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Protest Targets SLU Plan to Tear Down Former Mill Creek Valley Buildings | St. Louis Metro News | St. Louis

Published

2 years ago

September 12, 2023

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click to enlarge SARAH FENSKE Saint Louis University has applied for demolition permits for 3223 Olive Street, left, and 3221 Olive.
In the past few years, St. Louis has finally begun reckoning with its destruction of the Black neighborhood that once filled what’s now Midtown — thanks in large part to local author Vivian Gibson’s luminous memoir, The Last Children of Mill Creek. An art installation near Citypark even marks the once-thriving community, razed in the name of “urban renewal.”Saint Louis University apparently didn’t get the memo. The Jesuit school that’s long been an anchor in Midtown plans to raze two of the few remaining buildings left from the neighborhood. It’s seeking a demolition permit for 3221 and 3223 Olive Street.The Mill Creek Valley connection is one big reason preservationists plan to protest the demolition on Wednesday.”We’re starting to build monuments to the neighborhood, to finally memorialize it, and in the same breath, they’re wanting to tear these buildings down,” says Bryan Hadley, one of the preservationists behind the protest. A Saint Louis University spokesperson did not respond to a message seeking comment yesterday. click to enlarge You can count Gibson among those who are not happy about SLU’s plans. The acclaimed memoirist grew up in Mill Creek Valley with her seven siblings and is now a member of the Mill Creek Valley Commemoration Committee. The buildings sit just across the street from the blocks razed for the urban redevelopment plan, and she considers them part of her old neighborhood — and worthy of preservation.”They missed the footprint by a hair, but it really is Mill Creek,” she says. “It’s absolutely within the footprint of where Black people lived in St. Louis in the first half of this century, which went all the way over to Franklin. I would say, ‘Why not renovate it for affordable housing for people?’ Not necessarily students, either.”Hadley says the buildings in question are linked to restaurateur Tony Faust, best known for the Tony Faust Oyster House, which was considered the city’s top restaurants before it closed in 1916. According to the research done by Found St. Louis, 3223 Olive is the sole building remaining from the Faust empire.”In 1890, Faust opened up a branch of his market to serve the folks of this neighborhood,” the site reports. “After the market closed, this building had various businesses come and go over the years. Many will remember it as the nightclub Dante’s.” Both Found St. Louis and Hadley are spreading the word about the protest Wednesday, planned at the site from 6:30 to 7:45 p.m. (And Gibson, for one, says she’ll be there.)Barring public pressure, Hadley says Saint Louis University could have a relatively simple path to demolition. The site is not in a preservation review district and does not have to go before the city’s Preservation Board, which has taken a hard line on some recent proposals.Even so, he’s hopeful SLU could change course. He notes that the university does not even have a plan for the site and that its request is “merely routine hedge pruning and housekeeping for SLU,” in the words of the preservationists’ press release. That makes it even more galling than the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s recent razing of the 19th-century Culver House, which was pitched as necessary for Powell Hall’s expansion (and which preservationists also objected to).”For me personally, this is not just about these buildings, but all of the historic buildings of St. Louis,” Hadley says. “It’s really just nauseating that structures like these aren’t going to go before the review board. The public needs a chance to make the case for their preservation.”Hoping to do just that is Gibson, who says she’s been frustrated by the way Saint Louis University has refused to give even lip service to the Mill Creek neighborhood, despite the fact that it now owns one-third of the urban renewal footprint. When her committee approached the university about a mural to commemorate the site, they were told it had to be temporary — and then they were offered a spot at a dog park.”They said it was a sculpture park,” she said, referring to the university’s combination dog/sculpture park at Lindell and Grand. “It was so insulting, we said, ‘Thank you, but no thank you.'” She adds, “The people we talked to initially [at SLU] had never even heard of Mill Creek. The deaf ear is just insulting.” Hadley also notes the irony of SLU seeking its demolition permit even as a new show at the Pulitzer Center for the Arts showcases the art of St. Louis’ demolished buildings. “I’ve been here for 10 years, and I’ve watched time and again as this has played out,” he says. “There are so many treasures here that are taken for granted.” Subscribe to Riverfront Times newsletters.Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Or sign up for our RSS Feed

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Fenton Man Charged in Sword Attack on Roommate

Published

1 year ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

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A warrant is out for a Fenton man’s arrest after he allegedly attacked his roommate with a sword.

Police say that on Sunday, Angelus Scott spoke openly about “slicing his roommate’s head” before he grabbed a sword, raised it up and then swung it down at the roommate.

The roommate grabbed Scott’s hand in time to prevent injury. When police arrived at the scene, they found the weapon used in the assault.

The sword in question was a katana, which is a Japanese sword recognizable for its curved blade.

This isn’t the first time a samurai-style sword has been used to violent effect in St. Louis. In 2018, a man hearing voices slaughtered his ex-boyfriend with a samurai sword. His mother said he suffered from schizoaffective disorder.

As for Scott, 35, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office was charged yesterday with two felonies, assault first degree and armed criminal action. The warrant for his arrest says he is to be held on $200,000 bond.

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Caught on Video, Sheriff Says He’s Ready to ‘Turn It All Over’ to Deputy

Published

1 year ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

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Video of St. Louis Sheriff Vernon Betts taken by a former deputy suggests that the sheriff has a successor in mind to hand the reins of the department over to, even as Betts is in an increasingly heated campaign for reelection.

“I ain’t here for all this rigmarole,” Betts says in the video while seated behind his desk at the Carnahan Courthouse. “The Lord sent me here to turn this department around and I’m doing the best I can and I think I’ve done a good job. I’ve got about eight months and I’m going to qualify for my fourth pension.”

He goes on, “Right now I can walk up out of here and live happily ever after and forget about all this…and live like a king.”

The sheriff then says his wife has been in Atlanta looking at houses and that the other deputy in the room, Donald Hawkins, is someone Betts has been training “to turn it all over to him.”

Asked about the video, Betts tells the RFT, “My future plans are to win reelection on August 6th by a wide margin and to continue my mission as the top elected law enforcement official to make St. Louis safer and stronger. Serving the people of St. Louis with integrity, honor and professional law enforcement qualifications is a sacred responsibility, and I intend to complete that mission.”

The video of Betts was taken by Barbara Chavers, who retired from the sheriff’s office in 2016 after 24 years of service. Chavers now works security at Schnucks at Grand and Gravois. Betts’ brother Howard works security there, too.

Chavers tells the RFT that she was summoned to Betts’ office last week after Betts’ brother made the sheriff aware that she was supporting Montgomery. It was no secret: Chavers had filmed a Facebook live video in which she said she was supporting Betts’ opponent Alfred Montgomery in the election this fall. “Make the judges safe,” she says in the video, standing in front of a large Montgomery sign on Gravois Avenue. “They need a sheriff who is going to make their courtrooms safe.”

In his office, even as Chavers made clear she was filming him, Betts told Chavers he was “flabbergasted” and “stunned” she was supporting Montgomery.

“I don’t know what I did that would make you go against the preacher man,” he says, referring to himself. He then refers to Montgomery as “ungodly.”

Betts goes on to say that not long ago, he was walking in his neighborhood on St. Louis Avenue near 20th Street when suddenly Montgomery pulled up in his car and, according to Betts, shouted, “You motherfucker, you this, you that. You’re taking my signs down.”

Montgomery tells the RFT that he’s never interacted with Betts outside of candidate forums and neighborhood meetings.

“I don’t think anyone with good sense would do something like that to a sitting sheriff,” Montgomery says.

Montgomery has had campaign signs missing and on at least two occasions has obtained video of people tearing them down. (Chavers notes that the sign that she filmed her original Facebook video in front of is itself now missing.)

One man who lives near Columbus Square says that he recently put out two Montgomery signs, which later went missing. “If they keep taking them, I’ll keep putting them up,” he said.

Betts says he has nothing to do with the missing signs. In the video Chavers filmed in Betts’ office, Betts says that his campaign isn’t in a spot where it needs to resort to tearing down opponents’ signs.

“If you sit here long enough, a man is getting ready to come across the street from City Hall bringing me $500, today,” Betts says. “I’m getting that kind of support. I don’t need to tear down signs.”

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St. Louis to Develop First Citywide Transportation Plan in Decades

Published

1 year ago

May 21, 2024

Natural Bridge

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The City of St. Louis is working to develop its first citywide mobility plan in decades, Mayor Tishaura Jones’ office announced Tuesday. This plan seeks to make it easier for everyone — drivers, pedestrians, bikers and public transit users — to safely commute within the city.

The plan will bring together other city projects like the Brickline Greenway, Future64, the MetroLink Green Line, and more, “while establishing new priorities for a safer, more efficient and better-maintained transportation network across the City,” according to the release.

The key elements in the plan will be public engagement, the development of a safety action plan, future infrastructure priorities and transportation network mapping, according to Jones’ office.

The overarching goals are to create a vision for citywide mobility, plan a mixture of short and long-term mobility projects and to develop improved communication tools with the public to receive transportation updates. In recent years, both people who use public transit and cyclists have been outspoken about the difficulties — and dangers — of navigating St. Louis streets, citing both cuts to public transit and traffic violence.

To garner public input and participation for the plan, Jones’ office said there will be community meetings, focus groups and a survey for residents to share their concerns. The city will also be establishing a Community Advisory Committee. Those interested in learning more should check out at tmp-stl.com/

“Everyone deserves to feel safe when getting around St. Louis, whether they’re driving, biking, walking or taking public transit,” Jones said in a news release. “Creating a comprehensive transportation and mobility plan allows us to make intentional and strategic investments so that moving around St. Louis for jobs, education, and entertainment becomes easier, safer and more enjoyable.”

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