I took a look at the in-fill development was going in the Tiffany neighborhood east of South Grand Boulevard after having visited back in February of 2021 and November of 2022. East of Theresa Avenue on Vista Avenue, there is substantial construction completed, but there are still some empty lots. But the tan brick houses…
Tag: Compton Hill
Interior, Former Immaculate Conception, St. Henry’s
Just about everyone in St. Louis has heard now that the new pope, Leo XIV, served his novitiate to become an Augustinian here in St. Louis at the now closed St. Henry’s/Immaculate Conception at the intersection of Longfellow Boulevard and Lafayette Avenue. I’ve looked at the church twice, once back in February of 2011, then…
Former Garavaglia’s, Redevelopment Coming Soon
I last looked at the former Garavaglia’s back in March of 2008(!) and I have some great news to report: the building will finally see redevelopment in the coming year. The building has been abandoned since at least 1990, having fallen victim to the construction of I-44 severing its clientele from the store. Lots of…
Cassilly and Cassilly Shop
The Cassilly and Cassilly Shop on Lafayette Avenue has been in the news a lot recently when its owner, who also operates the currently closed Avyan Hotel to the east, tried to apply for a demolition permit again like he did last year (and failed). The building actually has a really interesting history. Built in…
Henrietta Street and Environs, Compton Hill
I am still trying to understand the so-called Gate District, which I still stridently refer to as Compton Hill, its historic name. I wrote an article about it back in 2020, but one thing I can’t do is go back in time and see the area before redevelopment began. Was it as bad as claimed,…
Lafayette Avenue Between Michigan and Louisiana Avenues, South Side
I looked at the north side of Lafayette Avenue way back in June of 2018, remarking on how this thoroughfare was surely far more important before the devastation of the interstates. There’s been substantial reinvestment and rebuilding just in the last thirteen years I’ve lived to the south in Tower Grove East, and the light…
Former Immaculate Conception/St. Henry’s Roman Catholic Church, Revisited
I realized the last time I came by the former Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church a decade ago, it was a cloudy day, and when I drove by on a recent Saturday, the morning sun was shining on the front façade, making it look wonderful. In fact, it is probably one of the more beautiful…
Former Immaculate Conception Parish School
Immaculate Conception Parish School is a great example of adaptive reuse, where the original Roman Catholic church west down Lafayette Avenue is now long closed, so the need for its nearby education building was no longer needed. It has been converted into apartments. This is actually not designed by famed school architects William B. Ittner…
Odds and Ends
Update: Demolished in the spring of 2024. When I’m out and about, I sometimes snap pictures of interesting buildings that later expand into larger posts, but other times, I can’t figure out what to do with them. These photos are “outtakes;” buildings that are worth publishing but didn’t grow into anything else. Above, this is…
Compton Heights Christian Church
Now the Summers Faith Temple Church, this was formerly the Compton Heights Christian Church, relocated to the south side of the entrance of Flora Place in the Shaw neighborhood. As is typical of many of the Protestant denomination churches that were built in the final years of the Nineteenth Century, it features a large dominating…