Turning right from Garrison Avenue onto St. Louis Avenue, we pass by the abandoned Grace Lutheran, and then past the Lindell Park subdivision, which has avoided much of the Northside TIF purchases. But east of here, there are vacant lots of many former McKee buildings, some of which were demolished now close to twenty years…
Tag: JeffVanderLou
Twenty-Three Years of Paul McKee: JeffVanderLou
Over the next six days, starting today, we’ll look at areas in the footprint of the Northside TIF, and see the effects McKee’s purchases and land banking have stalled redevelopment and also accelerated decline, as properties he’s purchased have gone vacant and been demolished. We’ll start in JeffVanderLou, driving up Webster in the two photos…
6,500th Post: Twenty-Three Years of Paul McKee
Wow, I suppose 6,500 posts have a way of sneaking up on you! I also suppose since Paul McKee and his failed Northside TIF is in the news, it would be germane to talk about it and how I’ve been investigating and shedding light on his dealings for eighteen years now. Some of the first…
Cook Avenue, JeffVanderLou
I was up this way a couple of weeks ago and there were a bunch of streets blocked off so I ended up detouring on some side streets, including Cook Avenue. I saw some interesting houses, so I came back a couple weeks later to look some more. For whatever reason, some of the streets…
Green Board-Ups, JeffVanderLou, Part Two: Dayton Street
As I mentioned yesterday, Missouri Preservation listed the “JeffVanderLou Green Board Buildings” as one of their 2024 Places in Peril. South of Cass Avenue, which I have erroneously included in my Near North Side neighborhood for years, is actually also part of JeffVanderLou, and the following photos are from the well-preserved (for now) 2800 block…
Green Board-Ups, JeffVanderLou, Part One
My friend Paul Hohman, a well known architect who specializes in renovations of historic buildings helped get Missouri Preservation to list the “JeffVanderLou Green Board Buildings” as one of their 2024 Places in Peril. JeffVanderLou, which I’ve featured many times over the years, in one of the more heavily demolished neighborhoods in the City, but…
South Down North Grand Boulevard, Sunset
I was coming back from St. Charles and I needed to get to Grand Center, so Grand Boulevard was the logical route to take. I snapped some photos on the way down the grand thoroughfare. Above, the old Second German Presbyterian Church, which I photographed back in February of 2019, is still standing. One of…
Cote Brilliante Avenue and Environs, JeffVanderLou
Continuing down Garfield Avenue past some ruins, I approached the JeffVanderLou neighborhood and finished my journey down the Cote Brilliante Avenue axis. I reached Vandeventer Avenue, and crossed over, meandering a bit and actually missing the block of Cote Brilliante where Star Packing Company is located. But finally, after crossing Prairie Avenue, I was back…
Dr. Martin Luther King Drive From North Jefferson Avenue to Prairie Avenue
As I was heading towards Dr. Martin Luther King Dr., I glanced to my left while on North Jefferson Avenue and noticed the back portion of a building on Olive Street. No word on what happened. I turned onto MLK Dr. and proceeded west. This first portion is the former Franklin Avenue, and only later…
Grand Motel, Closed and Burned Out
Back in January of this year, the now-closed Grand Motel was severely damaged by arson. It is actually very sad because the new owner was planning on renovating the buildings for a homeless outreach center. I saw her on the news, and her heart was in the right place. I don’t know what will happen…