Good news! If you were worried that your dreams of owning the building that housed the famous Club Imperial have been dashed, your fears are unfounded!
It really is a beautiful building, and if you look carefully, you can see how the architect bent the building to follow the bend in West Florissant Avenue. Hardly any developer would give their architect the freedom to design such a site-sensitive plan today.
I find it fascinating how the storefront spaces on the first floor each took on their own personalities over the decades, as well.
The architecture is eclectic, and shows how buildings often had a mix of different sources for their inspiration.
And like an urban environment, valuable store frontage was preserved, and the ballroom was placed upstairs, accessible by just a staircase off the first floor.
Thanks for posting. I was looking for current info on the Club Imperial and wondering if it was still there. Do you know who the current owner is? As a full time St Louis musician/educator I would hate to see this place torn down, but know it would take a substantial effort to try and rehab it. Thanks again
The current owner is the Land Reutilization Authority of St. Louis.
Besides Club Imperial upstairs, Bruno’s Batcave was someplace in there. Bruno J Grunion was a sidekick of Johnny Rabbitt on KXOK, playing All the hits. Rabbitt also had a gig at downtown Famous-Barr, live broadcasting Saturday mornings right by the skywalk to the new very modern parking garage.