Architecture and Shape: Arches

St. Louis is filled with a variety of architectural styles and shapes. I never fail to be amazed by the many glimpses of beauty I am treated to throughout downtown alone on a regular basis.

Downtown, of course, is home to the granddaddy of all arches, the symbol that, to many people, the city is synonymous with: the Arch. Well, yes. There is that.
After all, 630 feet of gleaming stainless (in both height and width) is a little hard to miss. But long before THE Arch and even long before its designer, Eero Saarinen, were thought of, St. Louis was awash in arches.

Let me show you what I mean.

First stop: Eads Bridge. Predates the Arch by almost a century. Have to think Saarinen found some inspiration here ...

At the corner of Sixth of Washington, is 555 Washington. This is one of the oldest extant buildings downtown (c.1870-ish). And, it is also full of arches.

Likewise a block away at the Missouri Athletic Club where the marquee and first-floor windows make my point.From there, just look across the street to the Roberts Vista. (The J. Kennard Carpet Co. building.) There's more of those arches!

In fact, the arches cover this building from top to bottom. This building is an early illustration of how the detail of an arch can break up an otherwise towering building of squares and rectangles.


Go a few blocks back down Fourth Street, toward the heart of downtown, and head up Pine until you hit Broadway. There you will find the two-towered Marquette Building.


Built in 1913, it was already a half-century old when they started building the Arch! More proof that the shape has dominated St. Louis architecture for more than a century.


If you have a certain view like some people do (oh, like maybe ME!) you can see that it, too, is topped off with arches.

Go down any block in downtown, any of them.

I defy you to make it all the way down a single street without being able to spot at least one arch. And, I'd even be willing to bet that you could spot a whole lot more than just one.

Even though downtown's modern architecture bent has been more focused on triangles and cubes, I guarantee that you will still find arches neatly tucked away somewhere.


The ultra-modern 600 Washington, which takes up a good chunk of Sixth Street, and is a study in cubist construction can't help but get in on the act.


So the next time you're surrounded by skyscrapers, (especially if you're in St. Louis) look up and look around. See any arches?


I'll bet you do.

And She Sets Sail … Bon Voyage!

I catch glimpses of the news each morning as I walk between my room and the bath, occasionally peering in at the TV in the living room. The Admiral was back in the headlines Tuesday because she was officially moving on.

She wouldn’t be under her own power; a barge would push her to Columbia, Ill., and a waiting scrap heap. She’d already overstayed thanks to rising river levels so workers began stripping away the upper deck weeks ago so she could pass beneath the bridges in her path.

I took an early lunch and headed for the riverfront. I decided to seek a perch atop the garage just off Morgan Street.

It’s hard to see much at ground level except through an occasional opening in a garage wall, but I spied a glint of silver reflecting in the baking hot sun. She’s still there! I hadn’t missed it.

I snapped a few photos and waited. And waited. And waited. And waited.

By 10:45, I decided I could run to a nearby sandwich shop and then resume my perch. That way, I’d at least go back to the office with something to eat!

I was encouraged by movement of the crane, that had been atop the now decimated upper deck, being moved over to the side.

More preparations were under way and her departure seemed imminent. Occasionally, a barge would go by, even though traffic was supposed to be halted. Then, even the Tom Sawyer paddle-wheeler, its decks lined with spectators, floated by.
Shortly after 11, after baking in the sun for about 40 minutes, I knew I had to leave and go back. Begrudgingly, I snapped a few more photos, threw the Admiral a salute and a wave and walked back. Back at the office, I dealt with a few tasks and then checked out a conference room overlooking the river.

I was delighted to find that I could see enough of the Admiral to know when it was moving. Even from my desk, careful craning provided me with a tiny sliver of the hulking boat. Then, she began to move. First, she pulls away from her moorings just opposite the MLK Bridge.
Then, she cruises beneath the historic Eads one final time.

At that point, the boat is extremely close to shore but soon begins to make a wide turn to put it out farther into the Mississippi. I gulp and tear up a bit as I get my initial firsthand look at the devastated upper decks, a place which had been the site of many happy childhood times.

The Admiral begins to straighten her course and then … leaves downtown St. Louis forever. As she glides from view, an era in both downtown’s history and mine ends.

R.I.P. SS Admiral

The Albatross 1907-1937

SS Admiral 1940-2011

A Modern Take on a Historical Building

I love and adore the Arcade Building (8th and Olive) across from the Old Post Office.

After financing fell through on a development deal, it’s just been languishing for years. There was talk of it being torn down. (NO! Absolutely friggin’ not, people!)

Recently though, someone boarded up the uppermost windows which had been almost completely exposed when the plastic that had been covering them deteriorated. I took that as a good sign.

Then, several weeks ago, I noticed these canvases being put into place. I took that as an even better sign. I think they are awesomely cool. Some of the arches, which really are part of the space they are covering, are part of the canvas. On a few others, they’ve left the real arches exposed and fit the canvas neatly inside the arch.

They’re cooler still considering that the pictures inside the arch shapes feature architectural features from other buildings. I recognize three.

One is from the Railway Exchange Building. Why is it familiar? I have a similar photo (that I took) on the wall in my office!


Another is from the American Theater. Again, I recognized it from my own photos of the theater ...

And, the most recognizable, is from the Wainwright Building.

This is one of the ones where they tucked the canvas beneath the actual arch of the entryway/window instead of including a fake version in the canvas. I like the Wainwright well enough. But I much prefer some of Louis Sullivan's other works, especially his other existing St. Louis skyscraper, the Union Trust building. (Yes, I know. Call it sacrilege, but I think they should have torn down the Wainwright instead of the Buder or Title Guaranty buildings.) Even so, I'm glad they didn't and one of that infamous trio survived.

Sullivan supposedly was a mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright, though I fail to see much of his influence in Wright's work. Sorry. Again with the sacrilege ... Wright reportedly called the Wainwright Building "the very first human expression of a tall steel office-building as Architecture."

Well, maybe.

Downtown St. Louis: Some Olive Street History

I love downtown St. Louis. But you already knew that. Even so, I got a reminder of just how much in two ways this week.

First, as I virtually trolled through a digital collection of Missouri History Museum photos, I mourned some of the buildings that had perished. It's so hard to look at some of the grandeur I see in these photos and know that someone decided it just wasn't worth saving. Conversely, I got seriously excited as I found images of others that I completely relish during my daily commute.

Then, as I took a lunchtime walk through the actual streets, my spirits were immediately buoyed by the sight of some of my favorite centenarians. Just about every block of the heart of downtown has some old building that has weathered a century or more. And I adore that. The late 19th and early 20th century architects responsible for these gems are among my idols.

Unfortunately, I am a directional idiot so seeing some of these photos tagged as the northeast corner of this intersection or the southwest corner of that, doesn’t help me get my bearings to figure out if the buildings in the photos even still exist. Luckily, I do know enough to recognize certain things. That’s why I was a little puzzled when I saw this photo of Olive Street featuring some of my most favorite buildings.

It’s a photo of the Union Trust building (which I wrote about here) in 1893.

It’s the best picture I have EVER seen of its original round windows that went around its second story. And look at the second-story gargoyles on the corners! I didn’t know it had those.

Wonder what happened to them when some idiot decided to cover over those beautiful windows back in 1924. (Though there’s a lone alley where you can see a precious few. My blog post features a shot of one of those originals.)

Though it was the age of art deco so, by then, some 30 years after it was first built, I guess the plainer front and the gargoyles might have seemed outdated to them.

I easily recognized the domed structure in the background as the Old Post Office. But what’s that rectangular structure between the two?

Beats me. Hey, wait … the Chemical Building is supposed to be there!

Oh, but it wasn’t built until 1896. Guess that could explain its absence, huh?

Then, I happened upon this Olive Street scene from a few years later – 1900 – and a block farther back.

You can see the unmistakable round windows of the Union Trust (and oh, look at those gargoyles!!!!) though the trolley covers the two-story entryway.

Sadly, I'm pretty sure that where that gentleman in the foreground is standing is now the edge of a parking lot. (I hope St. Louis has learned from its shameful history of razing historic structures and turning them into parking lots or garages!)

But just behind the trolley and opposite the power line … is the Chemical Building. (It’s the building with all the bay windows. It’s one of only two in the city with bay windows from bottom to top. The other is the LaSalle Building a few blocks away.)

God, I love this city.

A Little Off the Top

One of the things I have been silently doing in the background is watching huge portions of the former St. Louis Centre come down. It's an eerie feeling to watch it being dismantled when I remember so vividly when it was being built.


Just as a reminder, here's what the old abandoned mall looked like back in mid-April.

They were really just getting started then, having the site blocked off and some of the large equipment had been moved into place. Entryways and first-floor windows were starting to rapidly disappear.



You can still see stairways, light fixtures and the outlines of some of the vendor booths within the building.

Fast forward just over two months to late June. It is starting to look a little bare as a lot of the inside work begins to wrap up.

Now spring to July 21. I think you might find the place looking just a little different!

See what I mean? I had missed visual updates for just a few days and most of the front framework had disappeared! Then, last week, I noticed that they had started to remove the individual panels of the skylight. Since I look down onto the rooftop, I noticed that in just a few short days they had managed to strip bare several rows of the panels.

And so, on Monday, workers were doing this. Isn't that cool? It's not often that you get to see this kind of job, up-close and personal. But I did!

In Praise of Austin P. Leland

If we tear everything down, how will our children and future generations know what America was like? If everything is a glass tower, how will they know our heritage? – Austin P. Leland (1907-1975)

I think I shuddered as I read that quote on a wall a few days ago. The words affected me that profoundly. You see, I didn’t know Austin P. Leland. In fact, I didn't even know who he was before this week.

Shame on me.

Leland was a longtime director of the Landmarks Association of St. Louis, and in the 1960s he led the fight to save St. Louis' Old Post Office building from demolition. He also was a trustee of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial.

Since 1978, Princeton University has issued The Austin P. Leland Award annually to recognize “general excellence in regional alumni activities to associations and clubs with more than 300 members.”

In my defense, when he launched a major offensive in 1964 to save the Old Post Office from the wrecking ball, I hadn’t even been conceived. When he died, I was just 9. While I didn’t know anything about the battle he helped wage to save that historic structure, I did get to witness the fruits of his labor. I saw the first phases of its redevelopment take place in the early 1980s, work that would be completed in 1984 – just in time for this glorious building’s centennial.

Speaking as one of the “future generations” that Leland alluded to in that now immortalized quote of his, we owe a debt of gratitude for keeping slices of America (or at least St. Louis’ portion of it) intact, for preserving our local heritage. Albeit belated, "Thank you, Mr. Leland."

While it’s been almost 46 years since this editorial page comic was published, as part of the argument to protect the Old Post Office, I think its message is just as valid now as ever.

It's a pretty apt depiction. I’m sick sometimes when I think of how much history and breathtaking architecture was lost in the name of the tornado that is “progress.” At least this was one piece that was spared -- because someone was brave enough and determined enough to stand up and say, "ABSOLUTELY NOT!"

No, I didn’t know Austin P. Leland – I only wish that I had.

Stay tuned for a lengthy and visual report on the historic structure his efforts left standing …

Little by Little, Bit by Bit

It's not often that I can present something that hasn't been seen in upwards of 25 years but today, I can!

Went for a nice walk yesterday at lunch (which introduced me to MORE historic buildings for you to see and hear about this summer) and I got to see this: the exposed (mostly) facade of the old Stix, Baer & Fuller building where the demo of the Washington Avenue skybridge is nearly complete. I think that's moved along quite nicely considering that back on May 21, it looked more like this: Looks to me like the job is somewhere between 60 and 70 percent complete. (I think the projected completion date is sometime next week. They just might make it!)

The one thing that concerns me is the condition of the facade. I'd read somewhere that they weren't anticipating that the bridge had done much damage to the front as it was more supported by the street pillars, not the Stix building. I don't know though. This looks pretty messed up to me.
For the most part, they were able to leave the original cornice and window moldings intact, but ... there are definitely spots where it was not very loved during the original construction of the bridge. Luckily, the greatest level of the ornamentation of this building is concentrated at the higher and roofline level! It doesn't appear at least that they did much mucking with that, thank God!

And you know that I just couldn't NOT share a photo featuring the welder's sparks. It looked so cool from the street. This piece was GONE when I came in this morning, too!

Gutting St. Louis Centre

When I was going to high school -- in the years before CD was old enough to drive us there -- before I was old enough to have a job (even with a work permit) I took two buses a day to get there.

The first bus would let me off at 10th and Washington. I had to catch the second at 6th and Locust. If it sounds like there was some distance there, there was. I only mention it because I did some walking around Friday to see how the skybridge demo was coming and to get a closer look at the former St. Louis Centre which is being transformed into the Seventh Street Garage. I stood there, just across the street, transfixed on it for a few minutes.

For some reason, I thought about the many times I'd stood on that corner back when it was home to a Woolworth's store. Back before I'd be using the employee entrance to the old Famous Barr that was just across the street.

I'd been to that Woolworth's a bazillion times in my life. The mother and I had eaten lunch and shopped there when I was little. I only vaguely recall it being torn down though I vividly remember the construction of the mall. Funny how selective our memories can be sometimes.

At any rate, here's a few shots from the gutting of the center. The signage is now gone from over the entryway, the windows to its skyway are boarded up and the windows on the first few floors have been removed.

As I walked by, a guy was dismantling lights on the third floor. At first, I didn't see the guy, only the sparks from his blowtorch.

The camera's fabulous zoom fixed that for me! It made for kind of a cool shot.

History Lost: The Ambassador Theater

When it opened in 1926, the 17-story Ambassador Theater building was hailed as “the greatest event in St. Louis since the World’s Fair.” Six floors were dedicated to the theater while the 11 uppermost stories housed office space.

It was a building drawn from the minds of architects C.W. and George L. Rapp, among the nation’s most successful designers of “movie palaces.” It was one of two such movie houses they built in St. Louis.

Here it is in all its glory from an opening night brochure.
Fortunately, the St. Louis Theatre built in 1925 and reopened as Powell Symphony Hall (home of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra) in the 1960s, survived talk of demolition. The building in mid-town has been lovingly restored and pays tribute to its opulent roots.

But downtown, the Ambassador did not fare so well.

Stand at 7th and Locust today and you will hear the rush of a fountain, almost an eerie mimicking shadow of the applause that once rose from the site. The theater featured live shows into the mid-1930s, when it shifted to motion pictures. It added Cinerama movie screens in the 1950s but was shuttered by 1960 when a new Cinerama theater was built in mid-town.
The owners tried to offer a combination of movies and live music well into the next decade.

During the 1970s, it became a venue for popular rock acts including Van Morrison and KISS. The theater closed for good in 1976. Office tenants, however, remained on site until the late 1980s. During this time, the first six floors were gutted of its many lavish fixtures, including its stairways, and they were auctioned off.

The Ambassador remained in a state of limbo and steady decline during the 1990s until the neighboring modern bank building began lobbying for a “plaza” where the theater stood. They won their argument and the Ambassador was demolished between 1995 and 1996. (In some justice, that bank was swallowed up by another bank shortly thereafter. What goes around comes around.)

There’s some great insight and photos on this blog that I happened upon, oddly, while working on this piece. And Vanishing St. Louis offers some tear-jerking views of before, during, and after the demolition. (You can still appreciate how gorgeous the stage area and accents throughout were, even 60+ years later.)

Take a closer look at some of the building shots on those sites. Now look at the plaza photo. Does

anything look familiar?
Maybe these?


I’m not sure what the intent was, maybe to immortalize the theater in some way, but these reliefs are now attached to the wall of a historic bank building adjacent to the theater site and on the edge of the plaza. (I can’t believe I go past these things all the time and never made the connection!) I'm glad they're there and glad to finally know that they are.

There’s a saying that “old St. Louis theaters don’t die – they become parking lots.” Perhaps a bit of prophecy lies therein where the Ambassador is concerned.

Currently, discussions are under way in which the “plaza,” which really serves no real function, may become, what else, but a parking garage.

Just Call Me Snap

I think I mentioned that our company picnic was over the weekend and that I was its official photographer.

One of my favorite places in St. Louis – or anywhere for that matter – is Kiener Plaza. It’s a truly beautiful place. Sometimes in the nice weather I sneak over to the amphitheater and have lunch.

That was the site of this year’s picnic. Our company took over the whole thing. I mean, literally took it over. It was a Sunday, so downtown was quiet, especially since baseball season didn’t go into the playoffs this year. There was a whole bunch of food under a catered tent. There were also cart vendors situated throughout the plaza with brats, popcorn, cotton candy, peanuts, and ice cream. A pretty amazing spread.

A few tourists wandered in (it is in the shadow of the Arch and just across the street from the historic Old Courthouse) but you had to have a name tag and a bracelet to get or food or beverages so it wasn’t a problem.

That it’s a location which attracts more than its fair share of the downtown homeless had many people concerned. They needn’t have been. Oh, there were a few but security shooed them away. (Made me feel bad but that’s a whole ‘nother issue.)

And the weather? Oh. My. God. Sunny and 80+ -- in OCTOBER! Mother Nature is working overtime to redeem herself for all of her indiscretions in the spring and most of the summer.

In just a few hours’ time, I managed to snap more than 200 photos. I spent some of last night and today going through them. There were just way too many cute damn kids! They make up the bulk of the photos I shot. That’s due in part because there were so many things for the kids to do. (For privacy reasons, I’m going to share just a few shots of anonymous kiddos.)

It’s not every day you get a pony ride, much less one with the Arch looming behind you.

And how often do you get to stand or dance in the middle of fountain? Or just be a princess? And candy? Buddy, we had you covered!

Want to try on a new face as you decided what to be for Halloween this year? We even gave young'ns that option, too.

I'm not jealous of the pony, the candy, or the costumes (OK, maybe a little) but the one thing these kids probably all have in common that I wish I had in common with them? A nap. I'm in need of some serious Zs!

All the running around, the work at home, and a late night last night is catchin' up with me. Here's hoping for a nice, quiet evening.

Yeah, right ...

History Lost: The Buder Building

You might recall my few posts highlighting the gorgeous architecture in downtown St. Louis. I’ve got several more installments planned or under way.

However, I think it’s important to also note that much was lost to the wrecking ball during the late 1970s and early 1980s. For a while, it was almost as if St. Louis was on a targeted path to destroy its historic heritage and rightful place as an architectural gatekeeper. Unfortunately, there was another strong dose of this destructive activity in the 1990s and a quick shot even in recent years that took out two more historic goliaths.

So, I’ve decided to also share information (and photos where I can find them) of some of the history that was made in centuries past lost in recent decades. So I’ll occasionally be doing another feature: History Lost. I’m going to start with the Buder Building. You can see it above in a 1910 postcard, and shortly before it was demolished in 1984.

I never even knew what it was called. Sadly, when I embarked on this little journey, I didn't even realize which building it was until I pulled up that photo from 1984. Oh yeah. The building where KFC was.

How sad is that? God, I wish I had paid more attention.

At the turn of the 20th century and in the decade that followed, downtown’s Seventh Street between Market and Locust was a collection of huge, monumental – by that time’s standards—skyscrapers.

Constructed for approximately $600,000, the 13-story Buder opened in 1902 as the Missouri Pacific Building. It officially completed the city 1890s development plan for the west side of Seventh Street. Faced in light buff brick, the Buder was embellished with white terra cotta at the two story base and two story capital and around the windows in the eight story shaft.

It exhibited the richest and most extensive use of Beaux Arts/Renaissance Revival terra cotta ornament in the city. If the outside was regal and lavish, no expense was spared inside either as this 2002 blog entry featuring an interview with Bruce Gerrie, curator of the first major exhibit of antique doorknobs in the United States.

“The emblematic doorknobs were often the owner's signature. For instance, when the Missouri Pacific building was built in St. Louis, its doorknobs had MP molded into them. When the building was purchased by Gary Buder, he renamed the building the Buder Building, and installed doorknobs with BB on them.”

Under much protest, it was leveled in August 1984 to make room for “green space” as part of the Gateway Mall project.

Now, I’m as much a fan of parks and open green lots as the next person, but not at the expense of one of a city’s historic architectural gems.

When I saw this photo recently, it almost moved me to tears.

Look at all that grandeur and beauty – fragmented and in a heap – treated like so much trash. (This was some of the rubble after they imploded it.) Thankfully, I also found this photo which shows workmen salvaging the angels (below) that can be seen in the shot of the building’s main entrance at far right.
I think progress is a wonderful thing but it should never trump our heritage. You can always build a new building. You can never replace one built a century or more before.

It reminds me of something I heard my grandmother say more than once: "Forget where you came from and you might never figure out where you're going ."

Don't worry, Gram. I won't forget.