ST. LOUIS COUNTY — A county agency on Thursday picked a contractor to demolish the crumbling Jamestown Mall near Florissant. Demolition is expected to begin this fall.
Awarding a $7.4 million bid to South Carolina-based Target Contractors marks another significant step in the years-long process to raze the the million-square-foot building.
“I am trying to contain my emotions,” said St. Louis County Councilwoman Shalonda Webb, whose district includes the mall. “It has been a long time coming.”
The board for the St. Louis County Port Authority, a county government body that owns the property, approved the contract at its regular meeting Thursday. It will take a few weeks to finalize the contract, and then demolition is expected to begin in under a few months, said Andrew Ruben, the agency’s general counsel. An exact start date hasn’t been set.
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The agency received a dozen competitive bids from qualified contractors, Ruben said. It is required to choose the lowest responsible bidder, and Target Contractors was the least expensive by $800,000, he said.
The agency worked with St. Louis County and state officials to use $12 million in federal COVID-19 relief money for demolition. The Port Authority didn’t say what the extra money would be used for. Webb said it might be to cover unexpected costs. She hopes it could be used to make improvements on the property after demolition is complete.
In May, the Port Authority amended an existing contract with Stock & Associates Consulting Engineers for an additional $180,320 in grading costs, to ensure the “huge hole” the demolition will create will be filled.
The mall, which sits on 142 acres in the middle of North County subdivisions, closed in 2014.
The Port Authority has sought development possibilities for the site after demolition. After the agency bought the mall in 2017, it made a tentative deal with a developer. But that fell through when former County Executive Steve Stenger was indicted on corruption charges.
A plan to develop the site as a distribution center was scrapped in 2021 amid opposition from Webb, who said residents wanted a mixed retail site or community center.
Fires and floods have further damaged the old mall since its closure. In April, two firefighters were injured in a fire that caused a center part of the roof to collapse.
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Contractor picked to demolish old Jamestown Mall. Here's when demo could begin. - St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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