Why Our Work is Needed
St. Louis, Missouri, like many Midwestern legacy cities, has experienced a sharp decline in population since the mid-20th century, resulting in vacant and abandoned properties across the city. The St. Louis Land Reutilization Authority (LRA), the oldest land bank in the country, owns thousands of vacant properties, and public funds are budgeted to remove vacant structures in unsafe condition.
The City of St. Louis, St. Louis Development Corporation, the Missouri Environmental Improvement and Energy Resources Authority, and Region 7 EPA selected Delta Institute to revise its demolition handbook, develop specifications for deconstruction, train contractors around building material reuse, and plan a deconstruction pilot program. The City of St. Louis has leveraged Delta’s support to advance a multi-partner strategy to reduce waste from demolition, reuse building materials, and protect public health.
As part of these efforts, Delta Institute’s St. Louis Deconstruction Market Assessment is made possible with support from the Environmental Improvement and Energy Resource Authority (EIERA) and in collaboration with the St. Louis Development Corporation (SLDC) and the Green City Coalition.
Partners
Green City Coalition is a partnership between the City of St. Louis, the Missouri Department of Conservation, St. Louis Development Corporation, and the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District, working collaboratively with a network of member organizations and residents to convert vacancy to vibrancy in the City of St. Louis. GCC partners recognized the potential for a robust deconstruction program to afford several benefits to residents and the region, particularly the transformation of a decades-long vacancy challenge into an opportunity to stimulate the materials reuse market and create new job opportunities.
Through partnerships with Missouri Department of Natural Resources, the Environmental Improvement and Energy Resources Authority, Environmental Protection Agency, Delta Institute, St. Louis Community College Workforce Solutions, and more, Coalition partners and members have developed a robust approach to increasing deconstruction in St. Louis, with this Market Assessment as a crucial first step. Learn more at www.greencitycoalition.org.
Funding
This project has been funded wholly or in part by the United States Environmental Protection Agency under assistance agreement 00E02265 to Delta Institute.