Laclede Gas Storage Tank To Come Down--st. Louis

[rudkipon66]

For those of you who cruise US 40/I-64 through St. Louis you cant miss the big storage tank on the left side of the route going West...well, it won't be long before it will be there no more...see below...Tsingtao Kip

 

Landmark site along Highway 40 to get a makeover

By Riddhi Trivedi-St. Clair

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

Wednesday, Jan. 17 2007

 

A longtime landmark on Highway 40 (Interstate 64) is about to be taken off the

cityscape and may be replaced by residences. A local development company has

purchased the property at Chouteau and Newstead avenues, which holds a former

Laclede Gas Co. natural-gas storage facility and a pumping station.

 

Demolition of the tank and the steel framework above it will begin later this

week and last into the summer, said Steve Trampe, a principal in Station G

Partnership, the company that purchased the property. He would not disclose the

purchase price.

 

The tank, known also as a gasometer, was built in 1901 and used to store and

deliver natural gas to customers during peak usage periods. The framework is

visible from Highway 40 between Kings­highway and Vandeventer Avenue.

 

The tank was used until August 2001, when Laclede built an underground storage

facility in north St. Louis County, said company spokesman George Csolak.

 

The structure — 175 feet high and 210 feet in diameter — had a capacity of 5

million cubic feet of gas.

 

The pumping station on the site was built in 1911. The Missouri State Historic

Preservation Office recommended in November that the building be included in

the national historic registry.

 

Adding the building to the registry would allow the owners of the property to

receive state and federal historic tax credits.

 

There is no definite development plan for the property, Trampe said, but it is

likely to include a large residential component. Whether the development will

include commercial elements depends on how the plans for a redesigned Highway

40 intersection at Kingshighway shape up, he said.

 

"There are all sorts of combinations and layouts possible, but we just don't

know," Trampe said. "There are a number of variables, not all negative, that

need to be worked out before you determine what you are going to put on it."

 

The property is about 3.5 acres, and the land immediately to the north and west

is owned by BJC HealthCare, said Jerry King, another principal in Station G. He

added that the partners were negotiating the possible purchase of that portion

— another 3.5 acres — to assemble a larger parcel for development.

 

One of the variables likely to influence the development plan is the fate of

the land to the east of the property. That land, said Alderman Joe Roddy, is

owned by Washington University and could become a public park if a proposed

swap for a portion of Forest Park goes through. Roddy's district includes the

Station G property.

 

"What happens to the east is critical to what is developed on the parcel. I

hope by the time we are ready to start developing, whatever plan there is will

be in place," Trampe said. "If it is completely up in the air, we might just

wait."