Exuberant First Assembly of God Church

Located at 2334 Grand Avenue in Granite City, Illinois, is the former First Assembly of God Church. While the congregation, which has roots dating back to 1909, has moved to a larger building on Madison Avenue, it still maintains the exuberant mid-century church building.

Basically, this church is the average center-aisle front-gabled church form that has persisted in America since the colonial period. Yet it is adapted to the formalism of its era. The gable is not symmetrical. The entrance is not centered on the gable end but placed to one side on a glass addition.

Most prominent, though, is the use of colored glass. This church comes from a period in the late 1950s through the mid-1960s when modernist architects were abuzz with large, loud color experiments. In 1961, Plaza Square Apartments opened in downtown St. Louis; architects Hellmuth Obata Kassebaum and Harris Armstrong gave each of the six multi-story apartment buildings vertical metal stripes in different vivid, bright colors. Googie designs in restaurants and bus depots abounded. Homes has bright garage doors in green, red, blue and yellow. Young John F. Kennedy was president, the Russian threat seemed diminished and all was well. Why not play with churches, homes, schools and office buildings?

The architect of this church sure did play. We have a beautiful asymmetrical tapestry of aluminum-framed colored panes on the front elevation and striped of color on the sides. Obviously, the colored panes also provided an economical alternative to stained glass, but in way no less stylish.

The church remains a festive point on a tidy, quiet street of well-kept houses. A steel city, Granite City welcomed modernism with open arms, as evidenced by the iconic Granite City Steel Building downtown. This church is one of the best-kept examples of the mid-century modern period in Granite City.

Demolition Threats All Over Town

Vanishing STL alerts us to the possibility that the Washington University Medical Center may demolish the Shriners' Hospital and Central Institute for the Deaf buildings.

Meanwhile, Curious Feet notes two impending demolitions: a large storefront building at Page and Kingshighway in St. Louis and an old bank building in downtown Granite City.

Driving to Granite City

Driving to Granite City today I passed a familiar landmark: the abandoned Fantasyland strip club, a massive metal-clad hulk whose only noteworthy architectural feature is the neon sign on its front. Since the last time I passed by, there had been a fire, with the south end of the building sporting gaping holes ringed by black-stained siding. The fire was not completely shocking, given how easy access was to the shoddy and highly-flammable interior.

Four years ago, out of curiosity, I ventured inside with a friend. This has been my only trip inside of a strip club, and I have to say I was pretty downhearted after seeing the water-damaged carpeting, peeling paneling and other dingy trappings inside. The thought of the place in full operation -- lights down, stage lights on, dancers on the stage -- was more upsetting than anything. What fantasy could be limited to the dull confines and hasty construction of this strip club?

Further north on Route 3, at the intersection of 4th and Broadway in Venice, the corner storefront I've watched for years was halfway down. Men were palletizing bricks. The storefront, with excellent vernacular Romanesque brick detailing, has long been a landmark in this town.



Meanwhile, up in Granite City, condemnation notices adorned several downtown buildings, including the ramshackle but one-proud row of flats on Niedringhaus Avenue. With myriad careless window alterations, problematic masonry repairs and general disrepair, this row has suffered much over the years. But the original beauty is still apparent, and in a state with a historic rehabilitation tax credit a building like this in a downtown like this one would be facing better prospects.



Perhaps the condemnation notices are part of Mayor Ed Hanganuaer's continued mishandling of the historic buildings of downtown Granite City. In 2006, under the mayor's watch, 15 buildings in the downtown area were demolished at a cost of $90,000, including many structurally sound historic buildings. For that cost, the city extinguished the much greater economic impact of historic rehabilitation.

The next time I make the trip up Route 3 to Granite City, I will face a road missing a few of the markers myself and others use to know where we are -- to know what places we are passing through. Obviously, I am not sad to see Fantasyland fall; that building was nondescript and place-defying. Other buildings and structures along Route 3 are not. These are markers that beckon us to stop and learn, and that might entice some of us to invest time and money.

Granite City Wants to Lure Artists

Granite City considers artist relocation program - Michael Heil (Granite City Press-Record, May 23)

What Granite City officials need to note is that historic preservation is often a good part of attractive artists to an area. The idea of affordable buildings requires a stock of buildings with no outstanding financing to retire or transfer. Those buildings are usually historic. Unfortunately, Granite City has not pursued the most rational historic preservation plan for its downtown area; last year, the city went so far as to tear down 54 buildings, including many potentially eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. Perhaps the artist relocation idea will turn around the city government's inability to protect historic buildings.

Granite City Loses a Fine Building

Bad news from the metro east: The R.S. Holstein Company Dry Goods Building is downtown Granite City has fallen to the wrecking ball. Here we see the illogical results of reactionary planning. The building was in fine physical condition and was one of the most likely candidates for adaptive reuse downtown. However, the particular circumstances of its ownership and its being placed on a condemnation list foreclosed any chance of its future being considered as part of a broader strategy for historic preservation in the downtown area of Granite City (which still retains an impressive architectural stock). Granite City is working on a preservation plan, but to date has not enacted any effective ordinances that would render any preservation plan meaningful.

Then again, until Illinois passes legislation creating a Missouri-style historic rehabilitation tax credit, adaptive reuse of such buildings is highly unlikely.

Granite City May Get Tough on Bad Landlords and Tenants

Granite City considers four-strike plan for unruly tenants - Michael Heil (Granite City Press Record, December 19)

Read about a proposed new law Granite City is considering. This would be a good idea in St. Louis, too. The worst problem in urban areas often isn't the bad tenants, who tend to only stick around a few months, but the bad owners who gladly replace a bad bunch with another.

Only when some people start losing money due to their behavior do they change their ways.

Lofts on the East Side

Lofts outside the big city: 'The best of both worlds' - Shane Graber (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 30)

Good news for Alton, Granite City and Belleville: downtown urban living is arriving.

Site Update: Granite City Section Created

We are pleased to announce that we have opened a section of Ecology of Absence on the unique places of Granite City, Illinois. While we have long been at work researching and photographing Granite City, we have published very little documentation in that area until now.

Our section opens with three places new to the site: the remains of the National Enameling and Stamping Company plant, the flats at 2137 Edison Avenue (demolished as part of the city's demolition project this year) and the R.S. Holstein Dry Goods Company (included in the demolition project but spared so far).

Expect more content to be added soon as we chronicle the highs and lows of an industrial city striving to remake itself amid deindustrialization, population loss and a sluggish regional economy.

One from None - nice caption, & nice photo.

While snooping around for some info on a Granite City ghost sign, I inadvertently came across a nice, tiny little blog post from Shreveport, LA.

This explains, very simply, a lot of the reasons why I am fascinated by vacancy, and why I think it's an interesting time to live on the North Side, and what I'm thinking about when I'm walking down the 14th Street Mall.

About Granite City

As promised, here is the finished result of my tour notes from Friday's tour of Granite City, Illinois: The Founding of Granite City.

Dead or Alive

On Nameoki Road in Granite City.

The Joys of Granite City

Today, Claire and I walked around the charming and amazingly intact downtown area of Granite City, Illinois, an industrial city east of St. Louis. We were struck by the walkability and density of the downtown core, which would make a great, vital business district. In fact, it already was the vital heart of the city until Route 3 was expanded. The new bridge over the Mississippi River will likely create more sprawl on Route 3 and drive the final nails into the coffin here, leaving behind a core much like that of East St. Louis. The writing is already on the wall, quite literally: vacant storefronts abound, sporting for-sale or for-rent signs. One block had three for-sale signs in a row.

The blocks are laid out well, with many one-, two- and three-story commercial buildings on the sidewalk line sitting amid opulent workers' flats, reminiscent of north St. Louis, and striking steel mill buildings. It's a great place to walk around, and would be even better with more activity. Too bad that may never return -- the close proximity to downtown St. Louis could be enhanced with MetroLink service and a renaissance could get underway.

There are, however, a few places to find instances of urban magic. We found a small resell shop at Niedringhaus and State. If we had not already eaten lunch, the Petri Cafe or one of the other remaining workers' lunch counters would have been a choice place to nosh. Other secrets seem to beckon for future visits, although I don't think we'll visit Henry Burns Furniture (why, Henry, why?).