Historical December 1984 report or notice. Original dates, prices and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
A $3 million restoration of the historically significant Donaldson Court Apartments in University City has been announced by Dean Burns, president of Westminster Development Company, developer of the project.
The Donaldson Court Apartments, built in 1922, are located at Delmar and Westgate in the University City Loop Neighborhood. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the project is scheduled for completion next spring. Donaldson Court is the third major restoration project undertaken in the Loop neighborhood this year.
The recently completed Lewis Center at Delmar and Kingsland was transformed from a school building into 45 market-rate apartments and the School of Fine Arts for Washington University.
The former Greek Orthodox Church at Delmar and Trinity is being renovated into professional office space.
The Donaldson Court Apartments used a unique system of reinforced concrete construction invented and patented in 1919 by Charles W. Donaldson, the original owner of the property. Donaldson’s design was the first patented fire-coded system and the forerunner of typical construction processes currently used in high-rise construction. Also of architectural interest is the cast concrete detailing on the stucco facades used on all four buildings. Exterior restoration will focus on the complex’s unique poured concrete facades, many of which are cracked and defaced. Ornamental detail, intrinsic to the Revival design, will be retained and where missing, fabricated to duplicate the original. Additional restoration includes restoring leaded glass entryway doors, preserving the original window treatments, . and cleaning and painting. Preliminary approval has been granted by the Missouri Preservation Office and the U.S. Department of Interior for the addition of a driveway and wrought-iron fence enclosing the original courtyard of the historic buildings.
The three Donaldson Court Apartment buildings forming a courtyard on Westgate will be gutted and transformed into 17 two-bedroom and 16 one-bedroom apartments.
A fourth building fronting Delmar will be renovated into 12 threebedroom townhouses on the upper floors and 9,400 square feet of commercial/retail space at the street level to house specialty shops. Renovation of the apartments includes an enlarged kitchen with refrigerator, electric range, dishwasher, and disposal.
Each apartment will include individually controlled heating and air conditioning units. Convenient off-street parking will be available for residents and guests. Projects completed by the Westminster Company, an eight-year-old development firm, include the Water Tower redevelopment in Hyde Park, the Ville redevelopment area, the Crittenden Apartments in the Tower Grove East Neighborhood, as well as smaller projects in the Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood.
Original photograph caption
Rendering accompanying the Donaldson Court restoration report. The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, December 1984, page 2. Artist not credited.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, December 1984.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1984_12.pdf, printed page(s) 2; PDF page(s) 2.
