ST. LOUIS — Preservationists are renewing criticism of St. Louis University’s plan to tear down 130-year-old buildings after the city of St. Louis issued the private college a demolition permit.
SLU has until Dec. 13 to raze the vacant properties before the permit, valued at $10,000, expires. The university has said it bought the buildings in order to “improve the area around campus,” but has offered to sell the Olive Street buildings if it receives offers from interested buyers.
Preservationists have criticized SLU for wanting to demolish the properties, which sit directly across from a campus parking garage, without a plan for the site. They say the two buildings, at 3221 and 3225 Olive, are historically important despite not having a designated status that could prevent demolition.
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Nonprofit group Landmarks Association also has accused SLU President Fred Pestello of reneging on a “gentleman’s agreement” with a Landmarks’ board member that would have given the nonprofit more time to find alternatives to demolition, according to a letter the group sent to SLU on Monday.
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“History has shown that expedient demolition of buildings simply because their owners lack the vision to see how they could be reused is a failed approach that robs our community of its unique character, its cultural heritage and its economic vitality,” the letter reads.
The roughly 130-year-old buildings are relics of when the city of St. Louis was bursting with people and activity. One of them once belonged to famed restaurateur Tony Faust, who ran one of his markets there in the late 1800s. Later, in the early 2000s, at least one building operated as a nightclub.
The buildings, however, are not a city landmark, in the National Register of Historic Places nor in a preservation review district, which would have given City Hall an opportunity to deny the demolition permit.
Pete Rothschild owned the properties through his RPWE LLC and said they weren’t on the market when SLU officials approached his company to buy them. Previously, nearby Harris-Stowe State University had the properties under contract to buy for a short time before it walked away from the deal.
SLU bought them in August.
“I certainly hope they don’t tear them down,” Rothschild said, adding that the properties are in good shape.
Andrew Weil, Landmarks’ executive director, said he understands that the buildings were indeed well maintained. Rothschild had marketed them for lease over the years, Weil said.
But now under SLU’s ownership, preservationists fear the properties will disappear.
An interior photo of 3221 Olive Street shows the building's wooden trusses. Landmarks Association says the building is the last of famed Tony Faust‘s restaurant empire. (Courtesy of Landmarks Association)
Pestello, SLU’s president, allegedly told Landmarks Association board member and former KMOV anchor Julius Hunter that he considers the buildings to be “eyesores.” Landmarks also said in the letter that Pestello violated his “gentleman’s agreement” with Hunter that would have given preservationists until at least Jan. 1 to find another way to save the buildings.
SLU spokesman Clayton Berry did not answer questions about Pestello’s comment, and instead reiterated the university’s statement from September that it doesn’t want to see the properties continue deteriorating.
Berry said the university has yet to receive any written offers from buyers.
The properties are just outside the boundaries of Mill Creek Valley, a historic Black neighborhood that the city razed for a highway. Preservationists say SLU has not learned from history that demolition only serves to further destabilize a neighborhood.
“Landmarks Association implores you to see the forest rather than the trees and to change course,” the nonprofit said in its letter to SLU. “These buildings have stood for more than 130 years. During that time they have served many different purposes and survived periods of vacancy. They can be revitalized for the benefit of students, visitors and Midtown at large.”
Robert Fancher, owner of Red Flag, gives a preview of the venue that's scheduled to open in 2021. A few small shows and movie nights already have been held in the space.
Editor's note: This text has been edited to correct the owner's last name.
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