ST. LOUIS 鈥 When Robbie Montgomery passes the intersection of West Florissant Avenue and Goodfellow Boulevard, memories of singing backup for Ike and Tina Turner at Club Imperial resurface.
But there鈥檚 been no music performed in the stately brick building at the southwest corner of the intersection for decades. Even the tattoo parlor and hair salons that rented space in it more recently have closed. Window panes are missing, and it has needed a new roof for over five years. Water has flooded the basement. No one wanted it when it was auctioned off for back taxes in 2018.
People are also reading…
It鈥檚 a far cry from how Montgomery, a former Ikette who is better known these days as the proprietor of Sweetie Pie鈥檚 restaurant, remembered Club Imperial back when it was a frequent stop for Ike and Tina Turner in the 1960s and 鈥70s.
鈥淚t was a real upscale venue back in those days,鈥 Montgomery said this week. 鈥淚t was a wonderful club. ... To go by and see it all raggedy, sitting there idle, nothing happening with it, it鈥檚 kind of disappointing because that is a historic building.鈥
Some help, however, is finally on the way. Club Imperial, along with three other north 50度灰视频 historic sites that have seen better days, will get some long overdue care and investment from their owner: the city of 50度灰视频鈥 land bank.
In addition to Club Imperial, the Chuck Berry House on Whittier Street and the Sara-Lou Cafe at the corner of 50度灰视频 Avenue and North Sarah Street, both in the Greater Ville, will get stabilization money. The funds will also go toward repairs on the old Wellston Loop streetcar station on Martin Luther King Drive.
The board of the Land Reutilization Authority last month set aside $4.5 million in federal pandemic aid for the effort. That money, plus another $1 million from the city鈥檚 economic development sales tax fund, will go toward emergency repairs 鈥 such as new roofs 鈥 for the LRA-owned structures to protect them from the elements and prevent them from deteriorating further.
鈥淭his is really about being good stewards of assets this community has valued, and we鈥檙e doing our best to bring them back online,鈥 Lance Knuckles, the LRA鈥檚 chief, said in an interview Monday. 鈥淭hese sites have consistently come up as, what are we going to do about these community gems?鈥
The LRA serves as the owner of last resort for thousands of abandoned buildings and vacant lots across the city, most of them in the hollowed-out north side. It鈥檚 usually just barely able to make ends meet and keep up with mowing and board-ups on its existing inventory. Except for the occasional grant, it almost never has extra money to put toward major building renovations.
Officials believe the limited pool of commercial building stabilization funds could have the greatest impact by being invested in the historic sites in its inventory, Knuckles said. Hopefully, the initial city investment will make it easier for redevelopers and nonprofits to finish rehabbing the structures and find new uses for them. And it will prevent the elements from rendering them beyond saving, a state they are perilously near.
It鈥檚 a welcome investment by the city, said Andrew Weil, executive director of the Landmarks Association of 50度灰视频. But finding uses and new owners for the properties will be 鈥渢he big question鈥 after they鈥檙e stabilized. In 2017, for instance, the city issued a request for proposals for Chuck Berry鈥檚 home, where the rock 鈥檔鈥 roll pioneer wrote 鈥淩oll Over Beethoven鈥 and 鈥淢aybellene.鈥 There were no takers.
鈥淪ometimes the best you can do is buy time,鈥 Weil said. 鈥淎nd that seems like what they鈥檙e doing is buying time to protect these important parts of our collective history.鈥
Two of the sites do have some interest. had an option to purchase the Sara-Lou Cafe building, which served as a longtime neighborhood gathering spot.
Northside Community Housing, a community development corporation focused on the Ville, has been working with Rise Community Development to build new homes in the area. A 65-unit affordable housing development they are currently working on recently won low income housing tax credits, and the 50度灰视频 Development Corp. is providing a $700,000 grant for the project.
The corner of 50度灰视频 Avenue and North Sarah Street is an important component of any neighborhood redevelopment plan, said Weil, who has worked with the two groups on securing a historic designation for the neighborhood.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 one of the few completely intact commercial intersections left in the Ville,鈥 Weil said.
The Wellston Station is part of a larger redevelopment plan for the Martin Luther King Drive corridor from from , Friendly Temple Church and subsidized housing developer McCormack Baron Salazar. The church had an option to purchase the Wellston Loop pavilion site, where
鈥淚t will make a big difference,鈥 Eric Marquardt, a volunteer at Audubon Associates who has been working on the project said of LRA鈥檚 investment in the building. 鈥淔undraising is always a challenge in these types of projects.鈥
Friendly Temple and its partners have also applied to the city for a from a separate, $20 million pot of money. The Wellston Station building would be an 鈥渋mportant cornerstone鈥 of the larger housing and rehab plans for the area, Marquardt said.
鈥淚 am hopeful that a significant investment will be made along the Martin Luther King strip,鈥 said the Rev. Michael Jones, Friendly Temple鈥檚 pastor. 鈥淲e are waiting on the city to see what the city is willing and able to do.鈥
Knuckles, at LRA, said the agency hopes to issue RFPs for stabilization work this summer and secure the buildings before the coldest part of winter hits. By the spring, another RFP for redevelopers should be issued so organizations like Friendly Temple can apply. Neighborhood meetings will solicit community input for the sites鈥 end uses.
Back in the Walnut Park West neighborhood, the city鈥檚 planned investment in Club Imperial makes Montgomery hopeful someone might finally buy it. Greg Edick, son of the club鈥檚 longtime owner, George Edick, once asked her if she was interested in buying it. George Edick, did, however, sell her the club鈥檚 tables and chairs when she was opening her first Sweetie Pie鈥檚 restaurant in the mid 鈥90s.
鈥淭o see it just sitting there, it鈥檚 really disappointing,鈥 she said. 鈥淚鈥檇 like to see somebody take it and make it a club again.鈥