Planned and Unplanned Destruction of Neighborhoods and Churches

Yesterday the historic St. Alphonsus church on North Grand, better known as “The Rock”, suffered a devastating fire as a result of lightening. The church building, dedicated in 1872 per a KSDK report, is known for its rock exterior and stone wall.  To me the church was a rock for another reason, actually surviving the surrounding neighborhood being leveled — twice!

Last year the church, above, stood in relative isolation to the north as land once occupied by a thriving neighborhood sits vacant and paved.  Taller buildings in the Grand & Washington area can be seen in the background.  This is the corner of Page & Grand, looking south.

Stepping back to Dr. King and Grand the church steeple still reminds us of how great this neighborhood once was, before the generic public housing projects and the proliferation of gas stations.

These images, taken on October 12, 2006, show the old Blumeyer housing project just before demolition.  Of course, this area once contained a real neighborhood prior to Blumeyer took that all away in a costly planning experiment.  Through all this destruction, The Rock church survived.

Above, in October 2006, is a 15-story Blumeyer building being prepped for demolition.   This building was located along Page with The Rock church just out of view to the right, back a block or so along Grand.

By early January 2007 all that remained of the Bluymeyer complex was a pile of rubble that had yet to be hauled away.  The Rock remained one of the few stabilizing forces in the neighborhood.

A firehouse that also survived the planned destruction of the old neighborhood for the Blumeyer project once again survives the second wave. 

Sometimes we think we know best so we continuously destroy and rebuild, burning through resources and lives.  Other times nature (or God depending upon your views) does the work for us such as yesterday’s fire at The Rock, the recent earthquake in Peru and two years ago, the hurricane in New Orleans.  I have no choice but to accept the results of nature, but I refuse to accept the way we handle public space and buildings in St. Louis.

Yesterday morning I scootered by The Rock church on the way to a press conference about Paul McKee’s vast land holdings in North St. Louis.  I wish now I had stopped and snapped a few shots of the building — it is one of those that you just always think will be around serving the community as it has done for generations.  My sympathies to the members of the parish.