The Preservation Board last night approved demolition of the entire complex of buildings bound by Victor, Dekalb, Sidney & 2nd Streets. According to a Preservation Board member, it was "keep all the buildings or demolish them all". This does not make sense considering the Cultural Resources Office specific recommendation to preserve the one building, 150 Victor pictured above.
A plain metal warehouse will replace the existing complex once the buildings are demolished. The drawings above appeared in the Preservation Board agenda. Note the location of windows and doors on the north elevation facing Victor and the west elevation facing the storage yard. These would indicate that offices of the new complex will be in this location, which happens to be almost the exact same location as the group of three brick townhouses that the Cultural Resources Office recommended preserving. The townhouses appear to be used as offices currently since the windows are not covered.
7 comments:
St. Louis continues to squander its single biggest competitive advantage.
this is why people give up and leave saint louis - it's a losing battle against people who just don't give a f*ck as long as they have a cheap place to store their portable sh*tters. is it me, or does the preservation board seem to preferentially grant demolitions to anyone who might have a few bucks to slip into their back pockets? GOD THIS IS F*CKING MADDENING.
sorry... it's been a trying day and this just ruined what was left of it.
Unreal!
This blows. What's a concerned citizen to do?
The new structures will certainly be an impressive addition to our heritage as destroyers of all things with cultural and architectural value.
Build this on Chouteau next to Villa Lighting! This is what happens when free market fundamentalism runs City Hall.
Move out of St. Louis? Its planning regime lacks legitimacy. Not sure what else can be done as activism more often fails when it comes to the built environment since elected officials do not value that which makes it a great city. Demolitions are sure to happen but in such a depleted City like St. Louis they have no excuse.
How is this something that any "Preservation Board" can approve? How is this preserving anything?
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