TOWER GROVE SOUTH (15)
Click [ HERE ] for the PDF version.

LOCATION
At the heart of South St. Louis, Tower Grove South is bound by Arsenal to the North, South Grand to the East, Chippewa to the South, and South Kingshighway to the West.

HISTORY
Oak Hill, a large subarea of Tower Grove South, is named after the Russell estate of the same name that once occupied the area west of Gustine. The discovery of clay and coal deposits on the property resulted in mines and a fire brick plant in the mid 1800s that helped expand the river town into an industrial city of coal-burning and numerous brick buildings.

Between Grand and Gustine were several landowners, including the McDonalds and the Tholozans. The McDonalds were first to sell out to a major subdivision-Tower Grove Heights. Following the opening of the Grand viaduct and dedication of Tower Grove Park, this area saw rapid real estate speculation.

By the time South Side National built its ornamental monolith in the 1920s at the busiest intersection in South St. Louis, hardly any virgin land remained in the area. Still, this new office building opened with the statement: "We believe in the future of Grand and Gravois." Simultaneously, most new construction now consisted of multifamily flats. Then, suffering housing shortages, Tower Grove Heights homes were converted into two-families. Finally, with prices and rent going up without any new units to offer, Tower Grove South started its slow postwar decline.

Today, the area has new stabilizing forces. Historical interests have saved Tower Grove Heights. Immigrants and alternative-lifestyled individuals have started new businesses and bought many homes and apartments. Still, many outdated homes and rental units face an uncertain future.

CHARACTERISTICS
Tower Grove South defines variety. Along its eastern boundary, a pedestrian mix of shops from the ethnic to the eclectic make up Grand South Grand, visibly the area's, and also likely the City's, strongest commercial base. Along the west edge, in stark contrast, is Southtown, historically the first clustering of new and used car lots in the region and retaining its love-of-the-car atmosphere with a new Home Depot and Sonic. Still, within the neighborhood, Morganford and Gustine host a variety of corner small businesses.

Other commercial areas, whether pedestrian- or automobile-oriented, currently hang in uncertainty over their future vitality. At Gravois and Gustine sets Gravois Plaza, South St. Louis's attempt at the suburban strip mall, while just blocks east stands tall the South Side National Bank building in all its 1920s glory. Hauntingly, Gravois hosts empty shells of recognizable silhouettes of past fast-food chains.

As variable as its businesses, Tower Grove South's homes vary in stock and style. Abutting Grand South Grand is Tower Grove Heights, the area's oldest yet most appreciating properties. These two-and-a-half-story masonry homes have such historic appeal that private investment has transformed many two families back into single-family homes of restored woodwork and craftsmanship. In fact, some along Utah Place, the prize street with its manicured median, have sold easily over $300,000. In other pockets of Tower Grove South, there are more frame houses and multifamily flats, yet masonry structures and two-family dwellings remain dominant.

There are several smaller neighborhoods that constitute the greater Tower Grove South. In addition to Tower Grove Heights, there is the Fanning Neighborhood between Gravois Plaza and Grand, Grand-Oak Hill spanning the center of the area, Parkside South between the Missouri Pacific Railroad and Tower Grove Park, as well as Morganford on the south side of the railroad. Left over from all these carvings is "the wedge," an area statistically in Tower Grove South but cut off from it by Gravois and severed also by Grand and Chippewa, thus outside of Dutchtown as well. This isolated triangle, consisting virtually of all flats, depends heavily upon its commercial fringes for its stability.

INSTITUTIONS AND ORGANIZATIONS
Grand-Oak Hill Community Corporation acts as the umbrella organization for the area yet Parkside South and Tower Grove Heights serve their respective portions of Tower Grove South with independent neighborhood associations. The area has two public schools, as well as a community education center. Carpenter Library on South Grand is the city's most used and will be expanding. Two business organizations serve the area, Grand South Business District and Morganford Business Associations. Grand South Grand and Tower Grove Park are the sites of year-round festivities, including international street festivals and Pride Fest.

PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT
When Parkside South endured bad publicity of crime and little effort by Grand-Oak Hill Housing to rehab in their area, it decided to split. Since then, landlords have been targeted and problem buildings bought. Despite its tough times, Parkside South, along with Grand-Oak Hill and Tower Grove Heights, has been the most successful in rehabbing problem properties. Not surprisingly, these areas touch Tower Grove Park and Grand South Grand. Clearly whether a timeless park or a reborn commercial corridor, these features of continued or renewed interests have been the sources of real estate interest. Those subareas along Chippewa and Gravois, however, have achieved very little in tangible progress. Though Morganford is currently stable, it shares a threatening characteristic with the others along the south side of Tower Grove South-commercial vacancies.

The site of the former Southtown Famous-Barr symbolizes a city's inability to attract reinvestment. Though talks are underway for a K-Mart, city politics may once again supercede overall economic benefit. Yet aldermanic intervention is not always a bad thing. In fact, the city's actions will likely save the architectural gem of South Side National at Grand and Gravois. Reuse, however, once again seems stagnant.

All along Gravois and Chippewa, commercial vacancies correlate to residential deterioration. It is important to point out that deterioration, and not vacancies among residential units, is the problem. This area is one of the most populated neighborhoods of the entire city. Grand and Gravois is at the heart of the fastest-growing region of the city. Additionally, central south St. Louis is extremely diverse. At a time when many are moving to the area for upward social mobility, the worst thing that could shatter ambition would be further disinvestment in the commercial base of that area. Tower Grove South's mere numbers (as well as those of neighboring Bevo and Dutchtown) could foster business incubation, but it seems the public sector is lacking in seeking investors.

Ironically, big businesses have avoided the area, thinking it is transitional, while small businesses run by determined immigrants, minorities, and other transplants are strong along South Grand. Optimistically, one sign of construction catching up to the resurgence of demand is the city's plan to expand the Carpenter Library, which is used more than the relatively new Buder branch and even the large Central Library.

Combined with concentrated commercial planning and economic development efforts along Chippewa and Gravois, the Fanning subarea has potential for block acquisition for new homes. Bordering the Heights and Gravois Plaza, new construction here would result in homes pricing more comparably to neighboring blocks than the planned homes on the Sears site.

Additionally, existing structures in this area are the most structurally unsound of the entire neighborhood. A combined effort of in-fill businesses along Gravois, reuse of South Side National, new homes in Fanning, and multifamily rehabs in "the wedge" would result in residential and commercial uses stabilizing interdependently. After all, this has been the key to success between Grand South Grand and Tower Grove Heights. The Heights homes are historically upper-middle class homes and will continue to be sought after for their architecture, but all homes, including many of the historically working-class homes in the neighborhood, will depend upon the thrust of area businesses.