County of building: St. Louis Independent City
Location of building: Abandoned building, 1836-24 Gravois Ave. (Old US 66), St. Louis
Built: 1935
[Note: Notified tha current Google Street View shows the building being razed.]
Ownership at time of nomination:
"1836-24 Gravois
Mary & Robert J. Medich
5821 Sutherland
St. Louis, MO 63109" ~ NRHP Nomination Form
"Condemned and slated for demolition in 2006, the property was saved when the owners pulled permits for completely renovating the building. The general building permit alone was valued at $250,000 so the work was to be significant. Construction soon began, and although the architectural style was a bit nontraditional, it was good to see the investment in this prominent building. Unfortunately, just after framing and drainage plumbing were completed construction stopped. Nothing has been done at the property since. What is worse, the was never properly secured and sealed, which has allowed water to continually leak through openings in the roof and whatever human or animal wanderers walk straight into the building via the unsecured rear door.
"Tax records show that the property is owned by 1836 Gravois Properties LLC. According to the Missouri Secretary of State, this LLC is based out of 816 Geyer Ave., and is tied to the owners of Molly’s in Soulard. One would assume that they had planned on using 1836 Gravois as a restaurant or lounge prior to shutting down the project. Why they stopped or whether they intend on returning to the project is uncertain. What is certain is that the area will certainly be much better off when something new happens at the property. The status quo simply cannot continue." ~ full story at St. Louis Real Estate Society
Urbanspoon's listing for the previous business is Alexander City Grill
"Craftsman, circa 1905 - 1935 coded E
The greatest number of buildings in this category are two story twentietb century
flats, typically four to six bays wide, housing four to six families. Unlike some nineteenth century flats, all employ interior stairs to second story units. Some early examples still retain nineteenth century features such as segmental and round arched openings (Photo #74; 80, four houses in foreground). These features are generally replaced by unembellished rectangular openings and cornices variously handled as simple projecting
bands of terra cotta or as inlaid brick patterning; low parapets, coped with terra cotta, or tiled overhanging "pseudc" roofs mark the flat roofs. A number of these flats employ projecting front porches sometimes with Craftsman-detailed gabled roofs. A few, small private houses are found with Craftsman or Bunga1oid features (Photo #79).
"Commercial, circa 1875 - 1920, Coded F
Very few buildings in the District were constructed exclusively for commercial use; a primary exception is the Classical Revival Jefferson-Gravois Bank of 1926 (Photo #81). The vast majority, however, combined first story commercial use with second story residential. Except for the storefronts, these buildings exhibit the same form and stylistic characteristics of contemporary housing (i.e., Vernacular Classicism, Italianate, Mansard,
Revival, Craftsman). Thus they have been coded both with the letter signifying the overall style of the building and with the "F" code for commercial use to indicate first story storefronts. Most 1880s and 1890s storefronts are cast iron framed; after the
turn of the century, the ornamental iron front disappears, replaced with simple Craftsman brick and terra cotta framing. The two principal concentrations of commercial storefront buildings are located along Jefferson Avenue (Photos "82, ,83, 84) and on Cherokee Street (Photos #85 - 88). Numerous other examples appear at intersections throughout the District." ~ NRHP Nomination Form
"Located on St. Louis' south side, the Benton Park District is a 19th and early 20th century immigrant neighborhood comprising approximately 1668 contributing buildings and 186 non-contributing ones. The majority of structures are residential; in addition,
there are three public schools, four churches and two parochial schools, two brewery complexes and three smaller industrial buildings. The contributing buildings were constructed
between circa 1848 and 1935; except for a small number of early frame one story houses, the buildings are brick, the traditional St. Louis building material. Residential examples predominately are multi-family, constructed as two- to six-bay, one and two
story detached houses and as two- and three-bay, two story attached rows. Two primary commercial strips on Cherokee Street and Jefferson Avenue have concentrations of buildings combining first story storefronts and second story flats; numerous other mixed-use buildings appear on corners throughout the District. While ornamental detailing and roof forms provide stylistic variations, District buildings are unified by their overall planar
facades, similar cornice lines, materials, color and scale. The District's street plan follows grids laid out at the time the subdivisions were originally platted. Three public parks, Cherokee Park, Carnegie Place and Benton Park (Photo #1) were set aside as open spaces in the 19th century.
"Compared with similar inner city neighborhoods, the Benton Park District has survived with unusually high structural density and little loss of integrity. The vast majority of streetscapes are intact with little demolition, few intrusions and minor alterations to buildings. Where alterations have occurred, they most frequently are replacements to deteriorated elements on rear elevations (Photo #31), cornices (Photos #54, 59, 83), porch
supports (Photos #17, 21), and mansard roofs (Photos, #42, 43). Some storefronts are boarded but the cast iron framing is undisturbed (Photos #63, 54, 88). The houses have been well-maintained and have a high rate of owner-occupancy.
"All non-contributing buildings are designated with an asterisk on the Architectural Survey Map; they include buildings which are less than fifty years old such as numerous one story brick in-fill houses (Photo #2) as well as various other commercial and industrial buildings (Photos #80, right; 103, right. Examples of non-contributing historic buildings which have lost integrity through radical facade alteration are illustrated in Photos ,13, 4, 5.
"All contributing buildings are coded by letter on the Architectural Survey Map under eight classifications (often overlapping) based on style and use. Dates assigned to
various style groups below often overlap as styles changed at different rates. ~ NRHP Nomination Form
Map - Northern Half Map - Southern Half