Living away from the city for school, I get my St. Louis fix exploring neighborhoods via Google Maps. I created this thread to bring attention to some endangered buildings that I consider very important to the future of St. Louis. I'll be updating this thread fairly frequently to bring attention to some of the lesser known fading gems of the city.

The Ludwig Building - 8332 Halls Ferry Rd - Baden
Built in 1929, this building is perhaps the most important in the Baden neighborhood. I've always considered the Broadway strip in Baden as one of the areas with the highest potential in deep North City. While not officially on Broadway this is the tallest building in the area and is adjacent to the strip.

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.71338,- ... 312!8i6656

Good points, both. I particularly like your Fountain Park candidate. I can see where that has a lot of potential.

3305-3307 Meramec St. - Three Stories Mixed Use - Built in 1900

Dutchtown has been falling on hard times as of late, which is why preserving the strip of storefronts on Meramec is so important. Fortunately most of the existing buildings are in decent shape besides this three story brick beauty. Located next to the Urban Eats Cafe, this building is full of potential. Unfortunately many windows are broken, exposing the inside to the elements. Somebody needs to take action soon or this building will deteriorate further and maybe be lost forever.

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.5805863 ... 312!8i6656

stlgasm wrote: ↑

Jan 10, 2018

Not sure if it's technically endangered, but certainly neglected. My vote goes to old Rock Spring School on Sarpy Avenue, just south of Highway 40 in FPSE/Midtown. Such a beautiful high-profile building perfectly situated between The Grove, Cortex, The Foundry/Armory, not to mention easy access to Highway 40 and 44, MetroLink, and minutes from downtown, midtown, CWE, and the South Side. I can't understand why this building sits dormant amidst such a booming slice of the city.

What gives?

Here's a cool little profile of its history:
https://kenzimmermanjr.com/ittner-and-r ... ng-school/

I love love love that building. It even has signage, should it ever be developed into office space, which given its proximity to Cortex, would probably be my preference.

stlgasm wrote: ↑

Jan 10, 2018

What gives?

thought i read somewhere that it's owned by a trucking company. they just use the lot for parking but don't give a f*** about the building.

2301 N 11th Street - Old North St. Louis

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.6485092 ... 312!8i6656

I find this endangered group of buildings particularly important to the future of ONSL. First of all they adhere to the old school urban form that much of the area is built around, and would be a great president to set for when the area comes back. This president for density will be very important to this neighborhood where land values are low and Metrolink is hopefully coming.
These also front the highway, and their abandoned condition certainly has a negative effect on perception of the city.

On a slightly unrelated note, I would like to see the city implement a "Perception Corridor" tax incentive plan. By focusing tax incentives on the redevelopment of blight in highly visible properties, we could slowly turn perception of some neighborhoods in a positive direction. This would be especially prevalent the sides of highway 70, but could also apply to a couple holdout properties on 44 and 55.

For example, the house at 1722 California Ave is in terrible condition and very visible from the 44. To be fair it is a terrible and loud location which makes a rehab tough to justify, but to many people that single abandoned house is the face of the entire neighborhood. Even if the city bought the house and rehabbed it on its own dime it would still be worth it just for the improved perception of the area.

^I don't know what condition the roof is in, but the walls appear to be in good shape other than the hole on the south side.  That hole has been there since at least 2011, and I believe it was caused by an errant vehicle from the highway.  That is probably why it was initially condemned, but doesn't mean the house is structurally unsound.  The same goes for the collapsing back porch.

That said, I can see why it would be difficult to sell or lease, with the possibility of having an unwanted vehicle in your basement and / or living room at any given time.

What a wonderful building! Its been said before but what a crime it would be to tear this building down!  I just want to hug this one!

^Green Street owns the narrow strip of property fronting onto Lafayette, between this building and the budget hotel.  I am really hoping they acquire this property, and at least save and incorporate the facade, building new retail space on the large property behind it.  Their strip mall seems to be doing well, maybe an expansion could be in the works...

I assume Cassily did the facade?

framer wrote: ↑

Nov 23, 2019

I assume Cassily did the facade?

Yeah. I thought that building was Cassily's workshop or something. It should probably be a landmark given his local impact and that it's one of only a handful of examples of his architectural ornamentation. I really really really do not want to see this building razed. Other than this, the Monkey Building on Washington, and Manhattan Mews in the CWE, has he decorated any other buildings?

framer wrote: ↑

Nov 23, 2019

I assume Cassily did the facade?

Yeah, Cassily refaced it some time around 1984 after he acquired it from Pantheon.  I think this building was his first large workshop, and first building he refaced like this.  Most of the sculpture pieces made for the International Shoe / City Museum complex were made here, including the serpent fence.  There is a picture in the P-D archives of him working on the fence in this building with his young daughter.  Lots of reasons to save this building...

The building used to be a Bettendorf's grocery store.  That was well before my time, but apparently it was a fairly large grocery chain.

urbanitas wrote: ↑

Nov 21, 2019

This is one of the buildings in the Gate District I worry about.  2645-2655 Lafayette,  It has the same owner as the budget hotel you see in the background...

I believe this building caught fire this morning.

https://www.kmov.com/news/smoke-seen-co ... 0e6f5.html

^ of course it did.

Wow.  That's a bummer.  How timely though.

Any word on the damage or anything? There was like nothing in that KMOV article.

I saw a tweet (that I now cannot find) that the fire was to a piece of machinery out back. Studio itself is fine.

1711 Locust street is one that comes to mind for me. It was a power station for the original streetcar system. IIRC Koplar properties owns it. Someone got the chance to tour it in the early 2000's (?) and it seems like it'd make a cool beer garden or event space.

https://campbellhousemuseum.wordpress.c ... 11-locust/

See below:

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.6321945 ... 384!8i8192

crazywarriorman wrote: ↑

Jan 03, 2020

1711 Locust street is one that comes to mind for me. It was a power station for the original streetcar system. IIRC Koplar properties owns it. Someone got the chance to tour it in the early 2000's (?) and it seems like it'd make a cool beer garden or event space.

https://campbellhousemuseum.wordpress.c ... 11-locust/

See below:

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.6321945 ... 384!8i8192

That's an awesome building.  I would love to see something done with it, but the roof was already caving in when I moved DT in 2006.  I can't imagine it is in very good shape today.  I don't believe its ever been secured/stabilized.

GoHarvOrGoHome wrote: ↑

Jan 21, 2018

2301 N 11th Street - Old North St. Louis

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.6485092,-90.1922015,3a,90y,302.24h,98.36t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sevnWI35xvE4LMu4yBpDa6g!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

I find this endangered group of buildings particularly important to the future of ONSL. First of all they adhere to the old school urban form that much of the area is built around, and would be a great president to set for when the area comes back. This president for density will be very important to this neighborhood where land values are low and Metrolink is hopefully coming.
These also front the highway, and their abandoned condition certainly has a negative effect on perception of the city.

On a slightly unrelated note, I would like to see the city implement a "Perception Corridor" tax incentive plan. By focusing tax incentives on the redevelopment of blight in highly visible properties, we could slowly turn perception of some neighborhoods in a positive direction. This would be especially prevalent the sides of highway 70, but could also apply to a couple holdout properties on 44 and 55.

For example, the house at 1722 California Ave is in terrible condition and very visible from the 44. To be fair it is a terrible and loud location which makes a rehab tough to justify, but to many people that single abandoned house is the face of the entire neighborhood. Even if the city bought the house and rehabbed it on its own dime it would still be worth it just for the improved perception of the area.

This group of buildings has met its demise

robertn42 wrote: ↑

Jan 03, 2020

crazywarriorman wrote: ↑

Jan 03, 2020

1711 Locust street is one that comes to mind for me. It was a power station for the original streetcar system. IIRC Koplar properties owns it. Someone got the chance to tour it in the early 2000's (?) and it seems like it'd make a cool beer garden or event space.

https://campbellhousemuseum.wordpress.c ... 11-locust/

See below:

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.6321945 ... 384!8i8192

That's an awesome building.  I would love to see something done with it, but the roof was already caving in when I moved DT in 2006.  I can't imagine it is in very good shape today.  I don't believe its ever been secured/stabilized.

I think the roof is fine.  It is a large open space from ground floor to roof with a large, full-length skylight (really a raised roof with vertical windows), and the windows have broken or fallen out.  I'd guess a Koplar or two wanted to turn this into a club, until they realized how much that would cost.  It would be difficult to repurpose, but something like an architectural or design firm like Cannon Design's St. Louis office would also be ideal.