At 94, Grand Center's Continental Life Building Is a Timeless Beauty

If you live or work near Grand Center, or even if you've just enjoyed a night of theater at the Fabulous Fox, you've probably craned your neck to look up at the Continental Life Building — the prettiest skyscraper in the neighborhood.

You're not the only one intrigued by this Art Deco beauty. The skyscraper, completed in 1930, was the model for the building haunted by ghosts in 1984's Ghostbusters (set in New York and filmed in New York, but inspired by St. Louis!). More recently, and more to the point locally, it's been selected for a tour of the Landmarks Urbanites, the young friends group of the Landmarks Association of St. Louis. For the association's executive director, Andrew Weil, the building offers rich history to explore.

For one, Weil says, it's a "really wonderful example" of glazed terracotta. That material was used to decorate many buildings of the era in St. Louis (many of which had a local source for the clay-derived material). It was also designed by William Ittner, a world-famous architect responsible for most of the St. Louis Public Schools buildings. The few he didn't design were done by his protege, Rockwell Milligan. And, as Weil says, "Ittner Architects is a still a viable firm in St. Louis today."

As with any good building that's stood for nearly a century, the Continental Life Building also has stories to tell. It was conceived and financed during the roaring '20s, back when the St. Louis economy was on steroids. It was located on what felt destined to be a hot corridor; people thought Grand Boulevard would be the next Lindell, Weil says.

Then the stock market crashed and the country plunged into the Great Depression. Rather than becoming a high-rise haven, Grand mostly ended up being developed later, and on a much more modest scale.


But the Continental Life Building still had some good years. According to the state Department of Natural Resources, it was home to offices for Dow Chemical, Eli Lilly and even the David O. Selznick Movie Studios. It was also home to what the state says was the largest unsolved bank robbery in St. Louis history: "In May 1930, thieves entered the building, and tore off a temporary screen, which was protecting the Grand National Bank's basement vault until the permanent vault door could be installed. They made off with nearly one million dollars' worth of goods and cash."

By mid-century, the building — and much of Grand Center — had fallen on hard times. By 1974 it was empty, and it stayed that way for 25 years.

A $29 million investment, including state historic tax credits and brownfields mediation tax credits, brought the grand old building back as apartments in 2002. Rental options today include both penthouses and more modest units.

The fact that the building remains home to hundreds of people is one reason why the Landmarks Association tour, set for Saturday, February 17, quickly sold out — attendance had to be capped at 30, says the association's Katie Graebe.

But if you find this sort of thing interesting, and aren't content just to crane your neck up on the way to the Fox, Graebe says they plan to offer tours of other buildings in May. Events are first-come first-served and the chance to register goes to members first, so you're encouraged to join the organization for your best shot — and maybe even partake in their upcoming trivia fundraiser. Historic preservation, after all, doesn't come cheap.



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