ST. LOUIS — Crowdsourced photos of St. Louis landmarks are now lining the previously boarded-up windows at a historic downtown building slated for future redevelopment.
Jefferson Arms, which takes up an entire city block at 415 N. Tucker Blvd. and has been vacant since 2006, would be turned back into a hotel along with apartments and commercial space under a $100 million plan from Dallas-based Alterra Worldwide that was approved by city officials earlier this year.
The 20th century Classical Revival structure opened in 1904 as a hotel for visitors to the World’s Fair, and the photos are a temporary way to showcase the architecture of what Explore St. Louis calls a “grand old building” ahead of its planned redevelopment.
Representatives from Alterra did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the status of the development.
To give tourists and convention visitors walking past Jefferson Arms something to focus on besides boarded-up windows and graffiti, civic officials have tried to beautify the plywood with large photos of art submitted by St. Louisans via social media. The plan imitates a previous effort to beautify a similar vacant building, Railway Exchange. Those photos are still in place as that building’s redevelopment has been delayed by contractor liens and attempted foreclosure by the bank that was financing the project. Railway Exchange has been vacant late 2013.
Like Railway Exchange, the hope with the latest art project is that by looking at photos of St. Louis’ greatest landmarks, the emptiness of the vacant building is “a little less foreboding” for tourists, said Explore St. Louis Chief Marketing Officer Brian Hall.
“That sidewalk when it was all plywood wasn’t the most pleasant place to walk down,” Hall said. “But now with the displays up, all of a sudden it’s like, ‘Oh, this is cool, I’ve got something to look at.’”
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