ST. LOUIS • The walls of the three-story Castle Ballroom once shook with the rhythms of the nation’s greatest 20th-century jazz stars such as Count Basie, Fletcher Henderson, Miles Davis and Duke Ellington.
Now, the yellow-painted brick walls that housed the sounds of their brass and pianos will soon be turned to dust after decades of disrepair.
In November, severe weather caused one of those walls to collapse. Building inspectors have since concluded that the vacant structure at 2839 Olive Street, which is on the National Register of Historic Places and considered one of the city’s last remaining buildings with a deep connection to the black community in Midtown ºüÀêÊÓƵ, is a public safety hazard and must be demolished.
The Castle Ballroom appears to be yet another casualty in a city that has championed the need for historic preservation. But the building’s fate is even more striking given that some of its owners over the last decade have been top city and area leaders — many of whom have proclaimed the importance of preserving the city’s history.
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In 2004, SAG Properties, a business group that includes Ron Smith, who went on to become Mayor Francis Slay’s operations director from 2005 to 2010, bought the building from a business entity controlled by then-Alderman Lewis Reed and former U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan.
Building records show no substantial improvements were made during the last decade.
“Here you have leaders who are very pro preservation,†said Michael Allen, an architectural historian who heads the Preservation Research Office. “I find it strange that none of them could put a new roof on the building. Talk about preservation — it starts there.â€
“Wind may have expedited the collapse of the building,†Allen continued. “But it doesn’t look like any preventive measures were taken.â€
A structural inspection performed in December found that severe weather in the previous November and April inflicted heavy damage to the building’s wall and roof, thus necessitating demolition. The city says this isn’t a case of neglect, but rather weather catastrophe.
Still, public safety documents show the building had previously been cited after a 2011 inspection for at least 14 code violations. SAG Properties, the owner, was ordered to repair cracked/shifted walls, replace missing bricks on exterior walls and rebuild a partly collapsed wall. Building permit records indicate most of that work was never done.
Smith, who retired as Slay’s operations director in 2010 and is a one-third owner of SAG, said most of the violations were “typical aging property maintenance violations.â€
Smith’s job as operations director put him in the middle of overseeing city services, which included planning, building inspection and permits. Smith said that played no role in the property. He said the company kept the building “safe and secure,†but he said he didn’t take an active role in the building’s “maintenance and operation.â€
Smith has returned as a temporary employee for the city and is listed as an “operations manager.â€
“Some of the larger issues that had to be addressed had to be put on hold for financial reasons, “ Smith said.
The Castle Ballroom was built in 1908 and was originally called “Cave Hall.†At first, it was a major venue for ballroom and social dance instruction. By the 1930s, as tastes changed, the building took the Castle Ballroom name and was transformed into a lively showcase for jazz bands and dance orchestras. The building was considered one of the few large venues in ºüÀêÊÓƵ that welcomed black business.
Duke Ellington, one of the biggest names in the history of jazz, played at the club in 1939.
By 1950, a heavy city entertainment tax had taken its toll on many ºüÀêÊÓƵ clubs. The Castle Ballroom was forced to close, according to the building’s application for historic status. With the music silenced, the building was later occupied by the ºüÀêÊÓƵ Silent Club, an organization for the deaf. Then, for a time, part of the dance floor was marked out for a tennis court. (Researchers have been unable to verify stories that a young Arthur Ashe, who attended Sumner High School, played tennis there.)
Eventually the building went vacant.
Reed, who is now the president of the Board of Aldermen, was part of a group that bought the building for $146,250 in 2003. It briefly served as his campaign office.
Reed and business partner Carnahan performed minor repairs.
“We patched the leaks that were in the roof,†Reed said. “We did all of the things to get it ready for redevelopment, but we found that it was way beyond our capacity.â€
They sold it to SAG Properties for $295,000 in 2004, about a year after buying it.
“We saw the opportunity for the building to be rehabbed and reused for an event center for entertainment,†Smith, of SAF Properties, said.
But, Smith said, the building’s problems and financing became too big of a hurdle.
“We had tours,†Smith said. “We did a lot of media coverage on it to try to get someone to step up and get someone to buy it.â€
Smith said the company was working with its insurance company to cover the cost of demolition, which could begin within days.
Eddie Roth, the deputy chief of staff to Slay, said that casting fault for the demolition was a tricky question because of the weather events.
“We believe everybody who owns property in the city has an obligation to maintain that property according to the law,†Roth said, in general. “Public employees and officials who own city properties put their reputations on the line if they fail to meet their obligations.â€
He added: “The loss of this historic structure is sad and disappointing, especially since so many preservation advocates had been actively working for the property’s redevelopment, and appear to have been hopeful such a redevelopment was feasible.â€