Did you know the famous gates in University City are actually the doorway to a massive housing development? Or that originally the City Hall was the real estate office for it? It’s true, and it’s a fascinating story. While the University Heights story revolves around many different subdivisions on both the north and south of…
Tag: University City
Parkview, Again
I’ve looked at the entrances of Parkview twice before, once back in October of 2012, and then again in May of 2018. It straddles the City-University City boundary, as I think many people realize, and I suppose back when it was laid out by Julius Pitzman in 1905, it really didn’t matter; St. Louis was…
Other Fall Updates, Fires, Demolitions, Etc.
It finally happened, the Mullanphy Emigrant Home, which I last looked at back in June of this year, caught on fire and burned to the ground on the night of September 14th. There is certainly no grand conspiracy, but simply the fact that overnight lows reached 50 degrees, and a squatter’s fire probably spread out…
Demolition Starts for the University City TIF
Update: Much of the redevelopment was complete in the fall of 2023. The demolition of the mid-Twentieth Century strip malls, a former synagogue and a church has commenced along Olive Boulevard just east of I-170 in University City. Olivette has also started on its own development to the west of the interstate. Below, the former…
Around the Gates, University City
The sun was setting as I took some pictures of the gates to University Heights, just to the west of the Loop. The lions are actually concrete casts of the originals, which are now in an undisclosed location. I still think University City’s city hall is one of the most beautiful in the area. Update:…
West of the City Limits in University City and Wellston
North of the Delmar Loop, and even north of Olive Boulevard, there is an intriguing cluster of old, very old houses, dating back to perhaps the late Nineteenth Century west of the City limits. The east-west streets have the same names as their counterparts to the east in the city, but are cut off by…
University City High School
The massive University City High School was designed by Hugo K. Graf and Wilber Tyson Trueblood, in what I would describe as an Art Deco style. It combines older sculpting traditions with more modern aesthetics in massing and line. It holds the roundabout where it sits with a strong presence. It opened in 1930.
Jackson Park Elementary School, University City
Designed by Hugo K. Graf and Wilber Tyson Trueblood, Jackson Park Elementary School opened in 1933. Famed architect William Ittner added on some additions in 1952, late in his career. The school is a wonderful example of late Romanesque Revival architecture, much like would be seen in Italy, such as I recently covered in Bologna.
St. Andrew Kim, University City
Update: The church was demolished in 2021. Formerly dedicated to St. Patrick, this Modernist Roman Catholic church near the intersection of Olive and I-170 is now the Korean national church of St. Andrew Kim Taegon, a martyr who died in the Nineteenth Century. He is the patron saint of Korea and the first Roman Catholic priest…
Parkview, Revisited
Update: I revisited Parkview in January of 2024. Yes, it’s sort of weird, but a couple hundred feet of Parkview is in St. Louis, in the Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood, and the vast majority is in University City. The community has its own website. But one thing is for sure; the architecture and the urban planning, the…