After reading in the news media that several buildings in the old American Car and Foundry Company were threatened with demolition, I traveled out to St. Charles to take a look. One building the Foundry Arts Center, is at the front of the complex at Clark and North Main Street.

It’s a huge complex, and closed in the early 1960s.

Conveniently, and as I have noted for breweries, the buildings are labeled so it helps us know what each building was used for!

The long building below is one of the targets for demolition for an apartment development.

As has been publicized in the news, another portion will be converted into a new city hall for St. Charles, which I think is a great adaptive reuse.

The buildings are striking, and the explanation for demolishing some of them is that they are prone to flooding, but wouldn’t their replacements also be exposed to the same hazard?

As St. Charles becomes “old” compared to much of the rest of St. Charles County, it needs to pivot and utilize its historic architecture to stay competitive.

This final building was a power plant, from what I understand. In the future, I will feature some historic photographs of the complex in operation.