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By James Nicholson
Say two words—“Gaslight Square”—and St. Louisans (either from vibrant memories or pangs of missed
opportunity) immediately become nostalgic. Popularized
by the Beatniks, St. Louis’s version of Bourbon Street
flourished from the late 1950s through the mid-1960s as a racially inclusive entertainment zone of major significance.
Barbra Streisand, Lenny Bruce, Miles Davis, Woody Allen and Phyllis Diller all appeared there, to name but a few. Authors Jack Kerouac and Alan Ginsberg, frequented its cafes.
With legendary venues such as Smokey Joe’s Grecian Terrace, The Three Fountains Restaurant, the Gateway Players, and St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Don Blasingame’s well-publicized second floor apartment, Gaslight Square was the place to go and be seen.
Then, all too suddenly, it faded into oblivion.
From the early 1970s to the mid-1980s, the neighborhood, centered on Olive Street and Boyle Avenue, fell on hard times. In the early 1990s, the City tore down Smokey Joe’s columns and the remaining north side of Gaslight Square. An area that had once provided constant revelry more and more looked like a bombed-out Dresden.
Enter the more recent movers and shakers. Starting in 1997, Jerry King, president of RJK, commenced a number of redevelopment ventures, including West Pine Court, 110 North Condos and Laclede Townhomes. By 2001, in response to a request from Richard Baron, of McCormack Baron, King turned his attention to the area north of Lindell, known as Westminster Place.
 Citirama Co-Developers Greg Vatterott
and Jerry King stand at the former site of Gaslight Square, currently undergoing a major renovation. |
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Meanwhile, Greg Vatterott, president of Charles F. Vatterott and Company, had been impressed with an urban showcase of new homes he had seen in Cincinnati. He approached the Home Builders Association of Greater Saint Louis with the idea of producing a “Citirama,” a showcase of newly-built homes to parallel the Association’s highly successful “Homearamas.” Gary Zide, senior staff vice president of the Home Builders Association, embraced the project and together they approached the mayor’s office. As a result, Barbara Geisman, deputy mayor of development for St. Louis, initiated a search to identify possible sites for the event. Gaslight Square emerged as the front runner.
After completing two developments on Westminster Place and McPherson Avenue, King expanded his vision to include a total redevelopment of Gaslight Square. Upon learning of the efforts of Vatterott and the Home Builders Association, RJK joined the team to launch Citirama.
Citirama runs from Oct. 8 through Oct. 24. Five single-family homes and seven townhouses will be available for viewing during the single-site showcase. Eventual plans call for 70 units—six single-family homes, 40 townhouses, and 24 condominiums—to be built on Olive Street between Boyle and Whittier avenues.
Zide points out that Citirama is no small undertaking. “The concept won’t allow for infill, so the site needed to provide the developers control from the ground up,” he says. “It’s a very expensive proposition. It cost one and a half million dollars just to clear the area.” He also stresses the importance of bringing St. Louis County builders into the City, and hopes this project will be a catalyst for the future.
Mike Goeke, vice president of RJK, stresses the project’s reverence for the history of Gaslight Square. Plans call for a brick and terra cotta monument at the west end of the block, memorializing the owners, artists and venues of days past. Goeke says the development will provide “a great addition to the housing values in the immediate area.” Indeed, blocks where houses recently were selling for under $150,000 are now experiencing new development, with prices exceeding $300,000.
Goeke credits St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, Geisman and Alderman Terry Kennedy (D-18th Ward) for their support. “The city has provided money and supported tax increment financing (TIF) to help with public improvements for the area,” he says. “Alderman Kennedy has utilized $225,000 of (discretionary) ward money (to aid the project).”
Goeke agrees with Slay that recent census projections indicating a decline in city population are wrong. “At the worst, the city is breaking even (with the last census),” he says. “There’s been quite an increase in the population of empty-nesters and childless couples.”
Vatterott concurs. “There is a lot of excitement and interest in the project,” Vatterott says. “Gaslight Square is the bridge between the Central West End and Grand Center.”
The immediate next step is to prepare the block east of Gaslight Square for redevelopment. “By the time we’re finished (with Gaslight Square),” says Goeke, “the block—with the exception of the building formerly housing Selkirk’s—will be demolished for more townhouse/condo development, headed by Saaman Corporation, and including other Citirama builders.”
Zide, Vatterott and Goeke all stress the urban character of the Gaslight Square development. “The homes are unique,” observes Zide. “They’re custom in nature. Following typical urban style, they’ll have small front yards and courtyards (in the back) with great secret gardens.”
“All the homes will be consistent in (their) urban theme,” elaborates Goeke. “There will be no inappropriate architecture.”
It’s been a long time since a development in the city has marketed new homes in the $300,000-plus price range. While Vatterott and King are developing the entire block, the project will also feature a collection of single family homes, condominiums and townhouses built by Aleto Construction, Derrick, HomeSource Custom Homes, The Meyer Company, Rolwes Homes, the Saaman Corporation and Town & County Homes. From the financing side, Vatterott says Allegiant Bank has been key.
“They are the prime lender to the developers, and a major sponsor for Citirama,” he says.
Gaslight Square seems destined to emerge from the urban doldrums, and with the restoration of the Lister Building, Olive Street itself is undergoing a daily change for the better. Vatterott puts it best:
“The time has more than come for (a renaissance of) Gaslight Square.”
Vatterott Family Continues to Build |
By James Nicholson
Metropolitan St. Louis would be quite a different entity minus the efforts of Charles F. Vatterott & Company, the producers of over 25,000 homes for the greater St. Louis market.
Founded in 1919, the company truly made its mark with the development of
St. Ann, the area’s first post-World War II boom town. The construction of St. Ann met an immediate need and Vatterott filled the need so thoroughly that the formerly placid Ritenour School District would soon boast the largest high school in the state. Many years down the line, St. Ann would receive its own zip code (a status, thus far, denied Ladue).
The Vatterott Company, in fact, is so associated with the development of
St. Louis that it warrants its own display at the Missouri Historical Society History Museum at the Jefferson Memorial. Visiting the display allows one to examine the development of contemporary St. Louis.
Headed by its second generation president, Gregory B. Vatterott, the company has been instrumental in the growth of
St. Louis, St. Charles and Jefferson Counties—and is now a prime mover in the revitalization of St. Louis proper. |
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