St. Louis Urban Exploration, Part 1: The Old Sts. Mary & Joseph School Demolition

A year ago, we declared September to be National Urban Exploration Month, which we hoped would catch on. Whether it does eventually, or not, we’ll spend this month’s Wednesdays exploring some abandoned, underutilized or interesting sites around town. Check back each week for new installments.

So our preface just told you that September’s National UE Month, which we’re planning to celebrate fully. But demolition doesn’t limit itself to one calendar month. And just a few weeks back, we noticed a striking bit of demo taking place in South Saint Louis. The specific visit leading to this piece took place on Sunday, August 12, a few days after initially noticing that a school was being demolished, on the corner of Minnesota and Holly Hills. Located on a dramatic overlook of the Mississippi River, the old Sts. Mary & Joseph School had been empty for some 30 years when the wrecking crew finally arrived.

Within about a minute, maybe two, of photographing the demo site, I ran into Father Ronald Hopmeir, who oversees not only Mary & Joseph, but also St. Stephen Protomartyr. Walking over to say “hello,” I exchanged greetings with the pastor and then held an impromptu interview. Despite the quick and unexpected nature of the chat, I was able to get a fair bit of info before plunging into the then-in-demolition school.

For starters, Hopmeir mentioned that the parish, itself, had in recent times become a “mission church” of St. Stephen Protomartyr. While not used for weekly services, it’s been available as a location for weddings and funerals. In fact, he mentioned that “the need for quiet” during funeral services caused a slow build-up to demolition as four funerals were scheduled during the initial demo phase, including one on the very first day. That small delay was perhaps fitting, as the school had been empty for nearly three decades, with buyers never coming into the picture with a bid that satisfied the St. Louis Deanery.

The past years have seen an increasing amount of vandalism to the interior of the school, Hopmeir said, with quite a few homeless individuals taking up residence in the space. He said that “we’d take beds out, and they’d bring them right back in.” In fact, on the trip, I noticed that a walk-up, side entry to the building, (cut out from a huge wall running along the site) had been taken over as a flop, with bedding set inside a doorwell. Hopmeir said that the entry had originally gone into the gymnasium and that it didn’t surprise him that someone was residing in that space.

With a bulldozer stationed out on the old playground and the back walls already being crushed, it was obvious that the old elementary school didn’t have much time. And, with a bit of exploration, it was also obvious that little-to-nothing was left inside the space prior to demo.

There’s an old phrase in the UE game suggesting that participants “take nothing but photos, leave nothing but footprints.” But, being human, there’s always that tendency to want a little momento, or keepsake. At Sts. Mary & Joseph, there was nothing small to be had. Not a single school book was decaying in a hallway. No old clocks or crosses were found on the walls. If the place had been vandalized, it hadn’t been tagged, the rooms essentially cleaned out of anything usable many years ago and graffiti artists slow to find to the space.

So in some respects, the old school lacked the interesting touches of some abandoned buildings. But the views! With the back walls partially demolished, there was ample chance to peer out the window. Below, the industries of Broadway were quiet on a beautiful, temperate Sunday afternoon. And the river, taken way down by the summer’s drought, rolled by low and lazy.

Quite a sight, indeed.

That another user for this building couldn’t be found... a shame, indeed.

Scroll through a gallery of images from the demolition below. For larger images, click HERE.