Forest Park Southeast is located southeast of Forest Park, and just south of the Central West End. The boundaries are Interstate 64/U.S. Highway 40 on the north, Interstate 44 on the south, South Vandeventer Avenue on the east and southeast, and South Kingshighway Boulevard on the west.

History

Before 1989, the Forest Park Southeast (FPSE) neighborhood had been known by various names over the years. Originally, the area was known as Rock Spring, named for the large spring that was the principal source of the Mill Creek. Rock Spring drew a large crowd from the central city and became a resort where they could get away from the urban grind. The demographics of the area changed drastically, though, with the arrival of the Pacific Railway and the influx of industry that followed. As a result, the area took on the names of the subdivisions that developed to house the great number of those arriving to work in the factories. The subdivisions surfaced in the following order: Laclede Race Course, McRee Place, and Gibson Heights. The Forest Park Southeast area officially became part of St. Louis city in 1876. The area’s growth was due initially to its railroad access and eventually to its streetcar service.

In the last half century there has been much ambivalence on the part of city planners toward the condition of the neighborhood. In 1953, the neighborhood was identified as a "reconstruction" area and almost fell victim to the widespread demolition of urban renewal that was so popular in the fifties. Then in 1961, the city hoped to convert the area to an industrial park. In 1973, the neighborhood began to be identified for "neighborhood improvement" through code enforcement, and other means. Little was produced as a result of the plan and the neighborhood appeared to be put on the back burner again. In 1974, however, Joe Roddy was instrumental in persuading the Washington Redevelopment Corporation to include the section of Forest Park Southeast that lies west of South Taylor, north of Oakland Avenue, and east of Kingshighway in its revitalization plan. Having accomplished this plan, it wasn’t until the Washington University Community Revitalization Program started operating in Forest Park Southeast in 1995, though, that the Redevelopment Corporation concentrated much effort in the neighborhood.

The Forest Park Southeast neighborhood is located immediately west of downtown St. Louis between institutional uses and park lands to the north and northwest, and smaller grain neighborhoods and industrial uses to the south. FPSE is surrounded by many of St. Louis’s wonderful amenities, including the Missouri Botanical Gardens, Forest Park, and Tower Grove Park. The neighborhood is situated within a network of highways and high-speed arterials, such as I- 44, I-64, Kingshighway Boulevard, and Vandeventer Avenue. It comprises two intersecting street grids that are seamed together by Manchester Avenue, once the commercial heart of the neighborhood.

The legacy of a working-class neighborhood that grew from the foundations of industry and the railroad can still be seen in the layout of the neighborhood today. From the intermingling of industrial operations in residential areas to the abandoned factories and warehouses which hauntingly linger on the edges of the neighborhood, the industry that was the backbone of yesterday’s community is obviously today’s challenge.

The loss of industry created not only a job vacuum, but also a mass exodus from the community. At its population height in 1940, the neighborhood had 10,500 residents; today, the number is only around 4,000. Therefore, the housing in the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood that was in great demand at the turn of the century now suffers from great neglect and disinvestment. These houses are overwhelmingly of brick construction but often differ in style and size. It is common to see houses ornamented with terra cotta and stone. Houses range from New Orleans style bungalows and rowhouses to shotgun-style homes. They include single family homes as well as many two- and four-family flats. The area also has around two dozen buildings that house five or more families.

The neighborhood has all but lost its commercial strip on Manchester Avenue. Today, it sadly boasts a few convenience shops and intermittent industry amid its vast majority of boarded-up storefronts. On Manchester’s northeastern section of the neighborhood, however, both a Clark filling station and the Bellon Wrecking and Salvage business have added to the area’s appeal by recently finishing major facelifts More importantly, the neighborhood lacks many of the basic retail and services, such as grocery stores, restaurants, and dry cleaners.

For a neighborhood its size, the area also has a shortage of parks and other green space. The old Adams school playground and a corner play area, Rainbow Park, round out the neighborhood outdoor recreation opportunities. In previous decades, the neighborhood gradually lost its sense of community and cohesion. These factors, among others, have bred large-scale societal problems such as drugs, crime, and poverty.

The fact that there are no longer any schools located in the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood is often cited as one of the neighborhood’s greatest deficits. Fortunately, the community is supported by a multitude of churches and religious organizations. St. Cronan’s is the neighborhood Catholic church. In addition to religious services, St. Cronan’s operates a community center. The United Methodist Ministry is a religious anchor in the community, as well as a social services provider; most notably; it operates the Shalom House shelter for homeless women. Other religious organizations include the Church of the Living God, Lighthouse Free Methodist Church, St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, and Gibson Heights United Presbyterian Church.

An overwhelming source of neighborhood organization is coming from the joint efforts of neighborhood associations and the redevelopment partnership among Washington University Redevelopment Corporation, Mercantile Bank, and the Forest Park Southeast Housing Corporation. FPSE has five neighborhood associations: the Adams Grove Neighborhood Association, the Adams Grove Block Unit, the Gibson Heights Neighborhood Association, the New Boyle Improvement Association, and Ranken East.

The FPSE neighborhood is gaining steam in its fight to win back its neighborhood. A concentrated revitalization effort in the neighborhood started at the beginning of the 1990’s. The initial focus was to combat crime and drug traffic through efforts such as neighborhood watch programs, hiring off-duty police officers, and working to close down drug houses. In the early 1990’s, Habitat For Humanity built some new homes in the Adams Grove area south of Manchester Avenue. A program also originated in 1995 called "Team Sweep" in which volunteer neighborhood children clean up the streets and alleys. More recently, an encouraging sign of private investment is the recent expansion of Renard Paper and various in-fill development projects undertaken by Pyramid Construction.

FPSE was selected in 1998 to be one of the first neighborhoods to be included in St. Louis 2004 Sustainable Neighborhoods initiative. Its selection was based upon a number of criteria focusing on neighborhood needs and capacity for success. Sustainable Neighborhoods is an unprecedented partnership to revitalize nine neighborhoods through an ambitious initiative directed by the residents themselves. Eighteen financial institutions contributed funds to create the largest concentration of private capital ever directed at neighborhood revitalization. The funds are earmarked for investments and loans in the neighborhoods for new and rehabilitated housing, new business development, and job creation. An additional focus on developing health-related projects for children has been underwritten by the Deaconess Foundation.

The Forest Park Southeast Housing Corporation began in 1977 to lead the neighborhood in revitalizing its housing but, along with WUMCRC, concentrated most of its redevelopment efforts in the northwestern part of the neighborhood. Recently, however, the Washington University Medical Center and Mercantile Bank joined forces to sponsor a community-driven master plan for the revitalization of Forest Park Southeast. The final plan was completed in July 1999 under the direction of McCormack Baron & Associates, and in partnership with the Forest Park Southeast Housing Corporation. The final contributor to the master plan is the community itself. The plan reflects the needs, concerns, and priorities of the community, which were expressed in interviews, focus groups, and five public meetings that culminated in a three-day charette. The main goals of the neighborhood are revitalize and create housing, attract and retain businesses, respect the historical integrity of the district, and reduce and cut through traffic. Specific issues addressed in the plan include the lack of a school, limited public open space, unmarked gateways, tattered edges, and vacant storefronts. The community’s top priority is to create a school for its children in the community. The plan is now awaiting approval by the FPSE community, the WUMC, and the City of St. Louis. Upon adoption, the plan will be a framework in which to seek and evaluate development proposals for projects that will help to revitalize FPSE.