The behemoth of the old Four Courts, named after the building in Dublin and demolished long ago, was based off the Tuileries Palace in Paris, as I mentioned a couple of years ago. Its attached jail was quite a work of engineering and architecture, with a huge half rotunda and tiers of cells.
Replacing it was Municipal Courts Building designed by the great Isaac Taylor, which sadly has been sitting vacant now for several decades to the west of City Hall.
Large portions of downtown, with buildings dating back to the Civil War, were demolished for what was becoming a rapidly growing civic center around City Hall.
It just dawned on me that the photograph below, showing the courthouse complete, is a pastiche; Market Street has never been that far away from the front staircase of the building. For some reason, someone took the time to create an idealized esplanade in front of the courthouse, which of course was never built.
Completed around 1911-12, the courthouse served as the criminal courts until those cases were moved to the Carnahan Courthouse, itself a former federal building.
The central entrance portal is essentially a triumphal arch, with presumably figures of justice on the pediment above. The Latin word for justice, justitia, makes the use of the building fairly obvious.
Much like City Hall, the facade of the building looks massive, but perhaps it is a bit misleading as both buildings’ mass are taken up with large lightwells, so the actual usable square footage is much smaller than one might think.
We have some nice Colossal Order Tuscan columns with egg and dart capitals, based off the Column of Trajan on top of a basement level of rusticated stonework.
It’s a massive building, awaiting a new use and has sat empty ever since the courts moved out decades ago.
I love the articulation of this portal on the ground floor of the courthouse, with the half lunette and lion keystone and scrollwork.
Of course, the courthouse was part of a larger complex, which included a new jail, which I wrote about at St. Louis Magazine, as well as a juvenile justice building.
Both buildings were torn down when the new jail opened, and are now a parking lot. The use of the land has been open to discussion in the future.
I love the sign that has been up for decades. I think everyone, including all criminals in St. Louis know that the 22nd Circuit has moved out.
If there were ever the funds to do so, this building would make a handsome annex to the Art Museum. There is enough art languishing in the basement of the museum in Forest Park to most likely fill this building. Or use it as an applied and decorative arts museum like the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. It would need to be modernized and parking would have to be addressed, but I think it would be a very positive addition to downtown. It would need an endowment from some deep pockets, but I’m not sure whether there is anything approaching a spirit of altruism anymore among the wealthy.