Eleven Most Enhanced Buildings Awards, May 2004

IN ITS PURPOSE AND IN ITS ACCOMPLISHMENTS, THE PRESERVATION MOVEMENT HAS BEEN, AND STILL IS, ONE OF THE SANEST AND MOST VALUABLE DEVELOPMENTS IN URBANISM AND ARCHITECTURE IN THIS CENTURY.
- Caser Pelli, one of the great modernist architects of our day.

Each May during Historic Preservation Week, Landmarks recognizes some of the valiant champions of this movement at a ceremony honoring winners of the city’s Eleven Most Enhanced Awards. In evaluating the honorees, the jury looked first at the quality of the renovation and then selected the best citywide examples of renovation projects featuring buildings of differing ages, styles and uses.

Designed in 1904 by architect John L. Wees, who also designed an addition in 1914, the Lister Building (4500 Olive) is significant for its association with a notable medical educator, reformer and surgeon. Landmarks Association has a long history with this beleaguered landmark, starting with the preparation of a National Register nomination in 1982 and continuing through years of owner neglect, neighborhood anxiety and aldermanic patience.

That all changed on November 29, 2001 when Sue Ngueyen called to report that she and husband Uan had bought the Lister Building. Before work could start, however, engineers had to brace the remaining walls so platforms could be built from which workmen dug out the collapsed roof and portions of the east and west walls. Funding for what turned into a $4.1 million mixed-use project came from the St. Louis Equity Fund, Allegiant Bank and federal and state historic rehab credits. Fendler & Associates and G. Clinton Borror & Associates provided architectural services; developer/owner Central West End Builders, Inc. were in charge of construction.

In 1979, Landmarks submitted a City Landmark application for the imposing Romanesque Revival structure (then known as the S. G. Adams Building) designed in 1890 for Bell Telephone Company of Missouri by Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge—successor firm to the great H. H. Richardson of Boston. A subtle seventh floor addition from 1919 did not really detract from the original red brick and sandstone design, but limestone panels applied to the first floor in 1940 most certainly did. Owner Hartley B. Comfort, who planned to sheath the entire building, opposed designation. The building was nevertheless designated a Landmark in January 1980.

Twenty years later it was vacant — slated for demolition for yet another downtown surface parking lot. Developer Craig Heller, a repeat Enhanced Award Winner, came to the rescue bringing Mansur Real Estate and Construction Services. Working with architectural conservators the building was cleaned, stripped of the ground floor “modernization” and painstakingly restored. Financing for the $6.4 million conversion to 24 apartments by STU Architects came from US Bank along with federal and state historic rehab tax credits. A display apartment at Bell Lofts (920 Olive) is already open; a long-awaited downtown grocery is scheduled to debut in July.

In 1829, Belgian-born Emmanuel de Hodiamont bought 180 acres of farmland out by the River des Peres and built a simple stone house. He and his family would live there for 40 years. The next owners transformed the building into a picturesque Gothic Revival cottage complete with steeply pitched center gable. Designated a City Landmark in 1972, the quaint house at 951 Maple Place was located in a neighborhood experiencing Urban Renewal, disinvestment and abandonment. Maintenance slipped, even before the last owner walked away.

When the De Hodiamont House was scheduled at a sale for back taxes, worried License Collector Ron Leggett called Landmarks. We in turn contacted former award winner Bob Wood who bought the property and hired Landmarks to prepare a National Register nomination. Just as the nomination was almost complete, we received a short, mysterious call from Bob: “Come out here and take a look.” We did. The stucco applied at an unknown date was off, revealing two-foot-thick stone walls and intact fish scale shingles! All told, $220,000 has gone into renovating this unique landmark from plans by the Johannes-Cohen Collaborative. Financing came from Allegiant Bank; the contractor in charge was the Clayton Investment Corporation.

Constructed about 1871, the so-called “Smile Building” at 2001 South 9th in Soulard has been an all-purpose social hall, a center for the neighborhood’s Czech community, a soft-drink factory, a roller rink and finally home to Powercraft—manufacturers of heavy-duty electrical switches. It was badly damaged in the 1896 tornado. Rebuilt by the Czech community; the long-vacant building was once again near collapse when Pete Rothschild bought it in May of 1994. (Landmarks’ staff members who met Peter at the site have vivid memories of massive mold, rotten joists and none-existent floors.)

Pete hauled out 50 large dumpsters of trash and began exploring adaptive reuse possibilities with co-developer Mat Librach. Ten years later, after a $4 million reinvestment, the Smile Lofts have opened with 17 imaginative apartments and a corner commercial space. Design solutions came from architect Richard Claybour along with Klitzing Welsh; the contractor was J. P. McLain. Financing included both federal and state historic rehab credits.

In 1926, architects LaBeaume & Klein designed a building offering affordable housing for working women. The client was the St. Louis Women’s Christian Association — a prominent charitable institution. In 1941, their vision became intertwined with similar aspirations held by the Phyllis Wheatley branch of the YWCA . Organized in 1911 by a small group of women from the Union Memorial A.M.E. Church, the branch “Y” purchased the almost-new facility in 1941 as a “home away from home” for young African-American women. In 1984, Landmarks prepared a National Register nomination for the property.

Nine years later the facility was closed and the building began to deteriorate. In 1997, Landmarks added it to our Endangered list. In 2001, the “Y” began an exhaustive effort to fund a restoration that would cost $4.4 million. Receiving both historic and low-income tax credits was key to this long-awaited success story designed by The Lawrence Group with R.G. Ross Construction.

Pioneers in the rebirth of the Old North St. Louis neighborhood, Susan and Tom Tschetter bought the circa 1879 Mahaney-Tschetter House at 1214 North Market in 1992. A few months later a violent storm blew out the neighbor's back wall and destroyed the Tschetter's rotting wood cornice. Friends helped put on a new roof and pour a concrete basement. Next, the plumbing failed. A construction loan from Mercantile Bank covered new plumbing and a new electrical system.

Before embarking on the next phase, bringing the rehab total to $150,000, the Tschetter’s submitted an application to the Missouri historic tax credit program. That helped leverage a loan from Wells Fargo, which financed the cost of taking down and rebuilding the entire west and south walls of the house, restoring the stone front elevation and replacing rear windows. Although interior plasterwork was accomplished by professionals, Tom and Susan did all framing and carpentry, interior painting, tile work in the bathrooms plus cleaning, stripping and restoring much of the original woodwork. Architectural services came from Chris Manso and Paul Fendler.

Sometimes dramatic change seems to happen almost overnight; sometimes it takes decades. Joe Edwards first bought property in the Loop in the 1970s. With Blueberry Hill as a toehold, Joe began a brilliant but patient campaign including the annual “Walk of Fame” ceremony and the renovation of the Tivoli Theatre. Although the U City Loop became a major regional destination, thanks in large part to his initiative, Delmar heading east into the city remained a disaster. Most of the buildings east of Skinker are within the boundaries of an historic district, yet developers shunned the area in spite of nearby MetroLink and a pioneering adaptation of a dilapidated A & P grocery store by The St. Louis Design Alliance.

Once again Joe Edwards saw potential, bought property, developed plans and got to work. The Pageant — a popular concert venue — opened in 2000. He then embarked on the renovation of a series of rundown commercial buildings in the 6100 block of Delmar . One collapsed during the early stages of renovation. But Joe is tenacious and resourceful. ARCO and ICON Construction built the combined projects with a total cost of more than $4 million; Kiku Obata’s office was responsible for all design work.

The next recipients already received an Enhanced Award from us in 1999 for this very project. The jury that year—making the single exception so far to the threshold requirement that a renovation project be virtually complete—bestowed the award based on sheer nerve! For over ten years we had received phone calls about the former Post-Dispatch Building at 300 North Tucker from would-be developers wanting assurance they could get historic rehab credits if they removed a 1960s curtain wall. No informed opinion could be given until the curtain wall was, in fact, removed. No one was willing to take the risk until Jerry Glick and Meade Summers came along and bought the property.

Next, we watched in amazement as panels were removed, revealing damaged but patrician limestone facades designed in 1915 by Barnett, Haynes & Barnett. By then, we were convinced that the building could indeed be listed on the National Register, but it took a bit of extra work to convince reviewers at the State Office. Meanwhile, careful cleaning eventually removed the ugly black stripes; replacement pieces were cast for missing columns and trim. Eventually, the cost rose to $7 million. HBD was the contractor in charge of the complicated restoration; Stark Wilson Duncan provided architectural services. Private financing was assisted by the First National Bank of St. Louis plus federal and state historic rehab credits.

Corner saloons were important gathering places in most of the city’s historic neighborhoods. Among the finest architecturally were those designed by Klipstein & Rathmann for the Anheuser-Busch Brewing Association. Outstanding examples include two previous winners of Landmarks’ Enhanced Awards: the Feasting Fox at 4200 South Grand and the Stork Inn at 4527 Virginia. This particular establishment built in 1911 for $16,000 and run by Emil Neumeister was located just a stone’s throw from the brewery itself. Prohibition only six years later convinced Anheuser-Busch to sell the property.

Over the years a variety of business remuddled and subdivided the space. When Calvin Thompson Lemp and Arsenal had been vacant for five years. Undaunted, Calvin and contractor Henry Johnson began clearing away debris. Architect Jeffrey Bumb was hired to design the project to meet state and federal historic rehab standards; preservation specialist Karen Baxter was brought in to help coordinate that effort. Private financing combined with historic tax credits and a loan from Allegiant Bank have produced an innovative mixed-use project costing almost $2.65 million. Landmarks’ Board of Directors has already held two meetings at the TripleXpresso’s Conference Center, Café and Coffee House. and his wife decided to embark on their first renovation project, the building at the southwest corner of

All residents had been gone for two years when Bill Hart of Janus Building Renovation acquired the four-family flat at 2304 Russell. But the building was not vacant. One apartment was occupied by several pit bulls—guardians of 200 tuxedoes with accessories and shoes to match stored floor to ceiling in the basement. Former owners had, however, taken eight oak fireplace mantels along with them when they defaulted on their loan.

Designed by architect Wenzel Janisch in 1906, the building cost $16,000 to build—substantially more than many of its contemporaries—due in part to the fine brickwork and stone trim. Janus cleaned and restored the exterior, replaced the roof and all the systems. Renovation, with financing from Missouri State Bank and state historic rehab credits, approached $5 million. Four new owners now enjoy space at the Vesta Condominium designed by Citta Group in partnership with GMC Design.

The 2004 awards were held at a stunning setting in the Grand Ball Room of Coronado Place , designed as a hotel by Preston J. Bradshaw and built in stages from 1923 to 1929. Closed in 1964, the property was purchased by Saint Louis University and converted into a dormitory. In 1986, the university sold the once-grand Coronado to Sterling Properties; it would sit vacant for the next fifteen years.

Amrit and Amy Gill of Restoration St. Louis, Inc. purchased the derelict complex at 3701 Lindell in early 2001. Some $40 million later in December of 2003, a gala event celebrated project completion and the official opening. Three different architectural firms had a hand in the finished product: Henmi & Associates, Christner Inc. and the Lawrence Group. BSI was the contractor. Missouri and federal historic tax credits were key components in the financing package.

This year’s selection committee was confronted by the most applications we have ever reviewed. It was a very strong field indeed. In the end the nod sometimes went to a now-rescued building that had once been gravely endangered rather than to an equally deserving project. Original construction dates of the eleven winners span almost a century; project costs run from $150,000 to $40 million. Those honored received Landmarks’ signature tile, a design by Pat Hays Baer based on the 1875 views of St. Louis in Compton & Dry.

All information and illustrations on these pages
are from the collections of the Landmarks Association of St. Louis, Inc.
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