There’s a big kerfluffle in my hometown of St. Louis this week. A UFO-looking building, which until midnight was home to a Del Taco franchise, was presumably going to be demolished. The property’s owner didn’t think anyone would take the property and keep the building intact. The Board of Aldermen voted Wednesday on a bill that would provide tax abatement for whomever developed the property, and on Thursday, the bill’s sponsor added a provision to the bill that would force the demolition to go before the city’s Preservation Board. Still, the preservationists are skeptical that the building will be preserved.
It might be hard to understand the fervor for the building. Certainly there’s no fervor for the business within the building. The Del Taco franchise didn’t make much money. In December 2009, the independent operator who had been subleasing the building filed for bankruptcy. I would think that the people who cared about the Del Taco would have shown up by now. But in the weeks since the building’s possible demolition was announced, there have been Facebook pages, a petition and blogging campaigns to save the late-’60s era building.
Why? What’s so special about this building? I’ve had to ask myself that question a few times this week.
When I first heard that the flying saucer building on South Grand could be torn down, I felt a pang of nostalgia. It reminded me of when I was a kid, and I felt that was reason enough to save it. After some thought, I realized I had never even gone through the drive-thru there, let alone inside. I had been to the other Del Taco, but not the one in the flying saucer building. Thus, my only memories of it were seeing it as I drove into the cities from the suburbs.
But I had this righteousness that they shouldn’t tear down such a historic building. Of course, until I started reading about the building, I had no idea it had been built in the 1960s as a gas station. I had attached a sense of nostalgia to a place I only saw from a car. Why was this place so important? I didn’t even grow up in the city. I grew up in the county. And I haven’t lived there since 2000.
So, why am I and other kids from the suburbs suddenly following this on Facebook, with a sense of nostalgia for a building we hadn’t thought of in years? There are a few reasons at play, and only a few have to do with the building itself.
Photo by Laura Miller/Riverfront Times
For starters, it is a cool building. It looks like a flying saucer, and is a testament to some of the interesting architecture that’s harder to find in St. Louis these days. Past has shown that interesting buildings don’t get replaced with interesting buildings. The Parkmoor was torn down for a Walgreen’s, the Arena was torn down for an office park. Historic architecture has been replaced with things that no longer distinguish the neighborhoods. You could have a Walgreen’s in Wentzville or an office park in Chesterfield, but you won’t find a flying saucer there.
St. Louis is a city with a fragile ego. The city as a whole is still smarting over the fact that InBev bought Anheuser Busch, which is one of several big companies that are no longer headquartered in St. Louis. There are people there who remember the days when St. Louis thought of itself in the same leagues as New York and Chicago. St. Louis had several major companies. St. Louis had four sports teams. St. Louis had a thriving downtown. That’s in the past, but it hurts, even for people who were born long after the city’s heyday. The inferiority complex has been passed down to generations. Quite simply, St. Louis is a Jan Brady — the overlooked middle sister — smarting over how it used to be Marcia, the pretty older sister who commanded attention.
In a column from July 2009 about “Meet Me In St. Louis,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bill McClellan captured some of this feeling pretty well:
Back when the country was founded, the successful people had no reason to leave the East Coast. The less successful pushed west. This clump of unsuccessful people reached St. Louis. The adventurous ones pushed on. The slackers stayed here. Much later, we built the Gateway Arch to honor the people who had the gumption to keep going. We are the only city in the world that has a memorial to honor those who left.
So this whole thing about leaving and not leaving is in our DNA.
This underlying zeitgeist is important in understanding things in St. Louis. Nothing exists in a vacuum, and these old wounds surface at the oddest times. The guilt over not doing enough to improve the city. The guilt over leaving the city altogether. The guilt of riding someone else’s nostalgia for a building I never even entered.
So, this isn’t really about a Del Taco. Or a flying saucer. It’s about a symbol.
1. How did I not know that there was a Del Taco in St. Louis???????
2. That building is badass
3. I hang on to a lot of stuff for nostalgia’s sake, but it seems that the UFO Del Taco is worth saving more than usual.
Pat, intersting take on the Del Taco building. I think the nostalgia might be a bit higher seeing that it’s semi-attached to the grounds of St. Louis University – and colleges breed landmarks and nostalgia. I also hear what you say about the city in general, though I don’t think it’s as sad a mentality as you or Bill McClellan put it – he can go to numerous cities in Ireland and visit monuments errected to those who have left the emerald isle. I’d amend your diagnosis of STL to more of an identity crisis than inferiority – sure there’s some of that but that’s true in most places. I definitely felt Boston had that in regards to NYC in some respects when I lived that way. You’re right that St Louis is stuck at the World’s Fair in many ways, but it’s also a place learning to adapt after over-relianing on a few key industies that are no longer booming (manufacturing being a big one). Moving away does bring a good bird’s eye perspective of your hometown’s culture, but it also doesn’t easily lend itself to see progress (even if subtle) on the ground. The downtown region is doing some good things with lofts, parks and development as are many of the entering “suburbs” – but the big elephant in the room has been that they don’t all work together. There seems to be some political will to change that at the moment. You’re right though, the city has an old soul, and some less desirable attitudes but there’s also a new spirit emerging in places like Old North St Louis, Downtown and South City (generally speaking). I prefer the outside looking in view as well, but a few short jaunts back in the right places give me enough to think the city is more comparable to a the brother who enjoyed success as a high school athlete, not the star but a player, but didn’t exactly move on from the good old days after graduation. I’d like to think this brother is finally finishing his degree and talking a little less about past success. He’s behind many contempories but moving forward nonetheless. But hey, maybe Jan Brady was pretty good a volleyball once upon a time and is getting some dates after the braces came off. Always enjoy reading, but wouldn’t say Del Taco is too symbolic – more of a groovy college taco structure that gets some pub, as it would if it were leaving most any campus stomping grounds. Just my take. Peace
Pat, I was at the Board of Aldermen meeting this week. The developer who owns the property stated that he hadn’t really looked into other renters for the property and that he wanted to tear it down for a \new retail space with room for 2 to 4 national chains.\ So we’re looking at tearing down a very interesting building to put in a strip mall with a Starbucks. As you well know, there just aren’t enough vacant strip malls around as it is, we need more. The developer also said the current building is too small, 1800 sq feet I think, and only has 14 parking spaces. I don’t understand how that lot will offer enough retail space for 2-4 national chains, as well as a bigger parking lot.
Susan: Until today, there were TWO Del Tacos in St. Louis! The internets say that the locations have closed.
Sean: Excellent points. I would agree St. Louis has an identity crisis as well, and I think it varies depending on I’m talking to about it. And you’re right, parts of Boston has that as well.
I’ve loved seeing how Washington downtown has become a district full of bars, restaurants and cool things to do. The city of St. Louis is certainly not dead.
Wilson: Please tell me you had signs and a bullhorn when you were at the meeting.