Here we go again! Another Mid-Century Modern “Masterpiece” is threatened with demolition, or at least in this case a thorough gutting that leaves the shell of the building, and a huge apartment building will rise in the swath of blacktop behind it. This section of Lindell is a freaking dead zone, by the way, and…
Tag: Lindell Boulevard
The Gustav William Niemann House
Regardless of the fate of the Optimists Building, I still just absolutely love the Niemann House. Gustav William Niemann lived in this house around the turn of the Twentieth Century, and it’s a reminder that Lindell Boulevard was once lined with residences such as this. It was renovated into law offices several years ago, and…
The Optimist International Building
Update: On August 23, 2021, the Optimist building’s demolition received another denial from the Preservation Board. No word on what the Optimists will do with their building in the future. The Engineers Club, further down Lindell to the east, is now threatened with demolition for a similar conversion to an apartment building. As of this…
Lindell Boulevard Water Main Break, Part II
There was another major water main break on Lindell Boulevard near, but not in the exact same spot as the one last summer at almost the exact same time of year. Hot temperatures do that to aging infrastructure. I went out yet again to get interesting insights into the construction of Lindell, and again I…
Current Affairs This Summer
I went by the Theophile Papin House on the last Saturday of June. It’s being demolished. It’s sad, but honestly, it had been so heavily altered that it wouldn’t really have been feasible or worthwhile to restore it back to its original appearance. It would have been an ersatz structure. During demolition some interesting stone…
3765 Lindell Boulevard, the Theophile Papin Residence, Later the Odd Fellows Hall
Update: The house was demolished in the summer of 2020. Wait a minute, I thought to myself, as I looked at the front facade of the Odd Fellows Hall on Lindell Boulevard, there’s something suspicious about that building. As I suspected, as many buildings in the Grand Center and nearby Central West End, this is…
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…
Lindell Boulevard Water Main Break
Update: There was a water main break nearby in July of 2020. I imagine everyone in the St. Louis region, and perhaps even some outside, heard about the breakage of the 30 inch cast iron water main under Lindell Boulevard, just east of Union Boulevard where Park Road cuts off for a short distance. I…
The Archdiocese Chancery
Designed by Sarmiento, the Archdiocese Chancery is a unique building, much more adorned that the AAA further east on Lindell. The small details, like the paving stones above, and the door handle below, show that Modernism is not always devoid of ornament. Let’s hope this building stays here for a long time. The Roman Catholic…
Shaare Emeth, Temple of the Gates of Truth
After writing my recent St. Louis Magazine article about Centenary United Methodist Church, one of the oldest continually operating congregations in downtown St. Louis, and in the city in general, I became interested in the synagogue that backed right up to the church. It was dramatically named Temple of the Gates of Truth, and I…