At the northeast corner of 11th and Locust, there's a sad-looking, apparently vacant, stuccoed-over, 3 or 4 story corner commercial building.
At even intervals on the ground level, you can see the building's original cast iron columns showing through the stucco walls.
Unrecognizable as it is, this must be one of the oldest downtown STL buildings still standing.
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7 comments:
do you mean the old Mother's Fish at the corner of 10th and Locust?
Yes. I wonder how much of the original interior is still intact.
As far as old downtown buildings, another ancient one is the original section of Broadway Oyster Bar.
That'd be a cool theme for a Metropolis Walk, "oldest bars in the city".
I wonder what the 5 oldest ones are?
I love that building. Let's hope the Roberts Brothers don't tear it down.
I was dismayed when I clicked that link and saw the map to find how many historic buildings downtown have been demolished.
There have been more demos than even that link shows, though Rob did a valiant effort making that very complex map. People didn't build parking lots or leave things vacant, especially in the central core--DT and the rest of the city used to be packed solid with buildings, but the bulldozer and the wrecking ball have certainly changed that. Even Soulard has seen a lot of loss. As they say (and as the movie is titled), "It's just one building!" ...yeah right.
I really hope the Roberts Brothers don't tear this down. I'm sure the cute building underneath could be uncovered with some effort. If the Roberts Bros. can't see past the stucco and the smallness of this great bldg, they shouldn't have bought one of the oldest buildings Downtown!
The building in question likely was built in two phases. The taller southern section facing Locust may date to the 1860s, while the section to the north dates to 1876. The taller section is definitely the oldest downtown building between Broadway and Tucker.
The interior of teh first floor is gutted, revealing brick walls and wooden posts and joists. I don't know if the upper floors have any original finishes or not.
This would make a very cool rehab project that could reveal a building that would remind people of buildings they have seen in Soulard and Old North.
I believe David Slay had talked of renovating that building for a new restaurant of his. Then he went bankrupt and maybe moved back to California. That's why the 1st floor interior is gutted. Several years ago, construction crews were quite busy there. Suddenly, the work stopped.
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