By Maria Altman, KWMU
St. Louis, MO. – Demolition of the San Luis Apartments in the Central West End will continue.
A judge denied a motion for an injunction Monday morning. The motion had been brought by the Friends of the San Luis.
The Archdiocese owns the modernist building and plans to put in a parking lot.
Friends of the San Luis President Michael Allen says the group plans to appeal, not to save the building, but to make sure citizens can appeal future demolition permits in the city.
"If we can use this as an opportunity to clarify a citizen's right to stand and file appeals within our city's preservation laws system, then we can pull something out of this," Allen said.
Architect Dan Jay, who is working with the Archdiocese, says structural demolition of the building will begin this week.
Jay says the Friends of San Luis acted "in a determined and honorable way," but he thinks the group has a tough case to make as it appeals since two city bodies approved the demolition.
"Their case becomes difficult because it's not because of an absence of control. The control is there," Jay said. "They just in this case didn't care for the outcome and were told they didn't have legal standing to oppose the outcome."
Jay says the entire project is expected to be completed in six to eight months.