“Broken Promises: Landmarks Association Surveys 155 Properties McKee Planned to Renovate in 2009”
On August 27th, 2018, NextSTL published an article written by Aubrey Byron detailing Landmarks’ 2018 survey of historic north side properties in light of the state’s case against Paul McKee and NorthSide Regeneration over use of Missouri’s State Historic Tax Credits and the city’s 2009 Tax Increment Financing agreement with the company.
Former executive director Andrew Weil provided insight into the survey process, stating that “only 19 of the 155 [McKee-owned] properties were still considered habitable. The other 136 properties, all located just north of downtown, varied in decay from uninhabitable[,] to mere shells of buildings[,] to now vacant lots.” Most notably, the survey included the historic Clemens House, which — before the property burned in 2017 beyond repair — hadn’t received any notable rehabilitation efforts in the eight years prior under McKee’s ownership.
You can read the full article on NextSTL’s website here.
“Restoring a Mysterious Stone Cottage and Uncovering Its Origins”
On August 27th, 2023, Spotlight STL from HEC Media published a video exploring the half-decade-long restoration project undertaken by Landmarks Association in Soulard at 1805 S. 9th Street. The video features interview commentary from former executive director Andrew Weil, images of the building before and during restoration, and a walkthrough of the building nearing the end of its restoration.
Landmarks Association received the building via a generous donation from Bob Brandhorst of Youth Education and Health in Soulard in 2018. While many building elements required extensive work to replace — including the front brick wall that was bowing out into the sidewalk — the restoration effort remained focused on preserving as many of original building elements that could be used as real-life displays from educational programming as possible. As of 2023, the building (which we now refer to as ‘The Hesch House’) serves as Landmarks’ headquarters.
For additional details on The Hesch House’s colorful history, check out Katie Graebe’s writeup on p.8 of our Winter 2019 Landmarks Letter (Vol. 52, No. 4).
You can watch the video on Spotlight STL’s YouTube page here.
