You will find unbelievable enthusiasm regarding St. Louis’ history and background of its own neighborhoods. The neighborhoods of St. Louis undeniably display St. Louis’ diversity and terrific historical and architectural awareness.

For me, one of the most exciting neighborhoods in St. Louis is Grand Center. Grand Center, like the other neighborhoods in St. Louis, has its own rich and exciting history. Grand Center Inc. was established in 1987 to overlook the revival of Grand Center, and the arts, entertainment, and education district truly came to life.

Over the years there have been some marvelous improvements made to the infrastructure. Improvements included the lighting, sidewalks, and parking facilities. Structures were restored and 25 arts and education organizations became the basis of Grand Center. It’s no surprise that Grand Center is the 12th largest attraction of St. Louis today.

After this happy account of the neighborhoods of St. Louis, and enthusiasm that people have for their history, we need to face the dark reality of St. Louis’ architecture: some beautiful buildings are crumbling to the ground. It isn’t just the tiny house here or there, but some buildings of historical significance are showing signs of neglect. Hopefully, this will be a call to action.

The Clemens House provides an example of a building in danger, as does the City Hospital. Thankfully, these are buildings that are in the process of rehabilitation, however others aren’t receiving the same care. I’m sure you’re familiar with the beautiful buildings that lie in downtown St. Louis: the Chemical Building, the Railway Exchange, the Frisco Building, 705 Olive (formerly the Union Trust Building), the American Theater, the Mark Twain Hotel, just to name a few. So why is it a ghost town here? Owners of these buildings have very different ideas about how these buildings will eventually serve the community; probably as parking lots.

However, we’re just talking about downtown St. Louis and not the beautiful and diverse surrounding neighborhoods. Just as downtown Los Angeles is also a ghost town of neglected art deco building and towering office structures, so are other urban cities. The life and spirit of downtown Los Angeles is not up to par, because the owners of these historic buildings lack imagination and care. Now, when you look at the surrounding neighborhoods of Los Angeles, you’ll see some of the most lively and gorgeous buildings and styles. Quite similar to a patch-work quilt of variety. St. Louis has much in common with Los Angeles in this aspect.

However, just like Los Angeles our attention should turn from the decay of downtown and the focus should be on the beauty in the outlying neighborhoods. As has already been mentioned, I absolutely love Grand Center and Washington Ave.

The T.P. Barnett building is particularly appealing because it also contains Art Deco influences, which makes it one of the most one of a kind buildings in the Grand Center region of St. Louis. T.P. Barnett was the son of George I. Barnett who was also a well-known architect in St. Louis. The next time you’re in St. Louis you should absolutely stop and visit this Spanish Revival building on Washington Avenue.