I was alerted by a valued and longtime reader to the recent commencement of major tuckpointing and masonry rebuilding of the beautiful Second Empire storefront at the diagonal intersection of Lynch, Ohio and Gravois in the Fox Park neighborhood, just to the south of St. Francis de Sales Roman Catholic Oratory.

On-line City records show that the California owner pulled a permit recently for $70,000 worth of brickwork on the building. That is obviously a substantial investment.

I first looked at the building back in April 2008, almost exactly fifteen years ago, and there has been substantial deterioration, though none of it fatal (the cornice is actually inside the building). I’ve actually been given a tour several years by its previous owner. It will not be cheap, but apparently the new owner is bullish about the neighborhood’s real estate market.

With the exception of one other corner, the urban fabric of this important historic intersection is intact, and with the saving of this important storefront, the integrity of what is often a battered corridor will be preserved.