By Tom Weber, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – A landmark that was an eyesore for many in south St. Louis for more than a century is gone.
The final bits of a giant steel tank along Highway 40 near Barnes-Jewish Hospital have been removed. The "gasometer" stored natural gas until Laclede Gas Company took it out of service six years ago.
Developer Jerry King says the tank only helped keep the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood blighted.
"It was really the first view that many people had of Forest Park Southeast from Highway 40, was that tank," King said, in an interview. "You know it really did create, I think, a barrier."
King and another developer plan to build condos and apartments on the site.
Developers in Austria once turned four old gasometers into apartments and retail space, but project leaders here said that would be cost-prohibitive here without a major government subsidy.