With no historic preservation ordinance in St. Louis County and a wave of developers looking for sites to build, unincorporated South County is losing some historic structures as three separate structures are under threat of being torn down and one is already gone.
The oldest house in Oakville, a stone farmhouse off Fine and Telegraph roads known as the Fine-Eiler House, was torn down by its owner earlier this year a fact that was revealed when the property came up for zoning for a new McBride Homes subdivision. Two other historic buildings known as the Kassebaum Building or Sessions Building could follow, since QuikTrip proposes tearing them down to construct a gas station at 5040 Lemay Ferry Road. The Concord Farmers Club has been purchased by Lindbergh Schools, although there are currently no plans made for the historic building that stands on the property.
Land at the southern end of Telegraph Road in Oakville near Jefferson County is once again being eyed for a large new subdivision, but even with the historic Fine-Eiler House on the property torn down, some of the neighbors are starting a campaign against the new homes for reasons ranging from water runoff to density.
In a videoconferenced public hearing Jan. 25 on the 26-acre, 53-home subdivision that developers McBride Homes and Oakville-based J.H. Berra are calling “Shadow Point,” the company addressed two of the primary reasons that a previous 57-home proposal at the site from homebuilder Pulte in 2014 was opposed by both St. Louis County planners and the Mehlville School District.