Apologies to Monty Python
Believe me I know how wrong something like this idea I am about to put before you can go when it gets in the hands of a committee.
First, a little information about Larry Giles. If you are not familiar with Larry you can learn much more about his work by visiting the website of the foundation that he created, the National Building Arts Center (NBAC).
Larry was a good friend to many of us who treasure our architectural heritage. We tragically lost him in 2021. You can read my article about him here.
Larry was one of the most gifted people that I have ever had the good fortune to meet. He was far too complicated to sum up in a couple of paragraphs but here goes. He was an architectural salvor for most of his adult life. He saved many of the most significant architectural pieces of the most significant buildings that have been demolished in the St. Louis area. His collection contains much terracotta from countless buildings including very large panels that once graced the crown of the Ambassador Theater. There are very many building parts of marble, stone, cast iron and wood. Parts from a few Maplewood buildings including the Masonic Hall that once stood where CVS is today and also some parts of our first high school building later the junior high that was at the location of Ryan Hummert park are in his collection as well.
Larry was also a scholar. He cleaned, cataloged and stored all of the aforementioned items and much, much more. He made the creation of the National Building Arts Foundation his life’s work. It includes an on site library of 300K+ volumes of arcane literature connected to the building arts. His 15 acre, 13 building site is just a short drive on the other side of the river in Sauget.
In 2003, I invited Larry to speak at a meeting of the short-lived Maplewood Historical Society. During his presentation Larry mentioned that he had 120+ cast iron storefronts in his collection.
I remember saying, “Wow Larry. We need some of those for the north side of the 7300 block of Manchester.” The more I thought about it the better an idea it seemed. (Those of you who are not familiar with our town should know every historic building on the north side of the 7300 block of Manchester was razed. The site is now the location of a Schnucks store that sits far back from the street.
I had found a few places where some of those cast iron storefronts had been re-erected. They are most often a sill that is as wide as the store with columns that allow for an entry door and display windows and a structural member overhead that may or may not be visible. One spot was in downtown Louisville, KY. I took photos but they all seem to have evaporated at the moment. I think they’re on an old hard drive.
I decided that the re-erection of authentic cast iron fronts wasn’t exactly what I was looking for. A better idea might be to create an outline of sorts of the facades of historic buildings that might once have existed on the site. Not an exact outline of the original buildings but just a minimized outline of what might have been there. This could balance the streetscape somewhat and provide visual interest to our whole downtown shopping area. I also thought that it would be interesting to add some original parts from historic buildings to the scene. I knew at that time where the stone was that had BANK carved in it from the facade of the Maplewood Bank that once stood on the corner of Sutton and Manchester. It would be fun to return it to roughly its original location in space. Likewise an ornamental corner column from a cast iron front could be located somewhere appropriate on this sort of remembrance of the historic buildings we once had.
I wouldn’t attempt to put too many lines into this metal framework. Just enough that a viewer would get the idea of what we were trying to suggest. I have called this an architectural sculpture park albeit a very narrow one. Some neon would be good. Perhaps a big copy of a vintage neon sign or two would be nice.
Why am I putting this idea out now? The odds of something like this getting built are slim to none. The odds of it turning out to be a showstopper are even greater. (See my first sentence).
I’m putting it out because I’ve been sitting on it for 20 years or so. I think the idea has merit. Even if we don’t do it, someone might become inspired and do something interesting somewhere. I’d be very happy that they liked this idea. Larry liked it.
Doug Houser December 17, 2023
Nice article. Enjoyed the read.
I think its a great idea. I grew up in Maplewood from 1944 until enlisting in 1962, the bought a house on Rannells in 1966 and stayed 11 years.
I saw the town start to backslide when apartment houses were built in every available spot which lessened the pride of ownership in the city.
When Manchester was destroyed for K-Mart broke my heart.
I’m glad to see the town on the rebound but think a heritage area would be outstanding.
I really love the idea of restoring human scale to Manchester Road. I’d go even further than your proposal. I’d put actual buildings back where they once were, and let Schnucks deal with their strip mall location. That whole parking lot could be turned into an inner-suburb version of a town square. Small and personal.
No, I don’t wish Schnucks any ill. For all I know, that store could provide enough attraction to the area to make the rest of it viable.
I like it, too. I’d like to see small, very small, tiny, very tiny shops connected behind the facades. Florists, delis, bake shops. Yes to this! And, I might as well throw out my idea (which is an excellent idea in the same category as yours, Doug) I’m just so old, but I want my idea out there before I die. What about say, maybe a six block area, maybe larger, in the city somewhere, St Louis or otherwise, that is strictly horses and horse-drawn vehicles allowed. Closed to automobiles. A stable and horses would be central to the area, etc. Maybe a parking area (for cars) on the outer perimeter. I guess a hotel would’ve essential, too, for all the people who would want to come experience it. This is one of my pipe dreams.
👏👏👏👏
You should run with this idea, Doug! It sounds fascinating and, like you said, it would add great artistic and historic interest to downtown. We have a neon sign artist who lives right here in Maplewood who could be a key contributor.
You got my vote😊
Thanks for the kind words, Ralf. With your vote and 250,000 dollars we might get something started.
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