By Jeff Fister
Lindell Boulevard is one of the city’s best-known streets; it began around 1800 as a small path in the prairie leading to a spring near what is now Maryland and Euclid avenues. French colonials and others made their way from downtown to the spring to drink, gossip, quarrel and relax, according to CWE historian Mary Bartley in her book, St. Louis Lost. The street was named for Peter Lindell, a 19th century merchant who made his fortune in trade along the Ohio River and later as a holder of extensive real estate in the area.
Lindell Boulevard was the main street platted in the subdivision of the Lindell farm west of Grand Avenue. The subdivision of their farm into straight wide streets with large blocks was unique at a time when most additions were still conforming to the same old irregularities.
Later, in the early 20th century, city planner and architect George Kessler envisioned Lindell as one in a series of grand city boulevards that would connect parks, residential and business areas. In part, this plan was realized. During the World’s Fair of 1904, Lindell was an important route from the city to the fair; it’s westernmost section, from Kingshighway to Skinker, hosted an amusement park called the “Pike.” The grand mansions, institutions and apartment buildings that lined the street boasted some of the nation’s finest architects.
Fast-forward a hundred years. “Lindell seems schizophrenic,” said Carolyn Toft, former director of Landmarks Association. While some blocks retain their Victorian glory, many historic buildings are gone, including the Castleman-Mackay mansion at Spring and Lindell, now a parking lot for the next-door Masonic Temple.
The blocks east of Vandeventer to Sarah have been especially prone to change. A series of commercial buildings have been built and torn down from the old Windsor Hotel to the recent demolition of the San Luis apartments. Strip malls have been built and bland 1960s-style office buildings still stand.
Remember the Cinerama? This was a popular movie theater that I attended as a child. Built in 1962, it was billed as having one of the largest indoor screens in the world; 100 feet wide on a curve. I’ll never forget George C. Scott yelling and World War II army tanks marching across the screen during “Patton.” It’s at the site where the Walgreens now stands.
I do remember — but never visited, I promise — the old Playboy Club on Lindell near Vandeventer. It was Hugh Hefner’s fourth club, at 3914 Lindell. Also, the Windsor Hotel, built in the 1920s but torn down in 1993, occupied what is now the American Cancer Center Hope Lodge.
These blocks of jumbled urban architecture have been slowly upgraded with newer buildings which employ brick facades and architectural character lacking in the older ones. The Hope Lodge, the Walgreens, and yes, even the new McDonalds may not win awards, but they do blend better into the streetscape.
One new building which did win an award is the 3949 Lindell apartment building which opened this year. It’s a four-story, 200 unit structure which caters to students, staff and employees of nearby St. Louis University, Washington University and the Grand Center entertainment district. On Oct. 9, Mayor Francis Slay recognized the apartment complex as the city’s “Best Economic Project.
There’s still a long way to go to reduce the street’s “schizophrenia,” but perhaps someday Lindell will return to the grand urban boulevard that would make Peter Lindell proud.
