The last couple of weeks, and in particular the most recent, have been rough on historic buildings in St. Louis, with fires striking numerous prominent and lesser known structures. The first one I’m looking at is a recycling center in the Baden area. I am well aware that dirty industry built St. Louis into the place it is today, but I can’t help but feel these businesses contribute little to our city other than some tax dollars. What a dump. Just look at nearby Antelope Street to see how creeping dirty industry ruins a residential area.
Since I was in the area, I thought I’d check out the old tavern that was open as a biker bar just over a decade ago (last photo, the boot cleaner out front was always a nice touch). It was vacant when I went by in the winter of 2018.
If you ever need to show someone a textbook example of what happens when you let the gutters on a building fail, show them these photos.
It’s gotten so bad that on the western exposure the concrete blocks have begun to spall off, revealing the soft brick interior of the wall. This building is in dire need of an intervention, now.
There is another concrete block tavern on St. Charles Rock Road.
Sadly I think that tavern will become a vacant lot within a few years. Given the condition of the rest of Baden, I just don’t see a bright future for it.
Yeah, its prospects are not good.
I remember going to that tavern in Baden in the late 90’s or early 2000’s one night with a few friends, it was a cool building, a shame the building and the neighborhood are trashed now,It wasn’t exactly great back then.