This Monday February 26 at 4:00 pm, the City of St. Louis Preservation Board will decide on an application to demolish two contributing buildings in the Murphy Blair National Register Historic District, which comprises the majority of the Old North St. Louis neighborhood. The buildings are pictured below from the board's online agenda.
While these building are significant themselves, the greater concern is that their loss could lead the State Historic Preservation Office of Missouri to revoke the entire district's listing on the National Register due to the high number of demolitions that have occurred since the district's inception in 1984. The SHPO has already given an official warning that the loss of additional buildings could lead to a re-evaluation. This would be absolutely devastating to the Old North neighborhood, which has seen as great surge of Historic Tax Credit renovations in the last several years.Preservation Board meetings are public meetings, and for each item, public comments are taken as part of the board's consideration process. All you have to do is show up and sign up to speak. Preservation Board meetings are held in the conference room of the SLDC offices at 1015 Locust Street, 12th floor.
If you cannot attend, you can email written comments to the Preservation Board Secretary Adonna Buford at: BufordA(at)stlouiscity.com
