Architecture Secures Neighborhood a Place in History

   Tower Grove Heights is diverse -- in its people and its structures. A national historic designation reinforces what most residents already know: It's a good place to be.

   The Tower Grove Heights neighborhood, which has Tower Grove Park as its front yard, is a rainbow community of black and white and Asian, immigrant African and Eastern European and Russian, living together in a welcoming and progressive place. But Tower Grove Heights is also architecturally diverse. And that helped to land this St. Louis neighborhood a place on the National Register of Historic Places.

   The neighborhood is bounded by Grand Boulevard on the east, Arsenal Street on the north, McDonald Avenue on the south and Gustine Street on the west. It's pleasant and hospitable, historic or not. The streets are lined with healthy trees. Yards are well-kept, as are the houses and apartment buildings, which mostly are substantial and inviting. The neig hborhood is also intact: There is an extraordinary absence of gaps.

   Tower Grove Heights displays an equilibrium: solid, steady -- and, yes, diverse.

   At its heart, the neighborhood has remained strong because many residents simply stayed put -- or if they moved, they moved within the neighborhood rather than joining the flight to suburbia, said Susie Gudermuth, a neighborhood activist and investor.

   Although there was a time a dozen years ago when the area was beset with gang problems and drug houses, Gudermuth said aggressive action by the Tower Grove Heights Neighborhood Association turned that situation around. "We went after bad behavior and got cooperation from the police," she said.

   Gudermuth moved to the neighborhood in 1980 and now lives with her husband, Howard Hays, in a comfortable house on Utah Place, Tower Grove Heights' grandest street.

   Since moving there, Gudermuth has bought, renovated and sold a large number of area properties. She also owns some rental property, which she maintains scrupulously.

   Gudermuth said rebirth has not meant wholesale gentrification - the forcing out of people of modest means from a neighborhood undergoing a revival.

   Instead, there is enough variety to accommodate people of various means. Houses sell for under $100,000 to over $500,000. She said that rental property, especially in the four-family buildings, provides housing opportunities for low-income folks.

   Architectural ensemble

   The nomination for listing on the register leaned heavily on the unfrayed architectural fabric of the neighborhood.

   "It is unique in St. Louis for its high level of integrity and remarkable architectural consistency among the 770 primary (nongarage) buildings," the nomination proclaims.

   This architectural ensemble was created in a relatively short amount of time: 80 percent of the buildings rose from 1902 to 1911.

   Lynn Josse, research associate of the Landmarks Association, wrote the nomination for the National Register listing, which came through in September.

   The main benefit to having property listed on the register is that it makes owners eligible for tax credits. In simplified terms, that means if you improve your property, you're eligible for a certificate for 25 percent of the value of the work done. This can be subtracted from your state income tax.

   Another benefit is marketability. Saying "listed on the National Register of Historic Places" in an advertisement has a certain prestigious ring to it.

   But for most residents of the area, the listing will reinforce something they already knew: that the neighborhood is a good place to be.

   Veda and James Lynn have lived in Tower Grove Heights, on Utah Place, s ince 1938.

   He said many families with children moved to the suburbs because of problems with city schools. But the neighborhood is secure. "We still have our problems, but not like other parts of the city." He said he has never had any inclination to move.

   Veda Lynn likes the fact that she can walk down to Grand Boulevard to go to church at St. Pius V, or to visit the Carpenter Branch library or to eat in one of the ethnic restaurants sprinkled along Grand.

   All around, she said, "It's a good place. We have had a lovely life here."

   By comparison to the Lynns' 60 years in the neighborhood, Kim and Anthony Franks moved just a moment ago - in late September. The Frankses - both lawyers - were confirmed Central West Enders, but when the time came to buy a house, prices sent them looking in other neighborhoods. They chose a two-family building, also on Utah Place.

   Diversity helped to sell Kim Franks on Tower Grove Heights.

   "I grew up in the suburbs, and often I was the only African-American child in my class. I promised myself if I ever had children I would not do that to them," she said.

   "This neighborhood is very progressive and welcoming, and it's made up of all sorts of people, from blue-collar to professional."

   So what does the listing on the National Register of Historic Places mean to the folks on the streets?

   Jan O'Leary, who has lived on Hartford Street for a couple of years, said she is unlikely to take advantage of tax credits. But O'Leary said the listing reinforces her appreciation of the beauty of the housing stock and the place of Tower Grove Heights in a rich urban story.

   "It makes me feel," she said, "even more like a custodian of something very important."