The ranch houses where baby boomers grew up, and the 1950s and
’60s fast-food joints that the boomers frequented, are finally
getting some respect.

More and more, the buildings of the era are being perceived as
historical structures worthy of national attention and
preservation.

“The pendulum is swinging from demolition to preservation,” says
Michael Allen, president of ModernStl, which has about 200 members
who admire the style known as Mid-Century Modern.

“That sort of network did not exist before,’ Allen said.

Not everyone is enamored of the look. Others say economic
development trumps saving the structures.

Nevertheless, the movement’s traction is evident, to wit:

• The outpouring of support to save the Del Taco restaurant, the
so-called “flying saucer” building because of its 120-foot
saucer-shaped roof. The building at 212 South Grand Boulevard was
originally a Phillips 66 gas station, built in 1967 as part of
Teamsters Council Plaza, now a National Historic District.

• The city of Kirkwood designated the Craig Woods neighborhood —
an enclave of about 50 Mid-Century Modern-style homes — as a local
historic district.

• ModernStl last fall sponsored a Gateway to Modernism bus tour
of mid-century modern buildings that drew about 50 participants.
ModernStl devotees run a website and Facebook page with virtual
tours, maps, photographs and activities and will hold public
workshops early this year.

Efforts to save mid-century buildings have intensified in recent
years as local governments have approved tear-downs of the
structures, requested by property owners and developers. The
tear-downs are usually replaced with much more expensive homes that
increase the tax base.

Several individual mid-century houses on the National Register
of Historic Places are in such suburbs as Glendale, Ladue, Kirkwood
and Fenton. Although such a designation alone won’t save them, it
gives economic incentives for rehabbing them.

Many have funky, fun touches, some with curvilinear designs.
Others favor the more symmetric International Style. Some homes
feature vaulted ceilings, open layouts and carports for the
automobile age.

Two significant accomplishments of the local Mid-Century
movement are the Bennett Avenue Historic District in Richmond
Heights and the Ladue Estates district in Creve Coeur. The Bennett
Avenue district, with 30 ranch-style homes mostly built between
1945 and 1968, is rich with African-American history. It was listed
in the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.

Ladue Estates, built between 1956 and 1965, was listed in 2010
in the National Register of Historic Places. It allowed Jewish
property owners in a time when Jewish people could not get housing
in certain upscale “restricted” neighborhoods. The Missouri Office
of Historic Preservation wrote: “Its wide lots, expansive lawns,
attached garages and sprawling floor plans epitomized the suburban
dream of the post-war years.”

STILL THREATS

Despite the successes, Allen and other preservationists of the
Mid-Century Modern movement lament that recognition isn’t happening
fast enough. Tear-downs and development remain a threat, although
the recession has slowed new construction. In 2009, a campaign to
save the 1963 DeVille Motor Hotel (San Luis Apartments) at 4483
Lindell Boulevard ended in failure. The property today is a surface
parking lot for the Archdiocese of St. Louis.

Preservationists say the latest threat is to the American
Automobile Association’s building on Lindell, west of Vandeventer
Avenue. In July, the St. Louis Planning Commission voted 5-3 to
recommend that aldermen rezone the AAA Building site to make way
for a CVS drugstore.

Landmarks Association of St. Louis and others want to save the
building. They say too many of the mid-century classics along
Lindell have been lost already. “The loss of the AAA Building would
be a travesty,” Landmarks says.

Backers of CVS say development is needed and will bring in new
tax money.

The building is in Alderman Terry Kennedy’s 18th Ward. He said
in a recent interview that he had decided to oppose the CVS plans.
A key reason was public support in his ward to save the 1960s
building, he said.

“I wanted to hear from the neighborhood associations, and the
residents I represent oppose the (CVS) plan as presented to them at
this point,” Kennedy said. “We are not supporting it. We are not
supporting tearing the building down. I am not supporting a liquor
license for CVS. I am not willing to sponsor that legislation to
change the zoning at this point.”

Kennedy said that if CVS wants to reuse the existing building
and make other changes, perhaps something could be worked out. The
alderman said he personally liked the AAA building’s round shape,
which he said was reminiscent of other cultures.

“That style is very popular in places like Zimbabwe, Nigeria,
Kenya and Ghana,” Kennedy said. His support most likely will spare
the AAA building.

POSTWAR ROOTS

In St. Louis County, the Mid-Century Modern style took hold
after World War II as families moved to the suburbs.

Esley Hamilton, who is preservation historian for St. Louis
County, said the Mid-Century Modern movement is garnering attention
now because the buildings are coming of age under federal law.

Fifty years is the threshold for buildings to become eligible
for the National Register.

Hamilton undertook the first survey of Mid-Century Modern in St.
Louis County for the County Historic Buildings Commission in 2007.
In 2009 and 2010 Hamilton and an intern, Catie Myers, identified
about 100 architecturally significant houses of worship among 400
built from 1940 through 1970 in the county.

“Mid-Century building was huge, one of the biggest boom periods
in American history,” Hamilton said.

The most recent success for Mid-Century Modernists was
Kirkwood’s designation of Craig Woods as a local historic district,
which gives it some protections. Hamilton enlisted his Washington
University preservation class to help.

“This is an exceptional Mid-Century Modern neighborhood that is
being threatened by tear-downs,” Hamilton said.

Allen, with ModernStl, remains hopeful about the future of
Mid-Century Modern.

Increasingly, he said, “People realize that these homes have
value in their own right, and tearing them down for new homes is
not economical.”

Andrew Weil, executive director of Landmarks Association,
defends the style against naysayers who say they just don’t get
what all the fuss is about.

“A lot of people may not like or appreciate Mid-Century design,”
Weil said. “Like it or not, it was an important phase in the
evolution of architectural design in this country, city and
area.”

Weil added: “People’s aesthetic tastes change over time.” At one
point, St. Louis’ signature Victorian architecture was considered
gaudy and unattractive, he said. “Now we love it.”