ST. LOUIS — The demolition of a century old ice warehouse was in full force Saturday in Columbus Square after it had a fire inside in October, which forced the Stan Musial Bridge to close for several days.
The destruction left behind near north Broadway plays into more potential fire hazards in the city's future.
Off of N. Broadway and Mullanphy Street are the remains of the old Federal Cold Storage company. It's a shell of the 20th century structure near the Stan Musial Bridge which was closed for two days after the Oct. 14 flames.
Officials told 5 On Your Side the vacant warehouse was known to have homeless people and the building had numerous fires in the last six months.
The towering pile of singed brick and concrete now being demolished was a fortress of frozen food for decades. It was considered to be state of the art architecture when it was built in 1922.
On Saturday, Cpt. Garon Mosby with the St. Louis Fire Department said demolition started shortly after the fire. However, leveling where food was kept cold through steaming St. Louis summer months during the Great Depression has ramped up.
Cpt. Mosby talked to 5 On Your Side at the scene of another fire in October, discussing how vacant buildings across the city can become a tinder box as winter rolls around.
"What we traditionally see here is as the temperatures drop, our fires increase," Cpt. Mosby said. "A lot of those fires, most of those fires are in vacant buildings. We get it. People are going to do what they have to do to stay warm. It's kind of a transitional period where are a lot of people are moving in, if you will, into vacant properties. It's one of the challenges we face in the firefighting community."
The day after the fire, North Broadway building owner Adam Keune said the damage would cost him about $650,000.
"Truthfully this is a case study for the city," Keune said. "Everything that happened down here is happening to the entire city of St. Louis. This is a little tiny microcosm of what is happening all around here."
Saturday, Keune with Armin Properties said it will take three more weeks to knock the building down, then another month to clean up the debris.
5 On Your Side reached out to the St. Louis building division and National Register of Historic Places which the warehouse was on about what comes next for the structure, and are waiting to hear back.