ST. LOUIS COUNTY — The Urban League of Metropolitan ºüÀêÊÓƵ will break ground Friday on an $8.5 million shopping center in Dellwood.
It’s the nonprofit’s fourth project in the area, all designed to help revitalize the West Florissant Avenue corridor after unrest 10 years ago destroyed businesses, changed lives and shocked the country.
The plaza, at 9846 West Florissant in Dellwood, is now a vacant lot. But the Urban League is planning a shopping center anchored by First Bank and featuring restaurants, a banquet hall and other shops.
The nonprofit says the plaza could open by next summer. It also plans to host entrepreneurship events and programming from its Women’s Business Center, said President and CEO Michael McMillan.
“We want to have a very vibrant commercial corridor on West Florissant — we want to continue to rebuild,†McMillan said. “We’ll continue to work to support Ferguson, Dellwood, this whole community.â€
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The Urban League, a civil rights and social services nonprofit, has made the area a special focus since protests and violence roiled the streets after a white police officer shot and killed Black 18-year-old Michael Brown in 2014 in the middle of a street in the Canfield Green apartment complex in Ferguson.
Friday marks the 10th anniversary of Brown’s death. The Urban League started several programs in the wake of the unrest aimed at improving employment and financial literacy among residents.
Steph Kukuljan and other business reporters bring you insights into ºüÀêÊÓƵ-area real estate and development.
The Urban League has also built senior apartments on West Florissant and the Ferguson Community Empowerment Center, which houses such social services as the Salvation Army. And it has the Centene Connection Community Center, a former Centene Corp. claims center off Interstate 270 that the health care company donated to the nonprofit earlier this summer. The organization will house its utility assistance, and childcare programs there.
The Urban League estimates that the projects amount to a roughly $50 million investment. Its properties are among the only new construction in this part of West Florissant.
McMillan, in a recent interview with the Post-Dispatch, talked about his organization’s work in Ferguson and Dellwood.
The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Q: How did these projects come about?
A: At the five-year anniversary (of Brown’s death), we took a comprehensive look at who was in the community, who had built any facilities or started programing, and what the neighborhood-driven, community plan was. People told us they wanted a building for seniors, and across the street they wanted a bank, sit-down restaurant and a banquet center. So we worked with ºüÀêÊÓƵ County, the state, city of Dellwood and a ton of other partners. There will be a number of small businesses that will be in the shopping center. We’re excited.
Q: Why does this area matter?
A: When Ferguson was happening, I would call John Mack, the former president of the Urban League in Los Angeles, and have long conversations. He was president during Rodney King. He told me, “We in L.A. did not get it right.†He said there are still vacant and abandoned businesses and places that used to have commerce and vitality that are still burned to the ground and vacant lots that are a reminder of urban decay.
Urban decay has an impact on what you think you deserve as a person. It has a subliminal messaging, that everything in your area is bad, and the only way to see something beautiful is to go somewhere else. So how do you fight that? Success breeds success, stability breeds stability. And all of that then reduces crime and makes for a safe, excellent neighborhood where people want to live and raise their families.
Q: Do you think there’s been any progress in the 10 years since Brown’s death?
A: The arc of justice in this country is not a perfect journey. We regularly have issues that come about that shock us into action. Just a few years ago, you saw this overwhelming, multiracial, multigenerational protest movement that happened all over this country. Then you saw multiple announcements from just about every major corporation, government, educational institution about diversity, equity and inclusion to try to bring this country together and make sure that everyone had a seat at the table.
Now some people feel like that was too drastic. Now they want to take us back to nothing, to a pre-1960s Civil Rights era with no diversity program, no inclusion, no equity when the numbers show there’s an enormous need for that. For us to continue to be the No. 1 economy in the world, you cannot have one where women are not at the table and Black and brown people are not at the table. We all have to come together and work towards the greater goal of making this city, this region, the state and the nation the best that it can be. And how can we do that if many people are not included in the process. And so I think the mere fact that we’re having these sad conversations, is a bad testimony towards our current reality that I hope settles itself somewhere in the middle.
Q: Are you confident in the direction Ferguson is going?
A: It needs consistent support from businesses and institutions. The people of Ferguson are resilient, and I firmly believe that they, along with everyone else who loves and supports the community, will want to see it thrive. We’ll continue to see improvements here and Dellwood as well.
After Darren Wilson shot Michael Brown on Aug. 9, 2014, the protests, fueled by social media, continued for weeks and spread across the countr…