Port Authority to demolish decrepit, abandoned trash incinerator along STL riverfront
ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) - St. Louis is one step closer to seeing a more appealing riverfront after the city’s Port Authority voted to track down a firm to demolish a decrepit, abandoned garbage incinerator along the Mississippi River.
The trash facility is located at 4230 S. First Street, just off Interstate 55, about a 5-mile drive south of the Arch. The St. Louis Port Authority says the building is 71 years old and has been abandoned for decades. It’s currently shrouded by overgrown vines and weeds and is made up of trash handling spaces, offices, furnaces and two smokestacks.
The portion of the demolition approved Thursday, Phase 1, consists of taking down the two smokestacks and is part of the South Riverfront Redevelopment Project.
“The idea here is to clear the site for riverfront commerce in the next few years,” Susan Taylor, the St. Louis Port Authority director, said Thursday.
The estimated cost, according to the Authority, is approximately $800,000. The agency plans to use a $640,000 state grant and American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars to cover the cost. The Authority does not plan to use any of the city’s money to carry out the demolition.
The Authority says an engineer has conducted an environmental impact study, which has given the agency the ‘go-ahead’ to take down the smokestacks. A sub-consultant will monitor air quality once demolition begins.
The Authority has not provided First Alert 4 a timeline on the project or what will replace the current buildings in the area, only that clearing the site will allow for “new facilities.”
This endeavor is part of a larger effort to revitalize the St. Louis Riverfront. The ‘Gateway South’ project, spearheaded by New York-based developer Good Developments Group, looks to revamp the South Riverfront, north of the abandoned incinerator. The project is separate from the Port Authority’s, but both look to breathe new life into the land along the Mississippi.