Monday, September 7, 2009
Three Demolitions Underway in the Central West End
Ettrick Building demolition at 4901 Forest Park Boulevard underway.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Inside a McKee "Legacy Property" - 1930-36 St. Louis Avenue
After seeing this post by Ecology of Absence about the destruction by brick thieves at this mansion at 1930-36 St. Louis Avenue, I decided to take an in-depth look at the damage and what is left. The mansion turned funeral home turned abandoned Bliarmont property was originally constructed in 1873 and is located in the Clemens House - Columbia Brewery National Register Historic District. The building should without question be considered a "Legacy Property" in Paul McKee's proposed NorthSide development. But is this considered a Legacy Property? No one knows, since to date McEagle has refused to divulge the list of Legacy Properties after numerous requests from various stakeholders. 
A close-up of the unique bracketed balcony over the entrance

A side view of the destruction which has left the rear ell of the mansion a rubble pile
Another view however shows a masonry wall between the ell and the main portion of the mansion intact. While the rear half of the structure is heavily damaged, the main part of the original mansion, the front half of the addition to the west as well as some of the rear walls are still quite salvageable. Enough of the structure remains to make the building eligible for Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credits.
The rear of the of the funeral home garage addition from the alley shows extensive damage, however, the large steel beam supporting the roof structure remains.
A view from the west shows the west wall of the addition fully intact as well as the main portion of the mansion.
Inside the garage it is evident that deterioration of the roof had already taken place prior to the brick theft. The roof itself is easily re-buildable, and the wall could be re-built as well if a new user wanted to retain the rear garage.
A pew from the funeral chapel is left lying in the rubble.
A white glazed brick enclosed room has been completely opened on two sides by the brick rustlers. The missing walls however appeared to not be load bearing as the large steel beam and roof structure are intact.
Middle portion of the west addition. Though plaster has fallen from the wall and ceiling, the structure is unscathed for now.
Much of the west addition was at one time separated from the main structure by an exterior gangway which was later fully enclosed.
The rear of the chapel in the surviving main portion of the mansion. The masonry wall above the opening divides the main structure from the damaged ell.
The front hall of the mansion.
The main stair to the second floor was relocated to the west, outside the original west wall, likely to open up the front hall, which led directly to the funeral chapel. The stair aligns with the now enclosed gangway farther back in the building.
The stair to the third floor remains in it's original location.
On the second floor, what would have originally been bedrooms had been opened up to create one large space with the bay window at the center. A column centered on the bay has been stolen resulting in the sag in beam supporting floor joists above
A view from the window above the front entrance. Beyond the ornate balcony rail is the vacant lot which was the site of St. Paul's Methodist Church, which was demolished in the late 1990s.
The front room of the third floor. While somewhat of a mess, the condition of this room illustrates that the mansion at 1936 St. Louis Avenue is far from the condition where total demolition should be considered.
As part of their $410 million TIF application McEagle shows revenue of $149 million from Historic Tax Credits. In order to achieve anything close to that number, McKee will need to do historic renovations of this mansion and likely all other properties on the elusive "Legacy" list.
The fact that a grand historic property has been allowed to fall into this condition is inexcusable, especially in the hands in the hands of someone asking for $410 million in tax revenue to support his project. The Board of Alderman and Mayor Slay should not consider giving McKee, who happens to also own a large construction company, one penny until he secures buildings like this and prevents the wanton destruction that has occurred here.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Vanishing Art: The disappearance of Art in Transit's "Permanent" installations

The View From Here by Ellen Driscoll. Photo by Frippy
In early May of this year I was surprised to see a Metro work crew dismantling the art installation at the Forest Park - Debaliviere MetroLink station. The work entitled: The View From Here by artist Ellen Driscoll was installed on the south concrete retaining wall of the station in 2006. The station, while open since 1993 for the first MetroLink line was reconstructed and expanded for the opening of the Cross County extension in August 2006.

I emailed David Allen, Director of Metro's Arts In Transit, and he said that the installation was being removed at the artist's request due to problems with the installation. He said that they were discussions with the artist about a possible replacement piece. Indeed there were a few of the mirrored tiles that had fallen off from the concrete wall and presumably were destroyed upon impact below. Of the hundreds of tiles that made up the piece however these appeared to be isolated. It seems like it would have been quite feasible to fabricate replacement pieces rather than to destroy the entire work. The process of removal of the work involved chiseling what had intended to be permanently installed tiles glued to the concrete. From the photos of the removal, it is clear that nothing of the work survived.

Removal of The View From Here in May 2009
I always liked this piece for its interesting geometric patterns and the varied reflections that one could see in the mirrored surfaces. Without The View, the big blank concrete retaining walls give the Forest Park station a drab and lifeless feel. Hopefully an equally interesting work of art will be installed in its absence. With Metro struggling to keep basic Metro Bus and MetroLink service up and running, it is likely that this will not take place anytime soon.

Farther east, in the tunnel under Kingashighway and the WU-BJC Medical Center, another Arts in Transit installation appears to still exist, but has not functioned in quite some time. The work by artist Olafur Eliasson installed in 2000 consisted of 60 tubes, containing different colored lights ranging across the color spectrum, mounted to the tunnel wall in a pattern of gentle horizontal waves. Unfortunately, the lights have been out on the work for at least a year. Arts in Transit's web site says that the work was made possible "through the generous support of BJC Health Systems and the special coordination of the St. Louis Art Museum". I find it interesting that work is coming to completion on the new $235 million (just $15m short of a $1/4 billion) BJC institute of Health at Washington University directly over the MetroLink tunnel just east of Eliasson's work and yet nothing seems to be done to fix what is probably a simple electrical problem to make the art work function again. Once again as seems typical here in St. Louis public art takes a back seat.

Photos from Arts in Transit
Friday, August 28, 2009
More from the Buckingham Hotel
Jeff Vines of STL Style just sent me this great image of a match book cover from the Hotel Kingsway, which was formerly known as the Buckingham Hotel at Kingshighway and West Pine. The matchbook cover was on ebay. Jeff by the way also made an awesome model of the San Luis which he brought to last night's Anti-Wrecking Ball. Here are some photos by Toby Weiss of Jeff's model and scenes from the excellent show. Many thanks to Off Broadway, for donating the space and to The Red-Headed Strangers, Rough Shop, Grace Basement (who came through on short notice), Greta Garter and Elle Adorabelle for their fantastic performances!
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
The San Luis is Half Gone

The San Luis is half gone now and already the gaping hole in the steetscape is
beginning to open up, revealing the backs of buildings on Maryland beyond.

NO PARKING

Don't forget that this Thursday night is the Anti-Wrecking Ball at Off Broadway.
For details see today's post by Toby Weiss at B.E.L.T.

A view from the first floor elevators of the center tower to
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