[August 03, 2011] The end may be near for Del Taco building Tweet Jun 30, 2011 (St. Louis Post-Dispatch - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Adios, Del Taco? Possible demolition of the restaurant with a saucer-shaped roof beloved by some preservationists became more likely Wednesday when a St. Louis aldermanic committee approved tax abatement to redevelop the site. Developer Rick Yackey, the building's owner, told committee members that Del Taco is about to go out of business at the site. He said he would consider rehabbing the building for a suitable tenant but added that none is in sight. Yackey said the structure, built in the late 1960s at South Grand Boulevard and Forest Park Avenue as a gas station, is poorly configured as a restaurant. He wants to replace Del Taco with a larger building for several tenants set back from the street to provide more parking. "I want to make something that is pedestrian friendly," he told the committee. "This building was built as a filling station. Del Taco has failed there and is going out of business." Yackey said "national-type retailers whose names you would recognize" are interested in occupying a new building at the site, which is near St. Louis University. Alderwoman Marlene Davis, the bill's sponsor, said approval of tax abatement for the site does not mean demolition of the Del Taco building is certain. She said a demolition request would have be reviewed by the city's Cultural Resources Office and approved by the Preservation Board. But the tax abatement bill for the site specifies that demolition of the existing building "is necessary and desirable to allow for redevelopment." The full Board of Aldermen was scheduled to consider the bill this week. Final approval could occur before the board's summer recess begins July 8. Before the vote Wednesday by the Housing, Urban Design and Zoning Committee, nearly a dozen people spoke in favor of preserving the unusually shaped building. Lindsey Derrington, an architectural historian, told aldermen the Del Taco structure is among the city's few remaining mid-century modern buildings and is on the National Register of Historic Places. She said Yackey's proposed larger building would be nothing more than a typical strip center. Jeff Vines, who operates a small business on Cherokee Street, said the Del Taco structure is a key gateway to the Grand Center entertainment district. "Whenever I have visitors from out of town we inevitably pass by this building," he said. "They all say: "Wow, that's cool. That's trippy." After the vote, a resident of the Tower Grove East neighborhood recalled riding past the building as a child and gazing fondly at the saucer-shaped roof from the back seat of her parent's Rambler. Patti Chambers, 47, said she hopes Yackey drops his idea of replacement structure. "Nobody driving down a road, either visiting a city or visiting a part of the city they've never been in before says: 'Oh, how interesting, a strip mall. Let's pull over and go inside,'" Chambers said. To see more of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.stltoday.com. Copyright (c) 2011, St. Louis Post-Dispatch Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]