Landmarks Association of St. Louis

2016 Most Enhanced

For 20 years, Landmarks Association of St. Louis has used the Most Enhanced Awards to recognize excellence in the restoration, rehabilitation, and adaptive reuse of St. Louis' architectural heritage.  Award winners are selected based on the difficulty of the project, the capacity of the project to have a transformational effect on the surrounding area, the historical or architectural significance of the building, or on the project's power to inspire.  They are also selected with an eye toward geographic diversity, a diversity of building types and to recognize a variety of development entities.

Howards in Soulard

This building was known as the HI-Way Bar for many years but for at least the last four years it was known as the highly visible and potentially very beautiful building across from Anheuser Busch where a squatter and his dog lived with no electricity or water. The interior of the building was in horrible condition, full of abandoned furniture, clothing, trash, rotten food, and, well, other things. Jennifer Sims Taylor who submitted the nomination suggested that if we gave an award for most improved odor, this building would have won it as well.

After all of the trash and other "stuff" was cleaned out, the entire building was gutted. The interiors were stripped of their dropped ceilings of moldy acoustical tile, smoke-stained faux wood paneling and water damaged, crumbling plaster.

During the rehab, new sub flooring and hardwood was installed throughout. A brand new commercial kitchen was installed and a new bar was fabricated from wood salvaged from demo. The second floor was converted into a single apartment with all new finishes. The original front door for the south storefront was found in the basement and reinstalled as a component of a complete storefront restoration. During interior demolition the original doors to the side entry at the rear of the south wall were found enclosed in the wall. These were restored and put back in place and all of the windows throughout were replaced with new historic replica wooden sash.

This rehab restored the dignity, beauty, and smell of this great corner storefront and mitigated a serious problem property for the neighborhood. It also improved how the city looks to travelers passing by on I-55 while creating a lovely new neighborhood gathering place.