Chapel of the Risen Christ, Resurrection Cemetery, Interior, Part Two

For our final look at the Chapel of the Risen Christ, we’ll examine the various works of art commissioned for the interior. First up is a Pietà sculpted by Christopher Alles. I couldn’t help but notice that the sculpture group bears a striking similarity to the figure of Nicodemus and Christ from Michelangelo’s late Bandini…

Chapel of the Risen Christ, Resurrection Cemetery, Interior, Part One

We’ll head inside the Chapel of the Risen Christ at Resurrection Cemetery now, going through doors with Emil Frei & Associates stained glass. As mentioned yesterday, the chapel was designed by St. Louis Design Alliance and built by BSI. And as I mentioned before, the huge sweeping roof, as well as other elements, are based…

Chapel of the Risen Christ, Resurrection Cemetery, Exterior

A valued reader alerted me to the recent completion of a new religious building, the Chapel of the Risen Christ in Resurrection Cemetery in Affton. Please ignore the KPLR broadcast antenna in the background. Heavily influenced by the Chapelle Notre-Dame-du-Haut by Le Corbusier in 1950, this chapel was constructed by BSI according to designs by…

Along the Lower River des Peres

I traveled from the mouth of the River des Peres, starting by heading up Marceau Avenue, where I spotted some old houses while still in Carondelet. I crossed over the River des Peres on Alabama Avenue onto the south side of the drainage ditch and proceeded up Carondelet Boulevard. Of course, Alabama Avenue becomes Lemay…

South County Center

Developed by the May Department Stores and originally anchored by a Famous Barr department store in Mehlville, the South County Shopping Center opened in the fall of 1963, spurring increased residential development around the intersection of what would become Interstates 55, 270 and 55, just west of the Jefferson Barracks Bridge. This was the fourth…

Requiem for Shopping Malls?

The announcement that Macy’s will be closing the store at South County Center raised the specter that there will be another round of mall closures after an initial wave that struck the St. Louis region earlier this millennium. As Toby Weiss at B.E.L.T. St. Louis documented so well at Northland Shopping Center and River Roads…

Around Grant’s Farm

At first, I was flabbergasted to find the site of the Joseph Sappington House to be an empty lot, but some quick Google research led me to discover that the log cabin has been disassembled and is going to be (has already been?) moved to a new location next to the Thomas Sappington House. I’ll…

Kassebaum House and Environs

The August Kassebaum House sits on Lemay Ferry Road just north of Butler Hill Road; it was built in 1907 at the unincorporated village of Mattese. Designed by William Wedemeyer, its advanced ornament and design shows just how wealthy Kassebaum had become as a merchant out in this isolated corner of South County. His storefronts,…

St. Paul’s Church and Cemetery, Oakville, and Environs

Let’s head south, deep into South St. Louis County and check out some very old historic sites. Our first stop is St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, Oakville, which was probably originally a German Evangelisch church. There are multiple expansions here, including a Modernist sanctuary as well as an English Gothic Revival church building facing…

Lakeshire

I know an acquaintance who lives in the small South County city of Lakeshire, so I finally made it out there after becoming intrigued by its appearance through Google Street View. Apparently the town has restrictions that only ranch houses can be built, but that is only partially true as there is a belt of…