Last week I commented on a number of South St. Louis institutional properties being for sale.
I found out in a mailed notice about last night's Marine Villa neighborhood meeting (which I did not attend) that the 3740 Marine Ave. property, formerly the Salvation Army Hope Center for Children (and the Edgewood Soulard School), may be acquired by an agency with a similar mission:
Boys and Girls Town of Missouri.
This sounds, generally, like good news. Boys and Girls Town of Missouri, historically based for decades on its St. James campus, has developed over the past several years significant outreach programs in St. Louis City.
Boys and Girls Town of Missouri (BGTM) currently operates two facilities in the City:
Anyway, I'm not clear whether the 3740 Marine property would be used to expand the residential treatment program, or to expand the school. It might be a replacement site for the Academy, since it is located in leased space that the Archdiocese is unlikely to sell, given its location immediately adjacent to an Archdiocesan high school.
In any event, this seems like a pretty positive development. While it will not get the property back on the tax rolls like a residential redevelopment could, it seems this facility is almost ideally suited to the needs of an agency like BGTM.
No comments:
Post a Comment