STL Downtown Defense Fund
The National Register-listed Century Building in downtown St. Louis
was recently demolished to make way for a parking garage. We thought
this tragic demolition was the end of an ugly chapter in St. Louis'
history. Now, it's gotten uglier.
Before the demolition, two Downtown residents, Marcia Behrendt and
Roger Plackemeier, took principled action to try to save the Century
Building. They were plaintiffs in two legal cases that sought to keep
this historic building as part of our architectural heritage. But the
buildings came down anyway.
Now, the City of St. Louis, the State of Missouri and the project
developers have filed a lawsuit against them, alleging malicious
prosecution — and seeking actual damages exceeding $1.5 million, plus
punitive damages "in an amount sufficient to deter said defendants and
others from like conduct."
Should the City, State and developers prevail, Marcia and Roger could
lose all of their assets. Just to defend themselves will cost tens of
thousands of dollars in legal costs, even if lawyers donate some
services.
Marcia and Roger stood up for us and for our community. Now, it's up
to us to stand with them.
You can help in one of two ways:
* Write a check for any amount to help with legal costs.
Make it payable to Downtown Defense Fund, and mail it to:
Downtown Defense Fund
c/o Scott Kluesner, Treasurer
7480 Cornell Avenue
St. Louis MO 63130