Isaac H. Lionberger House

The Palladium is a disused and endangered historic building in the Grand Center arts district of St. Louis, Missouri. It is especially noted as the site of the Plantation Club, a 1940s and early 1950s dance club where famous African-American musicians performed. It was in some ways St. Louis's equivalent to Harlem's famous Cotton Club and was almost certainly modeled after it.The building opened in 1914 as the Palladium Roller Skating Rink, although from its early days it also served as a ballroom. In 1940 the Plantation Club night club, which had existed since 1931 on the west end of the block, moved into the building and replaced the roller rink. Like the Cotton Club, the Plantation was owned by a gangster, Tony Scarpelli. And like the Cotton Club, it offered entertainment by African-Americans to a white-only audience. Performers included Jimmie Lunceford, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Carter, the Mills Brothers, the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra, the Noble Sissle Orchestra, the Ink Spots, and Billy Eckstine’s band with musicians Charlie Parker, Lucky Thompson, Art Blakey and musical director Dizzy Gillespie and vocalists Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan.Business boomed during World War II; the club installed air conditioning and offered shows at 11:00 pm, 1:00 am, and 3:00 am. The house band was the Jeter-Pillars Orchestra, which featured Sweets Edison and Clark Terry, and later Jimmy Blanton and Charlie Christian, and also Jimmy Forrest.The club declined after the early 1950s. Later the building hosted various bars. It was home to thrift shops – Veteran's Village from 1963 to 2006, then HHV Thrift Plus until 2010, since when it has been vacant.The John Cochran Veteran's Administration Hospital, which is looking to expand, was in talks in the mid 2010s with the owners to purchase and raze the building. As of 2020, there was still no announced decision whether the hospital would expand south (which would imply demotion of the Palladium) or north.The National Trust for Historic Preservation consequently placed the Palladium (which is not on the National Register of Historic Places) on its 2014 list of most endangered historic places.In January of 2020 part of the roof collapsed, leaving part of the upper floor open to the elements.

The Sheldon, designed by the noted 1904 World’s Fair architect Louis C. Spiering, was built in 1912 as the home of the Ethical Society of St. Louis. Musicians and public speakers throughout the years have enjoyed the perfect acoustics of The Sheldon Concert Hall, earning The Sheldon its reputation as "The Carnegie Hall of St. Louis." Well-known singers and ensembles have performed at The Sheldon, and speakers such as Margaret Mead, Thurgood Marshall and Martha Gellhorn have spoken from its stage. The St. Louis Chapter of the League of Women Voters was founded in The Sheldon’s Green Room. When the Ethical Society relocated to St. Louis County in 1964, The Sheldon primarily became a music venue. Then, in 1974, a former singer with the Duke Ellington Orchestra purchased the facility, transforming The Sheldon into a church and the site for many glorious jazz and gospel concerts. A California attorney with a love for chamber music purchased the building in 1984 at the urging of the Paganini String Quartet. He began operating The Sheldon in 1986 as a venue for concerts and community events. At risk of being demolished in the mid-80s to make way for a parking lot, a group of community leaders and Ethical Society members launched the “Save Our Sheldon” campaign, which culminated in a movie production entitled Sweet Sheldon, and starring Burt Lancaster. Public sentiment, and the recognition of The Sheldon as a cultural landmark, turned the tide and the building was saved. Determined to preserve and establish The Sheldon as one of St. Louis’ greatest cultural resources, the non-profit Sheldon Arts Foundation was formed in 1989 by Walter F. Gunn. The Foundation purchased the building in 1991, and today The Sheldon Arts Foundation is governed by a 50-member Board of Directors. The Sheldon Concert Hall is the site of over 350 events each year, including great jazz, folk and classical music, featuring the world’s finest musicians. Artists such as Dave Brubeck, Diana Krall, José Carreras, Herbie Hancock, Doc Watson, Joan Baez, Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett, B.B. King, Wynton Marsalis, Judy Collins, Renée Fleming and many more have performed at The Sheldon. In addition, The Sheldon presents Matinee Concerts, educational programs for schools and Coffee Concerts. The "Notes From Home" series, featuring St. Louis musicians, is presented weekday evenings. The Sheldon Ballroom, Spiering Room and Art Galleries host workshops and master classes, post-concert receptions, weddings, fundraising events, corporate presentations and community meetings. In 1998, The Sheldon expanded its artistic focus to include five new art galleries in a $5 million dollar expansion project. Improvements included complete wheelchair accessibility, new restrooms, two new lobbies, a sculpture garden, added parking and in 1999, the 500-seat Louis Spiering Room. The art galleries encompass 6,000 square feet and feature exhibits on jazz history, photography, architecture, St. Louis artists and children’s art. The Sheldon's renovations continued in 2001 with the installation of five new stained glass windows designed by acclaimed artist Rodney Winfield. His stunning designs, called "Theme and Variation," are designed to be enjoyed both during the day and at night. The overall project is a tribute to Father Maurice McNamee, S.J. In the heart of St. Louis’ Grand Center arts district, The Sheldon continues to offer the St. Louis area a wealth of cultural resources in the tradition of its visionary founders. A non-profit organization, The Sheldon relies on public support to carry out its mission: to preserve and operate the historic Sheldon Concert Hall and Art Galleries as an independent cultural institution, to produce and present events of both local and national importance, and to provide facilities and services for a wide variety of cultural, educational, artistic and community organizations. In 2019, Steward Family Plaza, encompassing a walk way and vertical garden on the west side of The Sheldon, opens. The Sheldon presents over 350 events each year in the concert hall, art galleries, Ballroom and Konneker Room. The Sheldon is located in the Grand Center arts district of St. Louis.

Seminex is the widely used abbreviation for Concordia Seminary in Exile (later Christ Seminary-Seminex), which existed from 1974 to 1987 after a schism in the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS). The seminary in exile was formed due to the ongoing Fundamentalist–Modernist Controversy that was dividing Protestant churches in the United States. At issue were foundational disagreements on the authority of Scripture and the role of Christianity. During the 1960s, many clergy and members of the LCMS grew concerned about the direction of education at their flagship seminary, Concordia Seminary, in St. Louis, Missouri. Professors at Concordia Seminary had, in the 1950s and 1960s, begun to utilize the historical-critical method to analyze the Bible rather than the traditional historical-grammatical method that considered scripture to be the inerrant Word of God. After attempts at compromise failed, the LCMS president, Jacob Preus, moved to suspend the seminary president John Tietjen, leading to a walkout of most faculty and students, and the formation of Seminex. Seminex existed as an institution until its last graduating class of 1983 and was formally dissolved and merged with Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago in 1987. Concordia Seminary quickly rebuilt and by the late 1970s had regained its place as one of the largest Lutheran seminaries in the United States. The after effects of the controversy were vast. Before the split, the LCMS had both modernist and Evangelical wings. After Seminex, 200 modernist congregations split from the LCMS to form the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches (AELC), leaving the LCMS a more conservative body than it had been in 1969. The AELC itself would later merge with other modernist Lutheran churches to form the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

The Grand Center Arts Academy is an arts school in St. Louis, Missouri that focuses on dance, orchestra, band, visual arts, choir, and theater. Opened in 2010, the school is located in the Grand Center arts district, in the redeveloped Carter Carburetor complex at 711 North Grand. It began with the 6th and 7th grades, and graduated its first senior class in May 2016.

Third Baptist Church is a Baptist church in the United States located in St. Louis, Missouri. It is affiliated with American Baptist Churches USA, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and the Southern Baptist Convention, and supports the work of the Baptist World Alliance. Third Baptist Church was established in 1850, and moved to its current location at the corner of Grand Boulevard and Washington Avenue in 1885. Third Baptist, one of the nation's historic churches, has for 150 years avoided strict denominationalism, and relies on the Baptist distinctives of: Autonomy of the Local Church Soul Competency of the Individual Believer Biblical Authority Two Ordinances (Baptism and Lord's Table or Communion) Separation of church and state

The New Grand Central Theatre (also spelled with Theater) was a movie theatre at 705 North Grand Avenue in St. Louis, Missouri. It was designed by St. Louis architects Helfensteller, Hirsch & Watson and was built in 1913. It was built as Grand Central Theatre by the Skouras Brothers as a 1,750 theater for showing of motion pictures, unusual for the time. It cost $150,000. The theater was the host location for the first St. Louis "talkie", Al Jolson in The Jazz Singer. The theater was also the first St. Louis theater to show an all-color talking and singing musical, On with the Show, in June 1929. It was renovated and became the New Grand Central Theatre in 1921. The 2,500 seat renovated theatre had room for a 21 piece orchestra and a Wonder Kilgen organ.It was closed in 1931 and reopened in 1935 under new management. The building was demolished in 1949 and replaced by a parking lot.

Preclarus Mastery Academy is a secular, co-educational, public charter middle school home to more than 200 students ranging from grades 4 through 8. Preclarus Mastery Academy operates inside the Third Baptist Church which is located in the St. Louis neighborhood of Grand Center.

The Fox Theatre, a former movie palace, is a performing arts center located at 527 N. Grand Blvd. in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Also known as "The Fabulous Fox", it is situated in the arts district of the Grand Center area in Midtown St. Louis, one block north of Saint Louis University. It opened in 1929 and was completely restored in 1982.

The Public Media Commons is a 9,000 square foot plaza located in St. Louis, Missouri. The Commons is a collaboration between Nine Network of Public Media, the University of Missouri–St. Louis, and St. Louis Public Radio. The plaza is encapsulated on two sides by large video screen walls, two stories high. The Public Media Commons is an interactive space that utilizes technology to encourage the sharing and creating of audio/visual experiences in St.Louis.The Commons creates a new typology of public space for media programming. Perforated metal screens were designed for existing buildings to unify the space and screens to create areas for projectors. The commons accommodates performance stages for small groups and multiple seating areas for up to 700 people. The project was designed by Benjamin Gilmartin Architect and Cobalt Office with Architect of Record Powers Bowersox Associates and Landscape Architect DLANDstudio.

The Continental-Life Building, also known as the Continental Building, is an Art Deco skyscraper in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, which was completed in 1930. The building is located in Grand Center in St. Louis' Midtown neighborhood, and is visible from Interstate 64/Highway 40 and Interstate 44. Commissioned by Edmund Monroe "Ed" Mays to be the home of his two businesses, Continental-Life Insurance and the Grand National Bank, the building was designed by William B. Ittner, a prominent St. Louis architect. On September 22, 1955, the building was purchased for $2 million by then 27-year-old developers Robert A. Futterman and Jerry Tenney. When Futterman died suddenly in 1961, choking on a sandwich at a dinner party at age 33, his death propelled the building into near insolvency. In his 2003 book The Queen of Lace, The Story of the Continental Life Building, developer and author Stephen Trampe called it "the sandwich that started the decline."The tower housed businesses through the mid-1960s when its co-owners included St. Louis mayor Alfonso J. Cervantes, prominent St. Louis defense attorney Morris Shenker, and Harold Koplar of KPLR-TV. At some point in the 1970s the building fell into disrepair. After a few false starts in the late 1990s, St. Louis developers Stephen Trampe and Mike Barry took on the project, renovating the building into apartments. It reopened in 2001. Trampe later wrote a book about the building's history and rebirth.The building has a connected three-story parking garage, which is used by both residents and patrons of the nearby Fox Theatre. The top of the parking garage holds an outdoor pool for residents' use. A notable number of St. Louis landmarks are visible from the building because of its location and height. Some of these include the Gateway Arch, One Metropolitan Square (St. Louis' tallest building), the Edward Jones Dome, the City Museum, the Civil Courts Building, the Anheuser Busch brewery, portions of the Missouri Botanical Garden including the Climatron geodesic dome, the St. Louis State Hospital, the Compton Hill water tower, the campus of St. Louis University and the St. Louis Science Center. Architectural elements from the building were collected over time by the National Building Arts Center and returned to the building in the Stephen Trampe renovation. Other elements still reside at the foundation's storage site in Sauget, Illinois. According to the Ghostbusters DVD commentary, Dana's apartment building is modeled after the top of the Continental Life Building in St. Louis, MO. Dana's apartment building actually exists at 55 Central Park West in New York City. The building is actually only 20 stories high. For the film, matte paintings and models were used to make the building look bigger with more floors and modeling the top of the Continental Life Building.

Pulitzer Arts Foundation is an art museum in St. Louis, Missouri, that presents special exhibitions and public programs. Known informally as the Pulitzer, the museum is located at 3716 Washington Boulevard in the Grand Center Arts District. The building is designed by the internationally renowned Japanese architect Tadao Ando. Admission to the museum is free.

Powell Hall (formerly known as the St. Louis Theater and Powell Symphony Hall) is the home of the St. Louis Symphony. It was named after Walter S. Powell, a local St. Louis businessman, whose widow donated $1 million towards the purchase and use of this hall by the symphony. The hall seats 2,683.The building is a contributing property of the Midtown Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places. Powell Hall is part of the Grand Center Arts District, St. Louis