Famous-Barr tunnel entrance

Chippewa at Kingshighway

St. Louis, MO

 

Sorry this is such a crappy photo, but it's kind of a cool subject. The Famous-Barr department store in south St. Louis had an overflow parking lot across Chippewa, and this little brick building housed escalators that went underground to a tunnel shoppers could use to access the store without crossing the street.

 

Everything in this photo is gone now. The store itself (not shown here, but shown here) has been demolished, and the space occupied by the parking lot, the tunnel entrance and the Amoco is now an Applebee's. You can even kind of see a Kroger store in the background that isn't there anymore either. A tall sign is visible, however, for a Shop 'n' Save supermarket that's still in business.

 

UPDATE: I just watched "The St. Louis Bank Robbery" (with Steve McQueen), and this building is visible (as is the Famous-Barr itself) in the license-plate-stealing scene. The camera also catches a glimpse of my old apartment at Kingshighway and Chippewa.

Done