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.

There is no better way to preserve history than with enthusiasm! It’s no wonder that a majority of stunning, historical buildings are still maintained.

Grand Center is considered to be one of the most exciting neighborhoods in St. Louis. Grand Center has its own rich and thrilling history, as does other neighborhoods in St. Louis. Grand Center Inc. was founded in 1987 to oversee the revitalization of Grand Center. It was also formed to make the arts, entertainment, and education district come back to life. Over time, there have been some spectacular improvements to the St. Louis infrastructure. Among the improvements are the lighting, sidewalks, and parking facilities. In addition, structures were restored and 25 arts and education organizations became the foundation of Grand Center. It’s of 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.

One case in point is the Clemens House. This historic building is in danger, as well as the City Hospital. Fortunately, these are examples of buildings that are at this time being rehabilitated. Nevertheless, there are so many other buildings that are not so lucky. Among the downtown St. Louis buildings are: the Railway Exchange, the Chemical Building, the Frisco Building, 705 Olive (formerly the Union Trust Building), the American Theater, the Mark Twain Hotel, just to name a few. Why is this problem so bad? The building owners have very different ideas about how these buildings will serve the community at the end of the day, perhaps as parking lots.

On the other hand, we’re just discussing downtown St. Louis, and not the beautiful and diverse surrounding neighborhoods. Just as downtown Los Angeles has suffered neglect to its art deco building and towering office structures, so are other urban cities. There is a lack of life and spirit in downtown Los Angeles, because the owners of these historic buildings do not have the proper imagination and care. However, when you look at the surrounding neighborhoods of Los Angeles, you’ll see some of the most lively and gorgeous buildings and styles. St. Louis is commonalities to the same characteristics of Los Angeles in this aspect.

But like Los Angeles, we need to take our attention off the decay of downtown and focus on the beauty in the neighborhoods. As I already 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.