urbanSTL

wheelscomp wrote:It was a year ago tomorrow that the building partially collapsed.



Edit: Its a year ago today since its 1:14 am

It's a year ago today that I lost power for 6 1/2 days. I consider myself lucky because I had friends in U City who were without power for 8 1/2 days.

dweebe wrote:

wheelscomp wrote:It was a year ago tomorrow that the building partially collapsed.



Edit: Its a year ago today since its 1:14 am

It's a year ago today that I lost power for 6 1/2 days. I consider myself lucky because I had friends in U City who were without power for 8 1/2 days.

Here's a clip of some lady getting mowed over from the same storm in Busch Stadium. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRUMg-HgI38



By the way, the above Youtube video that I uploaded made the front page of digg.com

^ HA, that was you that posted that!? I remember the craze this video started in my circle of friends after that game. My buddy chad was somewhere in the crowd. What I would have given to see that?!

bpe235 wrote:^ HA, that was you that posted that!? I remember the craze this video started in my circle of friends after that game. My buddy chad was somewhere in the crowd. What I would have given to see that?!

I got the video in an email forward and then uploaded it to Youtube & Google video. (You'll notice that innov8ion was the submitter.) Then I forwarded the links to a bunch of friends and it propogated from there. Eight months ago, someone submitted the Youtube link to digg and it made it to the front page. One of my friends alerted me to it and I was amused. Ha! Dunno who took the actual video though.

^ I remember reading the same thing about saving a portion of the front elevation of Switzer's (probably on this forum).



It may have also been included in the Post-Dispatch article, but I can't remember since I often read P-D articles here first even though I subscribe to the paper.



Anyway, I'm really disappointed that no effort was made to save even the first two stories of the front elevation. And I get the feeling this lot is going to be vacant for a looooong time, despite the many changes taking place in and around Laclede's Landing lately...

The Central Scrutinizer wrote:I think somewhere in this thread someone posted that the little 1-2 story hunk on the north side of the Switzer's building was supposed to be saved. Well, it wasn't. The whole thing is gone.

Well that sucks - this was a Rothschild property right? I guess if there's a saving grace it's that this part of the building had been heavily altered (I believe the top stories had been taken off some years ago?).

That is disappointing. It was specifically stated in the news articles that the small section would be saved. I just hope that this isn't going to sit for many years to come.

Grover wrote:Well that sucks - this was a Rothschild property right? I guess if there's a saving grace it's that this part of the building had been heavily altered (I believe the top stories had been taken off some years ago?).

Rothschild owned a small part of the company that owned the Switzer. The managing partner was Pegasus Development.

If you review my pics from page 10, I am thinking the last 3 are shots of the portion that was discussed being saved.



Looking closely you can tell that this indeed was part of the demo process when I took the pics.

It was sad to see the Switzer go down. First time I saw it I was walking in that little park down by the arch. I was so enamoured by the big sign on the Switzer building that I ran into a pole. Who puts a pole in the middle of a walkway anyway. I got laughed at mercilously. But apparently I'm not the only one who loved the Switzer.

You're probably not the only one who's ever walked into a pole on the Landing, either!

I'm probably one of the few people under 21 to walk into a pole there, though.

My girlfriend's 95 year old grandmother said that she used to work there, when it was Switzers, a loooooooooooong time ago. It was a shame to lose a building like that. Correction: It was a shame that it was allowed to waste away like that.

Ya. I love buildings with the old signs painted on them. People don't usually paint their ads on anymore.

Cobblestone wrote:My girlfriend's 95 year old grandmother said that she used to work there, when it was Switzers, a loooooooooooong time ago. It was a shame to lose a building like that. Correction: It was a shame that it was allowed to waste away like that.

Correction: It is a shame that it was allowed to be demolished like that.

OOOPS. Accidentally knocked down a cast iron column. Guess we'll have to tear the whole thing down....



It's so sad to see that site sitting empty like that. Such a great location for more parking. Think of all of those parking spots being wasted as we speak. Such a trageshamockery.

Switzer building partnership, insurer fight over 2006 storm damage



The ill wind that heavily damaged the historic Switzer Candy Co. Building on Laclede's Landing in a July 2006 storm is now whistling through the courtrooms of the Thomas F. Eagleton U.S. Courthouse.



Clarinet LLC, the partnership that was trying to turn the 134-year-old, 70,000-square-foot landmark into a $15 million mixed-use development called Switzer Lofts, has counter-sued Indian Harbor Insurance Co. for refusing to pay its $8.1 million claim.

Full story at the link.



-RBB

^

Turns out, stablizing the building would have been a great idea!

DeBaliviere wrote:^

Turns out, stablizing the building would have been a great idea!

There are a lot of "would have been's" in this town... I just hope they get their settlement already so they can build something. The article did mention that they are still planning on developing. It's sorta like the Landing's very own BPV pit, except with bricks instead of dirt.

^They don't deserve a settlement. They left the building unstabilized deliberately, hoping for pretty much the result that they got. Actually, they probably would have preferred that more of the building had collapsed, thus saving themselves even more on the cost of demolition, but you know, beggers can't be choosers. They are just damn lucky noone was injured.

I walked past the site last night and was surprised at how unsightly it is. They left lots of brick bats and stone pieces as a "retaining wall" to compensate for the site's major grade slope.



In general, the Landing looked pretty ragged. Sidewalks and streets are in poor repair, the backs of buildings are dirty and needing work, etc.

Switzer building in St. Louis to be put on block
BY TIM BRYANT • tbryant@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8206 | Posted: Sunday, September 26, 2010 12:20 am





After a freakish storm nearly blew down the historic, century-old Switzer building in July 2006 and also led to a string of legal disputes, the Laclede's Landing site is headed toward the auction block.

"It's among the most complicated things I've ever been involved in in my life," said developer Pete Rothschild.

He is one of the owners who had planned to turn the old candy factory into lofts. That plan ended four years ago when much of the six-story brick building collapsed during the severe storm that flattened the 120-foot sign at the Casino Queen and sent a Busch Stadium crowd running for cover.

link: http://www.stltoday.com/business/articl ... 2095f.html

I'm glad to see something is finally going to happen with this site. This rubble field annoys me even more than Ballpark village.

Hope they were able to salvage some of the cast iron, and will be able to use it in the (re?)construction.