A best kept secret in East St. Louis, Illinois is that the population is 94% Black, but the morning commute makes the racial demographic closer to 50% white.
Commuters from Belleville, Fairview Heights, Shiloh and other Metro East communities take the popular shortcut across the 26th Street and Missouri Avenue Bridge, down Bond Avenue and then west across the Poplar Street Bridge to St. Louis.
At least that’s the way it was until April 21, 2024. A truck hit the East St. Louis bridge, causing the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) to close it indefinitely, citing “significant damage to multiple truss members”.
You don’t need to be a civil engineer to understand that this created a serious problem. IDOT estimates that based on the time the delivery of replacement trusses may take, the bridge might not reopen until fall.
A comprehensive strategy, including affordable housing projects, economic development and infrastructure programs should have been addressed with the $36 million in pandemic relief funds received by the city.
This creates several nightmare scenarios; chaotic morning travel for those relying on the ESL bridge to shorten their work commute and disruption of access for police, fire and EMS services to emergencies in the south end of the city.
Senior citizens and children who live outside of ESL are also at increased peril.
John McIntosh, New York Cleaners owner, describes calls the closing “a major inconvenience to his customers and employees.” He fears that months of disruption will result in customers finding more convenient alternatives with competitors.
Meanwhile, across town, the new Lansdowne Park 20-home subdivision consisting of $360,000 three-bedroom frame homes, is being touted by city officials, dignitaries and the nonprofit Lansdown Up, as a source of optimism for attracting middle to upper income residents back to their hometown.
This upscale subdivision is a brainchild of river barge magnate Mark Mestemacher, who helped finance construction. He also worked with East St. Louis officials to provide an incentive for young professionals and others to populate these properties, which are walking distance to the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Center and Metrolink station.
Those incentives include a promise of a future State Police headquarters in close proximity and TIF funding to provide a 20-year, 75% tax abatement for homeowners. The idea here being that, once the TIF expires, the population of ESL would have increased, causing existing and excessive tax rates to decrease.
NAACP ESL president Robin Carey-Boyd addressed the elephant in the room during a recent open house event, asking how residents whose average income is in the $28,000 range can afford $360,000 homes.
Kevin Green of Lansdowne Up’s responded that “The average person is not going to be a resident.” This begs the question: Who will buy the homes?
Mayor Charles Powell III and state Sen. Christopher Belt punctuated their remarks on the project with words like “optimism” and “synergy.”
Mestemacher announced that he and his wife will, purportedly, leave the comforts of Collinsville and move into one of the new homes. It all sounds good and kumbaya-like. And kudos to Mestemacher for his philanthropic efforts.
However, ESL is reeling because of a mere bridge closing, has escalating crime, crumbling infrastructure, usurious insurance rates and a brain drain. These pose a daunting challenge to the optimism and logic of the average citizen.
The reality is that most of the muckety-mucks applauding at the open house, do not and will not live in East St. Louis. Period.
That speaks volumes for the potential for such an endeavor to succeed.
I’m a cynic on this project and I hope that I’m wrong. But it seems intuitive that the State police HQ should have been constructed first – and not promised.
A comprehensive strategy, including affordable housing projects, economic development and infrastructure programs should have been addressed with the $36 million in pandemic relief funds received by the city.
But, what do I know? I’m just a guy who writes columns.James Ingram, an East St. Louis resident, has written commentaries for the St. Louis American for more than 20 years. Email: jtingram_1960@yahoo.com X@JamesTIngram
The outlook seems strained. I hope progress prevails! Congratulations on your retirement of your superior writings for the St. Louis American newspaper. Here’s a thumb up to your next endeavor.
As an East St. Louisian who recently visited the city, I was impressed to see the progress of new homes being built in areas where dilapidated homes were finally removed. But I always have wondered how areas around East St. Louis seemed to grow and expand into viable business and suburban communities while East St. Louis seems to be left in the dust when it comes to infrastructure that would make it possible for people to work, dine, and shop in their own city?!