Bavarian Inn, More Progress

I had been wondering why there had been no activity at the old Bavarian Inn site for a while. After sitting vacant for a long time, there had been rapid renovation work earlier in 2022. But now, in the last couple of weeks, the new windows have shown up, and the building and renovation is…

Schiller’s Grove and the Former St. Elizabeth’s Academy

I had long known that the former St. Elizabeth’s High School and convent, now the International Institute, had once had a larger chapel that had been partially demolished when its new Modernist wing had been built in the 1960s in Tower Grove East. Christopher Schiller, owner of the Swan Tavern on the Levee, had bought…

Odds and Ends from the Winter of 2022

Occasionally I build up some photos that don’t really go with anything else, and I present them to you here. Above is a nice house on Lemp Avenue across from the brewery that is now an AirBnB. For the longest time, it was a band practice space. Moving across the old St. Louis Commons to…

Shenandoah Arch Replaced

Back in January of 2020, I featured the four-family on Shenandoah Avenue whose front porch was later demolished due to structural problems (it was almost certainly not original to the building). Lo and behold, it has been completely rebuilt, which is great news, as it added a lot of character to the Tower Grove East…

Renovation of the Old Bavarian Inn

Update: See the progress of construction in the fall of 2022. There’s some great news at the long dormant and abandoned, and frequently vandalized former Bavarian Inn restaurant at the southeastern corner of Arsenal Street and Minnesota Avenue. The rehabilitation will return a restaurant space and outdoor patio to the old storefront facing Arsenal, and…

Checking in on South Compton Avenue and Arsenal Street

I’m impressed that work has already started on repairing the damage to the high value corner storefront at the northwest corner of South Compton Avenue and Arsenal Street, which was hit by an out-of-control driver several weeks ago. The terracotta and brick has been carefully stacked and sorted for reinstallation. Note the square cut-out in…