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Sarah Styf's avatar

Such good research related to one specific area in your city. I love it.

So many cities have these structures with so much potential but they are left to ruin because of lack of funds and imagination. It hurts the cities, it hurts the environment, and it hurts the people with the eyesores in their backyards. The question I always have is, how do we fix that?

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Jackie Dana's avatar

I wish I had a perfect answer for this. Honestly, though, I’m not sure it takes a combination of citizens working to keep the buildings from being torn down and people with some money and time to purchase the properties and rehab them. And to some extent, you also need the city government to be on the side of preservation and not on the side of “progress.” I think we have all three in St. Louis, but none in a large enough quantity. Especially for the buildings around the river front and north of downtown, which I’ve been all allowed to deteriorate over the decades, because of racism and economic disparity across the city.

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Simon Huang's avatar

Thank you for sharing St. Louis history with us via your writing!

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Jackie Dana's avatar

I'm so glad that you're enjoying it!

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Matthew Chapman's avatar

Took a few photos myself of the aftermath, here's only one of many: https://flic.kr/p/2nVRDqJ

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Jackie Dana's avatar

That’s gorgeous! Thanks for sharing.

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Matthew Chapman's avatar

Really interesting photos of the inside, from Josh Medsker Photography:

https://www.facebook.com/joshmedskerphotography

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Jackie Dana's avatar

Oooh thanks for this. I’m going to see if he’ll allow me to add a couple of the photos. Either way, the link is great.

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Brian Reindel 👾⚔️'s avatar

Hey Jackie, I shared your article over in the comments for Story Club with George Saunders. He posted a video from his hotel room of the aftermath (https://georgesaunders.substack.com/p/a-moment). Crazy how worlds collide! Hopefully you'll get some more love for Unseen St. Louis.

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Jackie Dana's avatar

I only discovered this because I saw the traffic source (I’m only now seeing your comment). But holy moly, thank you! I’m getting new readers, and I think one of them may have been George Saunders himself. Which, given that I had gone to see him Wednesday night, is super cool. Thanks for sharing the link!

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Sharon Cortelyou's avatar

Very interesting! Thank you for this.

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Jackie Dana's avatar

I’m glad you liked it!

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Terry Freedman's avatar

Very interesting from a history point of view. Such a shame that an important embodiment of local culture and history is no more.

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Jackie Dana's avatar

Thanks! I always find that when you know something about the history of a place, it becomes something worth respecting and, where possible, saving. Unfortunately it was too late in this case.

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Terry Freedman's avatar

I agree. Not quite as dramatic, but I always feel a tinge of sadness when a well-known landmark suddenly becomes a supermarket or something. My local library has photos of the area taken 100 years ago, and it's fascinating to see what has changed -- and what has remained unchanged.

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