Police Court Building - 1127 Clark Street

Built in 1907, the Police Court building was located at 1127 Clark Street near the intersection of Clark and Tucker until 1994 when it was demolished for a surface parking lot. The architect was James A. Smith, commissioner of public buildings.



The building sat less than 20 feet from Tucker, and the small left-over space contained two tiny one story buildings, one at the front corner and one a the alley corner (photo below). These were demolished as well. The four story building in the background was demolished a few years later to make way for the City's new Justice Center which replaced its aging jail (subject a future post) behind the Municipal Courts Building (although moving the JC south from its originally intended location spared the historic Court Square Building).
The east elevation of the building faced an existing surface lot.
At the rear of the building facing the alley on the east corner of the second floor there was a curious window wall and sloped skylight that would be more typical of something one would find in a photography or artist studio. I am not sure if this was original, although it looked quite old. As with many beautifully ornamented building in St. Louis that have come down over the years, Larry Giles of the St. Louis Building Arts Foundation salvaged much of the terra cotta from the building's front facade. See photos here.