Update: The remaining houses on the north side of the street have been demolished.

Two buildings on St. Louis Avenue in JeffVanderLou apparently had become something of celebrities due to some graffiti someone had painted on them years ago. I came by while they were in the process of being demolished; the one on the right was already gone and the one on the left, pictured above, was about to be torn down in the next day or so. I personally failed to see the genius of the graffiti, and while I wish the houses had never been attacked by brick thieves, I thought it was for the best that at least the one on the right was finally demolished for the safety of the residents of the neighborhood. You can see what they looked like before demolition; no one should be forced to live near a building in such a dangerous state of ruin.

For some reason this car was sitting in this lot where a really nice building used to sit on the southwest corner of Glasgow and St. Louis Avenue (third photo down in this post).

I also came across this warehouse that I had never noticed before.

Update: Destroyed by fire on the night of September 14, 2023.

Meanwhile, I remembered that a reader had mentioned having observed a major collapse on the west side of the Mullanphy Emigrant Home. I happened to be in the area and also saw how bad it was. This is not good and it needs to be fixed soon. I guess the plans announced in the news a couple years ago are not happening.

Update: Almost exactly a year later, another nearby warehouse burned down in 2021.

Then, in the middle of October, two fires struck buildings in Old North St. Louis and St. Louis Place, both owned by Paul McKee. Even the fire chief voiced concern about the coincidence. I personally have never believed the conspiracy theories about McKee setting fire to his own buildings, but that does not mean that an arsonist is not taking advantage of the abandonment caused by his failed redevelopment plans.

The other building damaged by fire was on the south side of St. Louis Avenue just west of North Florissant Avenue; it is still salvageable and worth being preserved.