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SLU Reversed Agreement on Historic Buildings, Advocates Charge | St. Louis

Published

11 months ago

November 21, 2023

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click to enlarge COURTESY OF MARK LOEHRER This colorization of a historic photo by Mark Loehrer shows the buildings at 3223 Olive Street, left, and 3221 Olive at midcentury. The days appear numbered for two historic buildings in the heart of Midtown — and preservationists blame Saint Louis University for speeding up the timeline to demolish them.The buildings at 3223 and 3221 Olive Street have garnered significant attention as among the only remaining vestiges of Mill Creek Valley, the African American enclave that flourished in early 20th century St. Louis. Vivian Gibson, a former resident of the neighborhood and author of the acclaimed memoir The Last Children of Mill Creek, previously told the RFT that the 130-year-old buildings sit just across the street from the area that was razed as part of a “redevelopment plan” that scattered neighborhood residents across the city. In September, Saint Louis University confirmed that they’d applied for demolition permits for the site, but also suggested their plans were flexible, saying, “[T]he University is also seeking to engage parties interested in acquiring and redeveloping the properties.” A spokesman more recently confirmed that the city issued those permits on November 13.But Andrew Weil, executive director of the Landmarks Association of St. Louis, says the SLU’s plans to seek out a new buyer for the site appear no more than “lip service” — and says the Jesuit university has made it all but impossible for an interested party to acquire the buildings before what he’s been told is now a deadline of just a few weeks.In a letter to SLU President Fred Pestello yesterday, Weil blasted the university for violating what he says was a “gentleman’s agreement” between Pestello and a Landmarks Association board member, Julius Hunter, to hold off on demolition until at least January 1. click to enlarge COURTESY OF THE LANDMARKS ASSOCIATION OF ST. LOUIS The buildings have striking details inside. As Weil explains it, Pestello and Hunter met on October 25. After that meeting, Hunter relayed that Pestello agreed to give the preservationists until January — and also agreed to let them tour the site to see its current conditions.Originally, that tour was scheduled for November 3, Weil says. But SLU pushed it back until November 15. Then, while on site, SLU’s vice president for facilities said that “they wanted to have any kind of deal completely settled within 20 days” — a full month before year’s end, and, thanks to the interruption of the holidays, a seemingly impossible timeline for most real estate deals to close,In his letter yesterday, Weil refers to the agreement with Hunter and begs for more time.”We ask you to honor that agreement and not demolish the buildings prior to January 1, 2024. Landmarks Association implores you to see the forest rather than the trees and to change course,” he writes. “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.” click to enlarge COURTESY OF THE LANDMARKS ASSOCIATION OF ST. LOUIS The facades also contain interesting details. After the RFT first reached out for a comment last Friday, a Saint Louis University spokesman confirmed the timing of the permits being issued by the city, but did not provide additional context despite follow-up attempts.Weil notes at least one of the buildings is eligible for the Register of Historic Places, and says that his nonprofit has offered to write the nomination to get them listed pro bono, which would open up the project to tax credits. Even so, he says SLU has done nothing to market the site to developers beyond finally taking down the signage suggesting the buildings were for lease.After Hunter’s meeting with Pestello, he reported back that it was the president himself who wanted action on the buildings, suggesting that Pestello sees them every day because they sit across from the parking garage he uses and that he considers them an eyesore. SLU seems to have no actual plans for the site.”For now, they’ll just grade and seed — god knows, they have plenty of grade and seed,” Weil says.Indeed, Weil notes that SLU has a long history of demolishing buildings near its campus, going all the way back to the 1950s and, yes, the Mill Creek neighborhood where Vivian Gibson and her siblings once lived. “Everybody thinks this was federal money that cleared Mill Creek, but SLU was responsible for a large part of it,” Weil notes. That legacy continued under Father Lawrence Biondi, president of the university from 1987 to 2013. “When I started at the Landmarks Assocation in 2007, he was attempting to tear down a large part of what we now know as the Locust Business District,” Weil says, referring to what’s currently one of St. Louis’ hottest neighborhoods for both tech companies and restaurants. “He succeeded with a number of buildings, and the only reason SLU didn’t succeed with more is that developers had snatched them up.”
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Fenton Man Charged in Sword Attack on Roommate

Published

5 months 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

5 months 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

5 months 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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