner.