St. Augustine's Church

[HardLuck682]

Has anyone been inside? Is it doable? Thoughts/Ideas/Tips?
http://www.builtstlouis.net/churches/images/staug4.jpg

[SubLunar]

Alarmed, dogs and worst of all.. I've been told the previous owner apparently built rooms inside the sanctuary thus robbing the views of the stained glass/arched ceiling/etc from within. I haven't seen the sanctuary myself but I have confirmed alarms and dogs. And I believe the rectory is inhabited. At least it was not long ago.

[HardLuck682]

Thanks SubLunar. The building looks amazing, too bad it sounds nearly impossible to explore.

[SubLunar]

Oh and it's supposedly still active (as of 2013), I forgot that part.

Here's some of what I was told:
"The church is now owned by a small, apocalyptic congregation that has indeed built a small drywall lined "box" right inside the front doors of the church."

They have, or had, a website for a while. I'm not sure of the url. As of April 2013, the website was down, so whether or not it's back up, or if the congregation is still active or went under at that time, I don't know.

In other words, it's worth checking up on again soon. If nothing else to just to drive around it and look for signs of activity.

[lindsey.michelle]

are you talking about the two dogs that hang out in that gated section? - i saw them in the winter, and felt so terrible for them

[Shemp72]

Yeah, the dogs are a problem. And fucking loud.

It's mothballed pretty well. You *could* get in with a grappling hook and mad climbing skills, neither of which I possess. Currently.

[crazydrummerdude]

It's being saved.

https://www.stlmag.com/history/architec ... augustine/

[Nicotti]

It's being saved.

https://www.stlmag.com/history/architec ... augustine/

Sounds like they may be looking for volunteers to help clean the debris out. Bet they wouldn't mind you photo documenting the clean up and such.

[SubLunar]

Not to be a pessimist but I would be really, really surprised if they actually pull it off.

That place was pretty fucked and honestly I've been expecting to hear about its collapse any day now. It's a super tall building without central support beams and the gutters were robbed several years ago, which means even more water damage going everywhere it's not supposed to go.

More power to them but I'm not going to hold my breath on that one.

-

So when we first tried it, we promptly set off an alarm and heard dogs barking from inside. Didn't try again for a few years until hearing about an open side door on the thing. Then we got in and saw that they must have simply abandoned the thing when the ceiling collapsed and fucked up their stupid little walled off partition.

http://sublunarphotography.blogspot.com ... hurch.html

[Nicotti]

I've been expecting to hear about its collapse any day now. It's a super tall building without central support beams

In the article they said they found a steel support structure inside of the columns which is why they are optimistic about it.

But I agree it's a long shot, especially with how donations seem to be their main cash source for the project.

[crazydrummerdude]

So, like the Clemens chapel, the previous owners just built a shitty drywall box inside the crumbling building, hoping that the problem would just disappear?

[tacoto]

There is no reason they can't stabilize this building,I sure hope it works! I heard the new owners bought it for $8000.00. Once they get the roof patched time is on their side!