Century Case Set for Trial Next Month
Even though the historic Century Building has been razed for a few years (replaced by yet another downtown parking garage), the legal issues continue. Downtown residents (and friends of mine) Marcia Behrendt & Roger Plackemeier had filed cases questioning the project’s procedures back around 2002. They had sought to save the Century from the wrecking ball. After the building was razed the entities responsible turned around and sued Behrendt & Plackemeier in April 2005 for “malicious prosecution”. Myself and others consider this to be nothing more than a SLAPP suit.
In December 2007 I updated you on the status of this case. At the time the plaintiff’s (The Missouri Development Finance Board, The Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority of the City of St Louis, NSG Developers LLC, and St Louis Custom House and Post Office Bldg and Associates) filed motions to add another count and to add Behrendt’s & Plackemeirer’s lawyer, Matt Ghio, as a third defendant. Ghio filed a motion for summary judgment to have the whole case thrown out. I was there in the court room as the lawyers presented their arguments before the judge.
According to Missouri’s Case.net judge McCullin denied these motions on March 26th. The case is now set for a 4-day jury trial starting on September 22nd before Judge Thomas C. Grady. I’ve got work and class at SLU but you can be sure I’ll find some time to stick my head in the courtroom that week
Update 8/16/08 @ 8:15pm:
After the above post I received the following from a reliable source:
Just to clarify, Judge Grady is the judge in Division 1. Div. 1 is where civil cases get assigned to a trial division, so the case will not be tried there.
The Century Bldg. case has been what’s called “peremptorily set,†which means Judge Grady will assign it to one of our trial divisions in a couple of weeks.
Check Casenet again in a couple of weeks to see what division it’s going to (or shoot me an email to remind me and I’ll look it up)
Its about time. I’ve been waiting years for them to take these trouble makers to trial. How dare they try to save a historic building. If there is anything downtown needs its more parking garages. I will be able to sleep better at night when they finally make an example of these people trying to save the heritage of the city. I say lock’em up. What is the maximum sentence for saving history? 20 years?
Hurray! I thought that we haven’t spent enough taxpayer money on tearing down a perfectly good building for an empty garage. I figured by now at least a Cheesecake Factory or Rainforest Cafe would have moved into this shining facility. If the plaintiff’s weren’t so busy suing people, the City could afford to lure the Cheesecake Factory from the Galleria to downtown.
The whole Century building travesty has been a disgrace from start to finish: demolishing one of the very few remaining historic marble clad office buildings in the country for yet another parking garage and then suing the citizens who had the civic spirit and passion to protest the action. The fact that the City is party to this vindictive, punitive suit is an added embarrassment.
Why do wealthy and powerful people have such a difficult time admitting they were wrong? Perhaps the fact that they were humiliated by the preservationists and shown to be the dissembling hucksters they actually are may have something to do with it, no? Regardless of motivation, this is a waste of taxpayer money and is an aborted attempt at punishing Berhendt, et al, for simply being good citizens. The judge who allowed this travesty to continue should be voted out or disbarred for incompetence. Our Republic is being whittled away one sliver at time. Scarcely noted, except by those who care to look.
I’m still confused about how Matt Ghio ended up getting sued as well.
How much public money is going into this suit? City Hall is talking about lay-offs and freezing wages, but somehow the mayor thinks it’s prudent to let LCRA be a plaintiff in a long, expensive and pointless legal proceeding. Strange.
I will not be surprised if the plaintiffs put in a motion to push back the trial. I get the sense they don’t want this to go to trial. Not sure why though. Maybe they don’t want information that will come out during the trial to be made public (at least not before Mayor Slay is re-elected). Just a feeling. Let us know if anything changes in the trial date.
Steve, just a small correction. Grady won’t be the trial judge. All cases are “assigned” to him until they are ready for trial, and then they are actually sent out to one of the trial judges. I could be wrong, but I don’t think Grady actually presides over trials in his current position as Presiding Judge.
I’ve known Roger for more than 20 years. The man isn’t made of money — he IS made of flesh. Inside that flesh is a beating heart, a brain, and gained knowledge from the decency he both acknowledges and deserves.
The city of St. Louis and the others involved in this case will soon find themselves catching flack because of the heart and the brains of those in the media. That is to say “if they think they’ll get away with beating down the public, they’d better realize – sooner or later – that the media serves the public as well.”
I invite members of the media to start combing through this situation now, so that by 2009, they have involved themselves by researching what Marcia and Roger have “done” which is allegedly so wrong that they should have a suit filed against them.
I’d like to think that those with some power in the local media would take notice and inquire, followed by articles in the newspapers, stories on the radio, newswires, and TV newscasts, and features on KWMU and local cable news shows.
Blah-blah-blah — I’m a blowhard, sure. But I think most readers of this site will stand up for blowhards who believe in something.