Just south of Glencoe on Missouri Highway 109 is Marycliffe, which is a Marianist retreat set along the bluffs of the Meramec River. I stumbled on the retreat center recently, and its 1967 building, which we’ll look at first. I couldn’t find any signs of anyone on the property. This was originally the land of…
Tag: West County
Chapel, Maryville University
When the old Maryville College and its chapel was left behind, the new Maryville University in West County soon built replacements for those accoutrements of the past. Built in 1981, the Huttig Chapel reflect the architecture of the time. I like it. The Crown of Thorns forms the handles for the front doors. Inside, a…
Sears Demolished, Chesterfield Mall
The former Sears has been demolished at the Chesterfield Mall site, which culminates the clearing of the buildings for redevelopment. The former Macy’s and eventually reopened Dillard’s buildings will remain.
Theaters Demolished, Chesterfield Mall
The last expansion to Chesterfield Mall, the AMC theater with a food court, Borders and Cheesecake Factory, was demolished in the last couple of weeks.
Chesterfield Mall, Demolition, March 2025
Demolition is proceeding rapidly at Chesterfield Mall, and the target of finishing in May seems like it will be easily met. We last stopped by in December of last year and interior demolition was still occurring, and now the entire mall portion has been torn down, leaving only the anchors. Presumably the old movie theater…
Former Deep Springs Farm
An interesting relic of St. Louis County’s attempt to build a poor farm in the southwest corner of St. Louis County lies buried inside the innards of a hotel built in 1980. It is just north of the small hamlet of Allenton. Two stone barns, built as the next poor farm, are now conference center…
Chesterfield Mall, Under Demolition
While demolition officially commenced on October 15, exterior signs of the deconstruction of the almost fifty year old Chesterfield Mall have only just begun to show on the exterior. Completion is set for an ambitious deadline of April of 2025. Much of the material is marked for recycling, including grinding up the concrete, etc. Two…
Lake School, Revisited
Update: Creve Coeur has demolished the school; no word on whether the city will rename the park something different than Lake School Park. Well, this came out of left field. Creve Coeur wants to demolish the historic Lake School, which I looked at back on New Year’s Eve of 2021. I went by a couple…
Looking Back, Chesterfield Mall
Chesterfield Mall officially closed forever on August 31, and I was told by management that demolition will begin earlier than planned. The mall originally opened on September 1, 1976, so it made it 48 years. Back when it was built, the area was largely fields, as can be seen above and in an aerial photo…
Gumbo
Where there is now a Walgreen’s, a McDonald’s, a gas station and an entrance ramp onto Interstate 64/Highway 40, there was once a small town named Gumbo, which lay in the larger area known as Gumbo Flats, rechristened Chesterfield Valley nowadays. Settlement occurred out here early with the Long Family being prominent; Chesterfield Airport Road…