Aldermanic President Lewis Reed is urging immediate preservation efforts at one of the historic Lemp Brewery buildings. Apparently, the condition of the building has gotten so bad, that some are seeing the next "Cupples-esque" demolition on the near horizon. Photos posted to Facebook show that the roof of the building is completely compromised, open to rain, snow, ice, etc.

These sorts of deteriorated building conditions don't happen overnight. They usually take years and years to get to the crisis point. And once at a crisis, the cost to save the building is so high, economics and public safety factors seal a bad ending. Witness: Cupples.

So where do we go from here? A local politician calling attention to a crisis is a start. But what's needed is millions of dollars in renovation to the building.

Unfortunately for the Cherokee area, this story does not portend for a good outcome. And as is so often the case, calling attention to a collapsing building at it's eleventh hour is usually not an effective historic preservation strategy.

The real question is why was this building allowed to decay for over a decade in its generally unmaintained condition? It's obviously in violation of the city's building code. I know that if I let the roof of my home end up like this, my neighbors and alderman would be all over me with code violations and I'd probably end up in housing court or being forced to sell the property.

But here again we see another case of apparent benign neglect of a historic city asset, with little if any action to prevent it. Sad.

Just my <$.02, but if you ask me, it makes a lot more sense saving the buildings in the Lemp complex than it does anything on Chouteau's Landing*.

Sure, the Chouteau's Landing area is old, but beyond that, it's lost nearly all its historic context, not to mention people and activity.

The Lemp Brewery is the entry to the historic Cherokee strip, a neighbor to Lemp Mansion and the DeMenil house, highly visible from I-55, and is a wonderful anchor/corner building on a historic city landscape. It's loss would be a historic preservation tragedy.

On the other hand, maybe the loss of this building is just what St. Louis needs to finally awaken from its slumber of dreaming of historic preservation while waking to heedless demolitions.

*: And herein lies the challenge of the city's newly established emergency "preservation fund" (or whatever it's called?). In this case, most would agree, the Lemp is highly signficant - and it will cost a fortune to stabilize (much like Cupples...). Bottom line is how do you make these tough preservation decisions, especially when they come at you in waves of mini-crises??

Hmmm. It makes it tough when a staunch advocate of historic preservation owns one of the coolest buildings in the city that is falling apart.

And if they've sunk millions into the complex, and now they are facing this dilemma, it probably explains why the city hasn't exactly been cracking down on code enforcement.

With this new twist, the story starts to take on the feel of a southside Greek tragedy...

Why don't they at least put tarps over the holes to prevent infiltration? Seems like a cheap temporary fix could prevent a lot of damage that will be more costly to repair in the future.

Preservation Research Office post on Facebook:

Talking to Lemp Brewery crew -- they say they are doing interior demolition work on building at Broadway & Cherokee. No threat to building.

Landmarks also posted about this, but it looks like they have deleted the post, so this may be a false alarm?

I recently saw a photo of Cupples 7. On the back it read, "Lemp Brewery Stabilization Plan."

Toronto has an area very similar to the brewery complex known as the Distillery District that it has redeveloped quite successfully over the past few years. I think it could be a very good model for Lemp to follow.
http://www3.thedistillerydistrict.com/

Something definitely needs to revitalize the entire complex. It could become a huge, extremely dense, mixed-use community with all sorts of retail and entertainment. It would be the buckle of the Cherokee Street belt. I imagine the various buildings being used as colleges, offices, apartments, a hotel, and home to plenty of activities.

^I've been in the caves and I'd hate to see them used for anything other than a natural attraction, that keeps them as is. Once you leave the areas that the Lemps used for recreation, it becomes an amazing natural cave system. I think the liability issues will always cause hesitation, but hopefully, somebody can get past that. You'd think that the current owners would do some tours to raise money to save the complex or maybe even redevelop it. SO many people would pay a pretty penny to go down into the caves. I can say, after being down there, I might pay hundreds for a tour. It is that cool! Why the owners can't find a way to raise funds, utilizing the caves, is beyond me. The Lemp Caves are on many locals (and non-locals) bucket lists. I would hate to see the natural caves ruined with a bar or restaurant. They should be used strictly for viewing, in their natural state. that is cool enough for me. The rest of the complex, the man-made portions of the brewery, I'd be all for utilizing for entertainment purposes. I hope any major redevelopment plan in the future, keeps the orignal architecture intact, as much as possible. (interior and exterior) My fear was always that a redo would require demo and removal of the charm of the old complex. Hope that does not happen, unless that is the only way to save it someday.

The music venue Cherokee Caves used to be down there, right?

Is there any progress on the potential redevelopment of this site? The stock of buildings with that magnificent, solid architecture and the location right there on Cherokee couldn't be much better.

As the number of vacant buildings Downtown dwindles and as Cherokee Street continues to grow, it will soon be time for this complex to have its day.