The sign on the Sun Theater was never really historic or part of the building originally, so it’s been removed, and now for the first time in at least a long time, you can now see what the facade was supposed to look like, minus the cement mixer. Progress is coming along nicely.
Month: August 2013
Embarrassing Blight on One of the Most Important Thoroughfares in St. Louis
Update: The last public housing tower was demolished in 2015. Imagine, instead of the Church’s Chicken, stately mansions once sitting on this exact stretch of North Grand just blocks from Powell Hall. Luckily, some of those houses still exist, but sadly, they sit in a state of decay. In the background, the last vestige of…
Scruggs Memorial Methodist Church
This large church, sitting on what is now a triangle block, is certainly beautiful, and an excellent example of many churches in St. Louis with a curved, auditorium style sanctuary. Opened in 1884 and designed by Thomas Annan, it is now missing its peaked roof on its bell tower. But what is interesting to me…
A Depressing Sight, North Grand Center
Update: This is the Charles F. Duncker House, which was torn down in the Fall of 2013; see the interior here during demolition, and read more about its history here. Around 1925, it functioned as a Jewish community center. Some of the stone from the house has now been incorporated into the outside portion of…
Merchant Laclede Building
Update: I revisited the building in the spring of 2021 with photos from the summer of 2019. Along with the Security Building, the Merchant Laclede Building is the other major remnant of the early office buildings sitting on Fourth Street in the old financial district. Shorn of a corner dome and classical pediment in an…
Security Building
The Security Building is an important link to the commercial core of St. Louis before the arrival of Chicago School skyscrapers further west, not particularly tall, and architecturally unique. Located on what was once called the “Wall Street of the West,” surely it is no coincidence the Federal Reserve is located next door. The Security…
RW Meat Co.
I suspect that these buildings once had much older façades that were later torn off and replaced in the 1930’s. What a unique solution to updating the buildings for their times, if not the most aesthetically pleasing.
Old Jewish Hospital, Demolition Impending
The old Jewish Hospital at Forest Park Avenue and Kingshighway certainly is a landmark in St. Louis history; read this article to get a sense of that. But I can’t say that I am terribly enamored with the architecture of the old building. While it won awards for its modernity in 1927 when it opened,…
Old Marine Hospital
Important New Update: April 2019. Those looking for records or loved ones from the Salvation Army Booth Memorial Hospital should know that institution was further down Marine Avenue, in a building that is now a school. After having contacted the Salvation Army, I received a response stating that anyone looking for records for the Booth…