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The Curse of Pruitt-Igoe

Posted by: Tim Halbur
Thanks to: Reconnecting America
2 October 2009 - 5:00am

Rumor had it that the site of the infamous Pruitt-Igoe projects remains empty because the foundations are impossible to demolish. Turns out that the problem is politics, not pilings.

Steve Patterson at UrbanReviewSTL called up his old professor Martin Braeske, who had been a planner working for the St. Louis Public Schools when they were thinking about building a school on the former Pruitt-Igoe site.

Braeske says, "Each tower had a partial basement for boiler and mechanical systems equipment. The ones we found were intact and simple filled in with dirt. We dug them out, punched holes in the bottom to equalize the water table and demolished the walls to about eight feet below the finished ground level. While this did cost a bit, it is not a major deterrent to redevelopment of the site."

Patterson also talks with a Dutch filmmaker who is working on a documentary about Pruitt-Igoe.

Full Story: Pruitt-Igoe’s Foundations Have Not Prevented Development
Source: Urban Review STL, September 30, 2009
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Despite its small size, San Pierre was once a thriving community. It was home to more than 34 different businesses, and was surrounded by farmland and people gainfully employed in agriculture, retail sales, banking or other service industries.
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