This sucks.
Spivey Building is ordered razed
By Doug Moore
Of the Post-Dispatch
01/20/2005
The 12-story Spivey Building in East St. Louis could be coming down, ending its legacy as the tallest building in the Metro East area and the city's hope that the structure could be renovated into a high-end office complex and linchpin to rejuvenate downtown.
Acting City Manager Alvin Parks on Thursday ordered that the building be demolished after about 50 bricks from the top of the building fell onto Missouri Avenue. The city condemned the building in July after parts of it fell onto the street then.
"I'm not saying it's beyond saving, but it's not worth the potential liability of this building falling on someone," Parks said.
How the city would pay for the demolition remains unknown. The City Council will discuss it in a special session today.
The building became part of a federal investigation last year that led to charges against its owner, Philip H. Cohn. He pleaded guilty to three of 20 charges, including improperly removing asbestos from the Spivey Building, at 417 Missouri Avenue. He awaits sentencing.
Three years ago, Cohn promised city leaders a beautiful restoration of the 60,000-square-foot building, which he bought for $75,000. City records show that Cohn planned to spend $6.2 million to renovate the building into high-end office space, a street-level restaurant, bank, a fitness center and retail shops. Those same records show there was interest in the project with letters from seven social service agencies and businesses seeking leasing information. The proposal would have included about $4 million in city and state funds - money Cohn did not get.
Work was scheduled to begin in fall 2002, and the opening was planned for spring of last year. But in early 2003, federal agents searched Cohn's East St. Louis offices. Neighbors of the Spivey Building complained to the city that workers were throwing asbestos-covered material out of the back windows of the building. The condition of the vacant building worsened.
Nine months ago, Cohn was charged with a series of federal crimes, including initiating renovation work on the Spivey Building in violation of tight regulations over dealing with asbestos, a material used in the building's pipes, floors and ceilings.
Cohn has promised to cooperate with federal authorities as part of a plea agreement. A federal investigation into allegations of election fraud, among other things, is under way and included a raid at City Hall in November. Authorities have not confirmed whether Cohn is aiding in that investigation.
Cohn, who owns a town house in the Central West End, has voted six times since 2000 in East St. Louis, using his business address as his residence.
Kelvin Ellis, the city's director of regulatory affairs, registered Cohn to vote in East St. Louis. Ellis was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison 15 years ago on extortion charges. Ellis said he was once a partner with Cohn in the Spivey Building but walked away from the project to avoid a conflict of interest. Cohn has denied Ellis' financial involvement in the building.
Ellis, as regulatory affairs director, has the power to have a building razed. Ellis and Parks viewed the scene Thursday morning and determined that the Spivey Building must come down.
"We need to deal with it," Ellis said, as city workers put up barricades, blocking off three blocks of Missouri Avenue.
A.T. Spivey, editor of the old Metro-East Journal, constructed the office building bearing his name in 1929. From the 1930s to the 1950s, the Spivey Building was the place to go for health care. The building has been vacant for nearly 20 years. It was last used by State Community College before the school moved into its own facilities.
Article from http://www.stltoday.com
The link didn't work when I tried to post it.
Spivey Building is ordered razed
By Doug Moore
Of the Post-Dispatch
01/20/2005
The 12-story Spivey Building in East St. Louis could be coming down, ending its legacy as the tallest building in the Metro East area and the city's hope that the structure could be renovated into a high-end office complex and linchpin to rejuvenate downtown.
Acting City Manager Alvin Parks on Thursday ordered that the building be demolished after about 50 bricks from the top of the building fell onto Missouri Avenue. The city condemned the building in July after parts of it fell onto the street then.
"I'm not saying it's beyond saving, but it's not worth the potential liability of this building falling on someone," Parks said.
How the city would pay for the demolition remains unknown. The City Council will discuss it in a special session today.
The building became part of a federal investigation last year that led to charges against its owner, Philip H. Cohn. He pleaded guilty to three of 20 charges, including improperly removing asbestos from the Spivey Building, at 417 Missouri Avenue. He awaits sentencing.
Three years ago, Cohn promised city leaders a beautiful restoration of the 60,000-square-foot building, which he bought for $75,000. City records show that Cohn planned to spend $6.2 million to renovate the building into high-end office space, a street-level restaurant, bank, a fitness center and retail shops. Those same records show there was interest in the project with letters from seven social service agencies and businesses seeking leasing information. The proposal would have included about $4 million in city and state funds - money Cohn did not get.
Work was scheduled to begin in fall 2002, and the opening was planned for spring of last year. But in early 2003, federal agents searched Cohn's East St. Louis offices. Neighbors of the Spivey Building complained to the city that workers were throwing asbestos-covered material out of the back windows of the building. The condition of the vacant building worsened.
Nine months ago, Cohn was charged with a series of federal crimes, including initiating renovation work on the Spivey Building in violation of tight regulations over dealing with asbestos, a material used in the building's pipes, floors and ceilings.
Cohn has promised to cooperate with federal authorities as part of a plea agreement. A federal investigation into allegations of election fraud, among other things, is under way and included a raid at City Hall in November. Authorities have not confirmed whether Cohn is aiding in that investigation.
Cohn, who owns a town house in the Central West End, has voted six times since 2000 in East St. Louis, using his business address as his residence.
Kelvin Ellis, the city's director of regulatory affairs, registered Cohn to vote in East St. Louis. Ellis was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison 15 years ago on extortion charges. Ellis said he was once a partner with Cohn in the Spivey Building but walked away from the project to avoid a conflict of interest. Cohn has denied Ellis' financial involvement in the building.
Ellis, as regulatory affairs director, has the power to have a building razed. Ellis and Parks viewed the scene Thursday morning and determined that the Spivey Building must come down.
"We need to deal with it," Ellis said, as city workers put up barricades, blocking off three blocks of Missouri Avenue.
A.T. Spivey, editor of the old Metro-East Journal, constructed the office building bearing his name in 1929. From the 1930s to the 1950s, the Spivey Building was the place to go for health care. The building has been vacant for nearly 20 years. It was last used by State Community College before the school moved into its own facilities.
Article from http://www.stltoday.com
The link didn't work when I tried to post it.
