St. Louis County Balkanization, Zoning and In-Fill Battles Continue

This post could perhaps alternately be entitled "Four Corners," because it is very much the story of how four corners can have so different fates. Starting from top to bottom:

1) The site of a large house that has sat empty for seven years, in Ballwin.2) Picardy Estates, a subdivision of attached homes in Chesterfield.
3. Marquette High school in Chesterfield as well.4. Finally, a bank in Clarkson Valley.
If the reader has been paying attention, he or she will note that three different suburbs control the intersection of Clarkson Road and Kehrs Mill Road, two old farm roads laid out in the 1840's or 1850's and never designed or platted to successfully channel large amounts of suburban commuter traffic.The corner in Ballwin, now the site of a large house and thick forested growth, is now slated to become a Schnuck's grocery store. Why? There are many issues, most notably the blatant decline of the city of Ballwin in the last ten years. The aging commercial strip along Manchester Road is obsolete and so choked with traffic as to be one of the most horrible places to drive, let alone walk, in the entire St. Louis metropolitan area--if not in the entire United States. The second issue is large chains seeking to poach off of their competitors' customers, successfully or not. The Clarkson corridor is flooded with grocery stores, and Schnuck's is undoubtably jealous of more upscale Dierberg's, Whole Foods and Straubs getting a piece of the action while Schnuck's sits on a run-down and decrepit store on Manchester.
The city of Ballwin, doomed by its suburban sprawl model, is grasping at straws as it attempts to revive its tax base and steal revenue from its neighbors. Chesterfield Valley, in all of its venal banality, is actually a more pleasant place to shop than Manchester Road, and increasingly smaller suburbs such as Ballwin must break its own laws in a frantic attempt to chase the almighty tax dollar.How can this be done better? Easily, with the combination of the 91 municipalities into preferably one, or maybe at the most twenty larger suburbs that are more economically viable. We see the desperation of tiny--no, minuscule--municipalities in North County and their speed traps, and we see the desperation of older suburbs such as Ballwin look on as their poorly built strip malls vacate and flee to the newly built north of Chesterfield. Then, just maybe, if we can come together and put our own individual desires behind us, we will see an end to the balkanization of our metropolitan area.

Hofbrau Haus, Peoria, Illinois

Morton, Illinois Wooden Bumper

Peoria County Courthouse

Amidst the desertion of downtown Peoria on the weekend, we came across this magnificent example of modernist architecture from the 1950's. Read about it here.

Theodore Link Dairy Barn

The luxurious community of St. Albans apparently could not find money to save a National Register Building; the stone barn was intact until just the last year, when most of it was demolished, save for two round turrets. It was designed by the famed St. Louis architect, Theodore Link. Read about it here at the bottom of the page.

Centaur and Old Slave Road

Far out in western St. Louis County are the remnants of past industries, towns and plantations. The hamlet of Centaur, now just a part of Chesterfield, is one such example of a place where people lived and worked in greater numbers than now. See it from the air here.The large building sitting near the tracks appears to be an old station or hotel that is still in relatively good condition. According to the Chestefield city website, the town was founded around the Centaur Lime Company, now long defunct.And finally, perhaps the most mysteriously named road in St. Louis County, Old Slave Road. Most logically, the name--which is not signed at the road's intersection with Wild Horse Creek Road--denotes a place where a plantation existed or freed slaves once lived.Something tells me the inhabitants of the road nowadays are a little embarrassed of the name, hence the lack of a road sign. You can see it from the air here.

Washburne Trade School Comng Down

Reading around the web, I found out that the fabled Washburne Trade School in Chicago is being demolished as we speak.

Joan's Trophy

St. Francis Medical Center, Peoria, Illinois

This massive medical campus dominates the hill above downtown Peoria. See it from the air here.

Commerce Bank Building, Peoria, Illinois

It seems that every major city in America had that one distinctive skyscraper back in the day. Peoria's is definitely the Commerce Bank Building, built in 1920 and designed by the firm Hewitt & Emerson.


Next door is an additional tower, designed in the Modernist style of architecture and linked by a one store connecting structure to the older building.

Adkins Apartments, Peoria, Illinois

I was going to photograph one of the weirdest collections of buildings in Peoria, but of course, when I got there, it had already been demolished. If you look at the cluster of buildings here, just to the left of the red roofed building, a great German restaurant, you can see what once stood there. I loved the funky concrete block wall, which strangely has so far avoided demolition.

Racing Back Before the Storm

Abandoned Farm House Outside Washington, Illinois

I had seen this abandoned farmstead on Old Highway 24, between Washington and Eureka, Illinois. Realizing that a tornado or strong winds, or just simply the owner, could demolish the structure any day, I convinced my parents to stop by on the way back from dropping my grandmother off in Eureka after a wonderful German dinner in Peoria.The house sits up front, close to the road and still maintains a semblance of its original dignity. It looks like many farmhouses around here, but obviously worse for wear.Around back is either a barn, or a corn crib. It was hard to tell through all of the underbrush that has exploded due to the large amounts of rain and sunshine.Storm clouds were brewing, just am hour after driving to Eureka in the setting sunshine. I jumped back in the car, and told my father to hit the gas back to Morton.

Peppermill, Morton, Illinois

The Peppermill Restaurant and Motel (whose name escapes both my family and myself) once served as THE place to dine and stay in the Morton, Illinois area in the late 1960's and 70's. As can be seen here, the Peppermill is long defunct, after serving briefly as an antique mall.The wagon wheels, anachronistic farm wagon and other junk in the parking lot date from the antique mall period.Out back, a portion of the motel has been demolished, revealing the concrete slab that the rooms once sat on.The sense of desolation is palatable; I was anxious to photograph the motel before it was completely demolished for redevelopment. With the explosion of national chain hotels nearby, the Peppermill seems like it is doomed to the wrecking ball.I will never forget back in 1983 or 84 when my family, in the middle of a blizzard, were not able to make it down the road to my grandparents' farm. After almost getting stuck in a ditch, we made it back to Morton where we stayed the night. The next morning, my grandfather or one of his neighbors had plowed the road, allowing us to safely reach our destination.

Self Portrait, Church of Il Gesù

I had to lighten this photo with Windows Photo Editor because I took this picture into a slanted mirror on the floor after the lights had been turned out on the ceiling of the church. I think it turned out really well regardless, complete with my wild hair from hours pounding the pavement in Rome.

Heading Out of Town

Lyda Krewson Memorial Parking Lot Approved

Today's the Day