Once a neighborhood vibrant with the pulse of family life and community, the land that once housed the Carrollton neighborhood in Bridgeton, next to St. Louis Lambert International Airport, now stands vacant, a ghostly hollow of its former self, seeking new life through redevelopment proposals solicited by the airport authorities.
Residents like Mary Kendall, who was raised in Carrollton, still feel the pang of witnessing the place they called home turned into a desolate scene, with overgrown grass and trees taking hold where streets and houses once stood, Mary Kendall, one of the original residents, shared a deep connection to the land and expressed concern for potential risks due to contamination from radioactive waste, in a statement obtained by KSDK, she noted, "We're over a thousand people who have gotten cancer or died of cancer. That's too many."
Gregory Cross echoed the sentiments of former residents in an interview with First Alert 4, reflecting on the eerie emptiness that has since replaced the community where he grew up, "It’s sad and a little bit creepy to drive through these streets where I used to ride my bike, the park where we used to hang out and play hockey."
Despite the buyouts and demolition of homes in the '80s, '90s, and early 2000s for a runway expansion and as a noise buffer, the airport is now moving forward, seeking developers interested in transforming the 315-acre tract of land for commercial or industrial use, effectively utilizing its strategic location near both a major airport and rail line and inviting business ventures that promise to inject vitality into the area, according to an article published by STLToday, "Federal aviation regulations prohibit the land from being used for residences. But airport officials say they are allowed to negotiate a long-term lease with developers for projects like warehousing, cargo handling, manufacturing or a “limited aeronautical use” supporting airport operations."
The narratives of these former residents, the memories etched into the pavements that no longer exist, now exist in sharp contrast to the airport's vision for redevelopment, with an urgency for financial self-sufficiency propelling the pursuit of potential development, as the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 now provides increased latitude for such projects—the airport anticipates proposals that will not only generate revenue but also contribute to the local tax base and create jobs, seeking to metamorphose the site into a bastion for economic growth and community benefit, the proposal deadline is set for the end of January.
