About 18 months ago I heard about a set of stained glass windows in St. Louis that were set for possible demolition, but there seemed to be hope that a way would be found to save the building, either through building somewhere else, or adding on to the existing building. Destroying a perfectly sound building seemed beyond comprehension.
It turns out that this building is now marked for demolition soon, perhaps as early as May 2014, just 2 months away. Article from yesterday - Library lovers make plea to save two St. Louis County branches, stltoday.com, March 18, 2014, by Leah Thorsen
Andrew Raimist gives the best case for preservation of the building on his blog architectural ruminations - Demolishing Lewis & Clark Library Would be Cultural Vandalism
My general sense of the situation is that there is not much hope, though there is a petition up for saving the building - http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/save-lewis-and-clark
One truly unique feature of the windows at the Lewis & Clark Library - the artwork is readable from both the exterior and interior. Mural and stained glass in one. Most people outside of the stained glass profession would not recognize this as highly unusual, but it is, and it is very much worth preserving.
Full article below the fold
