I looked at the Hawthorne Apartments a long, long time ago, and I was walking down West Pine Boulevard recently, realizing again what a beautiful building it was. It’s typical in that it has a heavily ornamented base, much like a classical Greek or Roman column, then a less decorated shaft, and the finally a…
Tag: Apartment Towers
Views of Central St. Louis from St. Louis University Hospital’s Parking Garage
I was checking out the beautiful Emil Frei & Associates stained glass windows in the chapel of the new St. Louis University Hospital, and when I looked out from my perch in the parking garage, I captured the stunning view of the skyline of the central corridor of St. Louis. Above is the Central West…
Maryland Plaza Between Euclid and Kingshighway, North Side
Now known as Maryland Plaza, the stretch of street between Euclid Avenue and Kingshighway was originally just Maryland Avenue. But it was platted with wide setbacks, and fire insurance maps show that it was known as Maryland Place. The apartment building above and below sits far back from Maryland, following the setback rule. But of…
Maryland Avenue Between North Taylor and Euclid Avenues, North Side
Next up is the long block from North Taylor to Euclid avenues, which starts with a double apartment building, which included a storefront on the corner, which could be supported due to the density of the neighborhood. Indeed, at the height of the Central West End, many of the apartment buildings in the area had…
McPherson Avenue Between North Newstead and Boyle Avenues, North Side
At the northeast corner of North Newstead and McPherson avenues, we see something surprising: an apartment building. It makes me wonder what would have happened to the rest of the block if the population of the Central West End had continued to become denser. Would more houses have been knocked down and replaced with similar…
Kingshighway, Fall 2019
Kingshighway south of Lindell is dominated by apartment buildings, but most importantly by the hospitals which have come to symbolize the east end of Forest Park. The Park Plaza tower to the north will always be a landmark, above, but below the “ABCD” buildings are still iconic examples of the high style of the early…
100 Above the Park, Under Construction
They sure do stack ’em high, as sometimes contributor to this website, Jeff Phillips, once famously said back when we were in college.
The Central West End in Transition
Twenty years ago, when I would spend time in my friend’s family restaurant, the Majestic, I would have never imagined the way in which the Central West End south of Lindell would have been transformed in the last ten years. The signs were appearing, of course. First was the towering Park East, seen above, which…
Further Demolition, Lansdowne Towers
I went back by the Lansdowne Towers the second weekend of November to see how the demolition of the three buildings were going. The two southernmost towers were completely annihilated, and the northernmost one, which you can see on the left above, was clearly vacant. I do not know if it is still being demolished….
Demolition, Lansdowne Towers
Update: See the first two towers completely demolished here. They’ve begun to tear down the Brenton Tower, one of four public housing apartment buildings part of the Lansdowne Towers, located in the northeastern portion of East St. Louis. I’d been by here before, almost exactly two years ago, and one time since then (though I…