ST. LOUIS COUNTY — The long-sought demolition of the vacant Jamestown Mall kicked off Tuesday morning at a ceremonial event — but not until after two North County Democratic leaders traded barbs from the podium.
The row began when County Council Chairwoman Shalonda Webb, who has pushed hard for the razing of the mall, complained that state Sen. Angela Walton Mosley was on the list of speakers.
After Mosley was introduced as the next speaker, Webb approached the podium and told the crowd that Mosley had worked behind the scenes in Jefferson City against a $6 million state allocation in 2022 that is helping fund the demolition.
“What I cannot allow is ... for Senator Mosley to walk up here and to speak on how much she loves this community (when) she did not work and in fact worked in opposition,†said Webb, of North County. “So now that you know the whole truth, I can let the program resume.â€
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Mosley said she did support the state funding. Mosley also said her sister, former Councilwoman Rochelle Walton Gray — whom Webb defeated in the November 2020 primary — “really was the one who championed this when she was in office†but had faced funding challenges.
“For someone to say that I didn’t want to see something happen here is ridiculous,†said Mosley, of Florissant. Gray, of Black Jack, was at Tuesday’s event but didn’t speak.
The Webb-Mosley dispute added a sour note to what was supposed to be, and was for the most part, an upbeat occasion at the empty mall, which is near Florissant and sits on 142 acres amid numerous North County subdivisions.
About 150 people gathered under a tent on the parking lot of the hulking facility, near what used to be the Jamestown 14 Cine, to hear from County Executive Sam Page and other speakers.
“Today truly is a historic day for our region,†Page said. He said the sheer size of the million-square-foot complex and the cost of demolition had made finding a solution for the vacant facility difficult. The mall opened in 1973 and closed in 2014, leaving it a target for crime and vandalism.
Sen. Brian Williams, D-University City, who had pushed for the $6 million from the state’s share of federal pandemic aid, said he recalled going to the mall as “it started to diminish†when he was a student at Hazelwood Central High School.
Later, he said, he would drive to his grandmother’s house “wondering how come this building is still vacant.â€
The County Council also has assigned $6 million in federal pandemic assistance to the project.
After the speeches were done, the crowd walked a few feet to watch and cheer as a hydraulic excavator and another piece of equipment take big chunks out of a tower at the old movie space and nearby areas.
The site is currently owned by the county Port Authority, which hired South Carolina-based Target Contractors to carry out the demolition. The work is expected to ramp up in the next three weeks and be finished by next summer. Target submitted the low bid of $7.4 million.
The Port Authority chairman, Kevin O’Malley, said Tuesday it’s not known what eventually will be built in the mall’s place.
‘’Nobody knows yet what will work here and that is the job of us going forward,†he said. “We want something that’s sustainable and that we can be proud of, not just something to put up to be in a hurry.â€
In 2017, the agency made a tentative deal with a developer but that fell through when then-County Executive Steve Stenger was indicted on corruption charges.
A separate plan to develop the site as a distribution center was dropped in 2021 amid opposition from Webb, who said residents wanted a mixed retail site or a community center.
Webb, in an interview after the ceremony, said she had asked Page’s office to not include Mosley in Tuesday’s program. “I wish I hadn’t had to address it but they put me in that position,†Webb said.
Asked by the Post-Dispatch for comment, Page said in a statement that the project shows what is possible when state and local leaders cooperate.
“The intention of the organizers was to include everyone,†he said. “I disagree that one elected official representing the area should be excluded.â€