Historic Preservation
I recognize the importance of historic preservation in cities. Nevertheless here are my criticisms of how it works in St. Louis:
1. Virtually every neighborhood in St. Louis is considered historic. There seems to be a feeling that if a property is old, it is historic. This is not true.
2., Historic rehab adds 10% or more to the cost of construction. This can be significant.
3. It locks communities into doing what they have already done. Varied architectural styles are not welcome. Frank Loyd Wright would not have been able to build his buildings in St. Louis unless he followed the tried and true architectural style. A preservation yesterday said streets should have the feel of 1910. Is that what we want?
Written by Paul Dribin
The St Louis Contrarian 