IMPROVEMENT WITH A LOCAL FLAIR
How many people know the Oakland Row House? 4400 Oakland. If anyone has any pictures of anything I write about, please feel free to submit your pictures and words. I don't have any befores. There are those that do and there may be some on the Internet, I do not have enough computer savvy to take a picture from somewhere and post it here or an article I might find. This site permits multiple authors, if you want to contribute your knowledge it would be appreciated. This will be a book about the Neighborhood and needs a variety of input from a variety of sources.
A story I might tell might be off a bit, but not far. I am 66 years old and I am having memory losses. Poor diet, poor exercise, smoker and carbonated beverages have been the leading edge for this malady. I welcome the input of others who want to correct my mistakes, most likely we can come to an agreement and the story goes on. I relish discussion's, I just become too demonstrative with my passion for the subject. I have to learn not to be pushy. I got that from my Dad. I can guarantee there will be no one to challenge that comment. My dad would be 103 this year, he did not smoke, but he drank, died at 68. Mother at 54, she drank and smoked. All their friends are gone as well, so no one can back me up and say my Dad was pushy and I apologize, but so am I. Bring it to my attention and I will work on it with the time I have left.
I'm just sayin', please jump in, this will be fun. Granted, I am not going to sugar coat anything I might write about. I will not always say good things about the PTB, but that is my right. You can. There are two sides to every interaction, and if no one agrees with my side then so be it, that does not make it wrong, it just means they have more to lose if they agree with me publicly. That's all. I have had people tell me that. People do what people do
Now we've got the introduction out of the way, we shall move along.
20 families lived in the row house on the north side of Oakland and 12 on the south side. The buildings were full. One bedroom apartments, up and down, with a common back yard for parking and playing. The one on the south side shared parking space and such with the Hitchin' Post Tavern on the corner at Manchester. Remember, women and children were safe back then. Kids were welcome in the bars.
The Row House had a variety of people, all white. Small families, couples starting out, single people making a home for themselves. The owners maintained the property. It rarely had a vacancy, until.
I don't know if there was a new owner for the property or the old owner changed his mind about keeping the property up. But about 1969 thru 72 the residents were beginning to move because of maintenance issues. They didn't like living there anymore. Some tenants had been there for many years. When a vacancy occurred, it stayed vacant for awhile, as though it were reserved. Then one day, it seemed, people on the street woke up to find new tenants in the building. They had been relocated from the projects the city was tearing down. It was not very long until the left over tenants were moving out. The new tenants brought an abundance of kids and noise. No occupancy permits back then. Before long there were conflicts with the neighbors about trash, disrespect, trespassing and vandalism. People on the street began to move as well. The neighborhood was undergoing it's first hostile takeover, you could see such a change from the peaceful friendly community it had always been. The new people who were being relocated didn't like being displaced into an area where the were not welcome. It created a lot of conflicts, which was part of the plan.
Overtime the Row House was a sad sight to see. The building on the south side of the street was torn down in the early 70's. It had become a real eyesore. The 'new development plan' by Wash U had been successful in eliminating a multifamily unit on a corner. It was gone, just like that and a dirt spot took it's place. (Still there with grass) The one on the north side was allowed to continue to deteriorate and it did. When tenants moved out they did not rent out the units any more, the apartments remained vacant and became a target for rocks. Eventually, the whole building was abandoned. It sat over there and just rotted for years. All the glass had been broken, doors removed and the building was open to the elements. It was dead. It had been killed for the future. I am thinking it was about 1986 or thereabouts, it was put on 'The Wash U Plan's List' for developing. Residents were beginning to take issue with the danger it presented. The building was open and the floors had rotted. I was in it one day rescuing a cat and I fell through the floor. That may have prompted it's renovation. I was alone going after that cat and did not like getting stuck in a floor for hours and I could not pull my leg up out of the hole I had crashed through. When I was found by a passerby who helped pull me up, I began my campaign to get something done about this hazard.
The crime in the neighborhood was at it's worse. People had moved away, abandoned buildings and boarded up storefronts were all we had left, it was not a pretty site to the people who lived here but Wash U was wallowing in their success. They had blighted this neighborhood with the blessings of the City and help from the Alderman to orchestrate it's demise and recovery.
Enter Michael Curran, a contractor. He was allowed to restore the Row House. The property had served it's purpose it had brought down the monetary value of the street and the neighborhood. Now it was time for the next phase, encouraging people to move here that had some connection to Wash U, usually. There were others, some had connections to the Alderman or his family. A subtle take over by people who would be supporting the PTB.
Michael Curran was a really nice contractor, he extended his services to the people on the street if they needed help. He was friendly and sincere.
He gutted the building. Put on a new roof and begun the process of a makeover. This would now be a 10 unit row of modern 2 bedroom townhouses with 2 floors to each door. His crew took the old door for the upstairs apartments and made them into full length windows for the new condo. He built garages and erected fences, extended the lower level and added a 'patio' and a deck on the second level. Two bedrooms, 2 baths, living room, dining area, kitchen, sun room/family room and a laundry closet. They were nice. Better than what was anyway. There was a change though, they became a 9 unit building instead of 10. CK bought two and had them converted into one.
When you look at the building, where there used to be a transom over a door you will see stained glass. Karl Chauff, who used to live on Arco, behind the Row House made a deal with Mike Curran to give the building some character and beauty by making and replacing each stained glass transom by hand in his basement. He was very detailed oriented and did a beautiful job. St. Louis has a lot of stained glass History and Karl gave Oakland some of that History for the future in an old crumbling yellow brick building that had been abandoned, burned, boarded up and left for dead by installing these beautiful works of art in the NEW Row House.
Karl is still in the neighborhood over on Chouteau, he may be retired by now from SLU. He was very talented and patient, if you run into him be sure and let him know he did a fine job.
The Row House is occupied and has been since it was rediscovered. A few owners are original, some rent from an absentee landlord to lives in Chicago or somewhere else, one is a hand me down to a family member and CK stills owns his two. It's been a nice addition to the street. I wonder if 'the Planners' had not blighted our community for the future, how that building and the whole neighborhood would be today. Our bordering communities were fortunate not to be in the cross hairs of Wash U Development Corp.
Tidbit: The movie White Palace was filmed in the double townhouse. You want to see inside, rent the movie.
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