STL officials condemn stucture at homeless encampment

ST. LOUIS—Mayor Cara Spencer is defending the city’s move to condemn a structure put up at a homeless encampment at 10th and Cass that officials say was constructed without a building permit and poses safety concerns.

It was built by representatives of YouthBuild STL, a non-profit organization “dedicated to empowering our community of people across St. Louis through hands-on education, mentorship, and vocational training and building projects to support the people and build up our community.”

The city issued an emergency condemnation for the structure on Jan. 12 after it was reported to the building division the week of Jan. 5.

Among the issues are the structure’s integrity–how it is anchored to the ground and how it would stand up to winds–as well as concerns that there’s no access to water, power or waste infrastructure. The mayor and public safety director are also say there are egress concerns. A plywood door is the access point and there are no windows. There are also no carbon monoxide or smoke alarms.

“I stand behind the building division who acted completely in line with local and state rules in the condemnation of the structure. I trust our firefighters and our building division when they say this is a serious fire safety hazard. And I want to I say this with care and compassion for those who are utilizing the structure to stay warm,” Spencer said.

The structure remains accessible despite the condemnation order. Spencer said there are no plans to demolish it and that the city wants to work with the builders to find a solution to address the safety concerns. Brittany Walker, a YouthBuildSTL representative told Spectrum News the organization is willing to make the improvements, but needs the money to do it.

Advocates say they built it in part because of the Spencer administration’s unwillingness to leave a warming bus near the encampment. The city does provide transportation from certain pick up points to emergency shelters, including to one that is less than a mile away from the 10th and Cass encampment. Supporters of those at the encampment say they’ve refused to go to the shelters because of fears of what would happen to their belongings, and an inability to bring their pets with them.

“We want to encourage folks to engage with the city and engage with the services and engage with the shelter options because not only are the shelter options available for the night, there are resources available there to help get folks in to long-term housing options, and that’s really where we can change lives,” Spencer said.