2 min read
Posted on 08.14.05
  • 2 min read
  • Posted on 08.14.05


A couple of days at home at the end of last week gave me a chance to mix some deferred home maintenance with some postponed office reading.

Earlier this year, the feds advised us that a new “Gravois-Jefferson Streetcar Suburb Historic District” encompassing the Benton Park West and Gravois Park neighborhoods has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This is a good thing. The listing paves the way for a new surge of historic rehab in those nabes.

Dozens of people — residents, investors, elected officials, and City staff — deserve credit for pursuing the nomination. I would especially like to thank Aldemen Ken Ortmann and Craig Schmid, and the staff of the Cultural Resources Office, for their diligence.

The same sort of hard working is going on in other City neighborhoods, too.

Every three months, the City’s Preservation Board reviews new district and individual listings on the National Register. These listings encourage the preservation and rehabilitation of the City’s unique historic properties by making them eligible for state and federal historic tax credits. If you haven’t been down to watch the Preservation Board’s deliberative process, you should try to.

In July, the Preservation Board voted to support the following nominations:

  • The Ben J. Selkirk & Sons Buildings on Olive Street in the heart of the Gaslight Square development. These buildings are proposed for rehabilitation as condos that complement the new construction blooming in this area.

  • The Centennial Malt House property on Chouteau, across from the new Orchard Development townhomes that are already under construction at Mississippi and Chouteau. In a recent memo, Barb Geisman told me that the owners of 1111 Mississippi have purchased the Centennial property and are proposing an expansion of their restaurant business at the new site.

  • The LaSalle Investment Company Building at Broadway and Olive (thanks, brickandmortar) Streets. This is a wonderful, tall, narrow (very narrow!) building with unique bay windows. Listing this property on the National Register will allow much-needed improvements to be made without pricing the building out of the market.

  • The Polar Wave Ice and Fuel Company buildings at Chouteau and 7th Street. These structures are part of a new "Ice House Development" that will include restaurants, a banquet center, and offices.

  • The Elias Haas Building in the 2200 block of Locust Street. Listing this historic building will support the expansion of the Washington Avenue Loft District’s success to the area west of current activity.

    •  
    Share
    Share
    Follow
    Contribute
    Contribute
    Follow @MayorSlay
    Share
    Follow
    Contribute