Crater Bricks - For Michael

I've covered this city extensively and thought I'd never encounter another intriguing brick. On a recent drive around TGS with Andrew I spied this building from his car and excitedly gasped, Look at those bricks!

Andrew laughed.

Please. Look at these bricks with their exceptional design and range of soft color. Was some of that clay imported? Most likely it was treated before being fired. And why haven't I encountered these bricks any place else in STL?

If you're a long time visitor here you know I invent names for bricks and these present as crater.

The building still retains the original stained black mortar with tiny flecks of feldspar and quartz and - gratefully - has not been repointed. Look closely and you'll see that some of the mortar had to be finger tooled into the 'craters' of the bricks.

The building counts as a Triple Arch Alert post.

For Michael who told me a fascinating story yesterday about the old tunnel under Sublette Ave.

Last Week

I wonder about the clay content in these new black bricks. What ev, I like the low sheen:


Dusk over TGS:



Dinner with Sam and Sarah:


Exceptional terracotta:

TGS Lustron House

A long lost friend moved back to St. Louis some years ago and prior to landing bought a Lustron house sight unseen.
While I've photographed Lustron's from the outside, this was my first visit to an interior.

Pocket doors, enameled steel panels, and steel tiles on the roof. Most of the Lustron's consisted of 10 tons of steel and Bill (owner of this beauty) told me a truck was specifically constructed to haul the pieces to site. The interior is entirely made of steel and the panels were bolted together.



Living room with Majestic Lamps:

Steel ceiling:





Closets:

Bedroom:


Bathroom:

Dining room into kitchen:




Pocket door:



Pale yellow exterior, roof with steel tiles, chimney.


Across the street sits another Lustron:

3460 Oak Hill

Sam Meller's work on 3460 Oak Hill in TGS is moving forward:

Welded iron 'fence' on top of the building was recently added:

Sam said this original front railing had been damaged. It had been removed and placed inside the building and recently was reinstalled.

Walkway laid:

The parking pads are finished:

Sam Meller and his restored Mercury Cougar:

The Fix

Steve Smith of The Royale gluing a chair. The grilled chicken salad was ever so tasty.

TGS Architecture Walking Tour

I'm hosting a TGS Architecture Walking Tour on Sunday, Sept 18. The tour will begin at Utah and Grand and will be lead by Architect, David Lott. David has volunteered to conduct two tours, one at 1PM, the next at 3PM.

The tours are a fundraiser for the TGS Block Captain Fund and the donation is 10.00 per person.

Please save the date and join us for an hour long walk through TGS and learn about our historic built environment.

Devastation on 4000 Utah Street

4000 Utah is one of my favorite blocks in TGS and is populated with perfect Craftsman Bungalows. Note that all the trees along the south side of the street have been removed.


The post below was written by Marsha who lives on 4100 Utah.

MSD work on Utah to replace aged storm sewers from Roger to Bent began about two
months ago. Homeowners on the 4000-4100 blocks were notified by a brief letter
that the work was to take place, which included only the name of the contractor
(Gershenson Inc.) and that the work could take up to a year to complete and
would impact Utah, Roger, Oak Hill and Bent.

After the work began at the corner of Utah and Roger, it was determined that
Laclede Gas should initiate work on gas supply lines on the same two blocks of
Utah, ahead of the sewer line replacement work. Since April or early May,
Laclede has been working their way up the two blocks, while MSD remained in the
area of the Utah/Roger intersection.

About 10 days ago I heard via rumor that MSD would be destorying all street
trees on the south side of 40-41 Utah (about 20) while trenching the entire tree
lawn on the two blocks to a depth of 9 ft.

The scope of the sewer replacement project was not shared in any detail at all
with homeowners, or apparently with officials of the City. (Is it true that
there is some kind of covenant that MSD has no obligation to obtain approval
from the City for the scope and method used to make repairs?)

Last night several large sections of new sewer pipe were laid out on top of the
tree lawn heading west from Roger on the south side of Utah. At the end of the
day today, all but one of the street trees on 4000 Utah had vanished, cut to
almost grass level by chain saws.

Is there no other way to accomplish sewer line replacement than to devastate a
neighborhood, destroying decades old trees that provide shade, noise and toxic
pollution reduction, habitat for wildlife and great character and charm to the
homes on the block? The fact that the tree lawn would be trenched and trees
destroyed was never communicated in any way to property owners.

Surely this can't be the only two blocks in the City to require sewer line
replacement -- does the same devastation occur on every block where MSD does
replacement work?