The local news is reporting that the City has gotten a grant to tear down more abandoned buildings in the St. Louis Place and JeffVanderLou neighborhoods. If Las Vegas were open right now and taking wagers on St. Louis blight, I could probably make a lot of money placing bets on which buildings are going to be torn down.
I am still skeptical of there being any real development around the new spy agency, as there has not been any around the old one for the entire time it’s been in its current location, but I can’t help but hope that if there was actual redevelopment, that these stout, beautiful buildings couldn’t be a part of that.
These are some of the oldest residential buildings in St. Louis, dating back to the years right after the Civil War, and to lose them is to lose a part of history that is not coming back.
That cornice below is intact, and it has survived perhaps 150 years in that location.
There are very few rowhouses such as these left, either. That is a very unique building below, and it is worthy of preservation.
Moving west, the decades pass, and the architecture changes, but it is no lesser worthy of preservation, even as it is swallowed by the overgrowth of the late spring.
Streets are lined with well maintained buildings sitting right next to rows devastated by fire and vandalism.
What the heck happened to this building, anyway?
Well, it turns out one building is going to be saved. That warehouse with the pollution problems has been cleaned up, gutted and has now been renovated into industrial space again.
See the warehouse after gutting in this post from December of 2018 (fourth photo down).
The Little Snack Shop and its neighbors are still holding on.
Green and red contrast on a sunny day.
+Update: I went back and looked at Elliott Street in the late summer of 2021.
Then I see a building such as the one below, and I am just really impressed. There isn’t another one like this anywhere in the City.
The apartment building below is occupied on the right side, and perhaps on the left upper floor. There are still people here, and will they be remembered?
The people who work in the NGA pretty much stay inside all day due to the nature of their work.
I’ve heard the same thing. I’ve been told they’re early risers, getting in at 6-7AM and leaving around 2:00 PM, so there’s not even a chance of a McDonald’s opening across the street from the NGA.
These photos look like old buildings out in the countryside, not in the inner city. The buildings shown in the 6th photo down appear to have newer front stairs & railings too. Isn’t cheaper to just re-tar the flat roofs than to demolish an otherwise solid building & replace it with a cheaper looking version? But I guess that’s the mentality these days. Don’t fix it, throw it out & replace it. Thank you for all you do in documenting what will be lost soon!