ST. LOUIS COUNTY — A county agency on Thursday said it is moving as quickly as possible to demolish the crumbling, vacant Jamestown Mall near Florissant after a fire badly damaged the building earlier this week.
The fire started in a loading dock of the million-square-foot building shortly before 6 p.m. Wednesday, and firefighters battled it until about midnight. Two firefighters were injured, and the blaze caused a center part of the roof to collapse. The structure’s dilapidated state made it a particularly dangerous fire to fight, and firefighters would like to see it demolished as soon as possible, said Black Jack Fire Protection District Interim Chief Roger Ellison.
Shattered glass from broken skylights is scattered across the roof after a fire at the abandoned Jamestown Mall in St. Louis County on Saturday, April 22, 2023.
“Anytime there’s vacant buildings like that, there’s risk to firefighters,†Ellison said. “And firefighters would like to see something done.â€
People are also reading…
The board for the St. Louis County Port Authority, a county government body that owns the property, approved a measure at its regular meeting Thursday, as expected, that allows it to seek bids from contractors as soon as Monday. The mall, which sits on 142 acres in the middle of North County subdivisions, closed in 2014.
The agency for months has been working with county and state officials to use $12 million in federal COVID-19 relief money for demolition. But bureaucratic hurdles have slowed the process. St. Louis County Council Chair Shalonda Webb, who represents the district that includes the mall, said the delay is unacceptable.
“If a firefighter would’ve lost his life last night on that property, it would’ve been a different situation,†Webb said at the agency’s meeting. “I do not want to have a phone call with you all because there has been another fire or catastrophe where someone lost their life and it could’ve been avoided.â€
Shattered windows and boarded up doors frame an entrance to the abandoned Jamestown Mall in St. Louis County on Saturday, April 22, 2023.
The board’s chairman said the demolition “continues to be the single highest priority for staff.â€
“I think I speak for the entire Port Authority when I say we’re troubled and concerned about the incident that occurred last night at Jamestown Mall,†Chair Kevin O’Malley said.
The procedure for choosing a winning contractor could take up to a month and a half. The agency wants the site cleared by the end of the year.
Firefighters found “piles of debris†burning in this week’s fire, and the cause is under investigation, Ellison said. But it’s not the first fire since the building became vacant. In June 2020, Black Jack firefighters discovered large piles of furniture on fire in the old Dillard’s and Macy’s stores.
And in 2021 burst pipes flooded several floors of the old Sears building.
An aerial view through a collapsed section of roof shows damage caused by a fire at the abandoned Jamestown Mall in St. Louis County on Saturday, April 22, 2023.
The Port Authority has sought possible development ideas for the site after demolition. After the agency bought the site in 2017, it made a tentative deal with a developer. But that fell through when former County Executive Steve Stenger was indicted on corruption charges.
A plan to develop the site as a distribution center was scrapped in 2021 amid opposition from Webb. Webb said residents overwhelmingly preferred a mixed retail site or community center.
Last year, crews finished remediating the site for hazardous materials such as mold and asbestos. The Port Authority also hired consulting firm i5Group to come up with options.
In December, the firm suggested an agriculture technology annex, among other ideas.
