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Friday, June 5, 2009

More Times of Skinker DeBaliviere: the long gone DeBaliviere Strip

Thanks to Brian of the excellent and informative Downtown St. Louis Business Blog for a) reading the previous post and b) finding a better thing to blog about than I had selected.

Below is a shot of the so-called DeBaliviere Strip, prior to its demolition (the view is looking northeast, standing from the northeast corner of Pershing and DeBaliviere). This February 1985 Times of Skinker DeBaliviere article, in fact, details a proposed redevelopment that would have saved the strip. Click the link to see the rendering. I wish it would have come to fruition.



This is the site today:



Which would you rather have at the foot of a transit stop?

3 comments:

mega said...

I live within walking distance of this strip and have my own photos of the actual tearing down of the old stirp (if anyone is interested).
I will sum up what is there now yuck
I realize that this stip will never support a Panera or a Starbuks but what is there now is a big letdown. For readers that live in the area or may visit please support the bike/cafe caddy corner from this strip. [I am not connceted with that business]

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Way back in the day, when I was a student, I didn’t take sociology but did do some fieldwork in that subject on the now long-gone DeBaliviere Strip in St. Louis. I remember three ecdysiasts: Blaze Starr – "The Hottest Blaze in Burlesque” and Candy Barr, who served time for shooting her second husband and later dated Jack Ruby and Mickey Cohen. Mickey gave her that stage name. Also, not to be forgotten was “Evelyn West and her $50,000 Treasure Chest.” She once threw a tomato at Anita Ekberg, whom she perceived as a rival. The key number here is “50.” I left St. Louis in 1968 at 21 to join the Marine Corps. Since then I've lived in Southern California for 19 years and South Florida for 14. St. Louis, The Gateway to the West, has as much fascinating history as either of these two places.

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