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'Really deplorable condition': St. Louis City leaders issue demolition permit for historical Carondelet building

City leaders say the vacant units on the 7200 block of South Broadway is a safety risk to first responders and the general public.

ST. LOUIS — A block of historic commercial buildings is coming down on South Broadway.

The City of St. Louis issued a demolition permit for the Carondelet neighborhood.

"You know, I grew up on South Broadway, these are my streets as far as I'm concerned," Patrick Martin said.

Martin remembers playing pool as a kid in one of the businesses that once occupied the 7200 block of South Broadway but now sits vacant and dilapidated.

"I don't want a set of condominiums going there," Martin said.

The row of brick storefronts was built in the late 1800s and became part of the application for the Central Carondelet Historic District's listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

"Unfortunately, they have crumbled over the last 10 years and have been in really deplorable condition," St. Louis City Building Commissioner Frank Oswald said. "We've been trying to get the various owners to do something."

He provided a list of building violations issued about walls collapsing, windows and doors missing, illegal usage and a fire hazard.

"The fire chief's been calling me about it for some time, and he was very concerned, rightfully so, of the condition of the building and potentially putting first responders at risk," Oswald said.

On Jan. 19, they issued a demolition permit to the current owner, Kevin Kulich.

"What that allows is a licensed demolition contractor to go ahead and do the work to take the building down," Oswald said. "From my understanding, this owner is taking parts of the building, historic parts and those sections that they can salvage for other purposes and other buildings."

RELATED: Whole block of historic commercial buildings in the city is being demolished

Oswald said the owner is stepping up to pay the cost of the demolition, which doesn't always happen in most cases.

"So many of these buildings the City ends up taking down and spending taxpayer money on, so in this particular case, the owner is doing it on their own dime," Oswald said.

It's listed as a $30,000 demolition project, but Martin feels the building's significance is priceless.

"It's a piece of history that can never be reclaimed. Period. No matter what," Martin said.

Demolition work has begun.

Our partners at the St. Louis Business Journal report Kulich plans to replace the block with new storefronts that look historic. 

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