The Wrecking Ball Came for Berkeley City Hall Today

But no Miley Cyrus theatrics here

Feb 12, 2024 at 1:34 pm

The wrecking ball wrecked, a bit. ZACHARY LINHARES

A wrecking ball came in like Miley Cyrus at Berkeley's City Hall today. All it wanted was to break its walls — at least, until the backhoe could take over.

The north county municipality invited journalists and other members of the public to a "demolition ceremony" at 10 a.m. this morning. Its release promised, "The demolition of the old city hall symbolizes a new chapter for Berkeley, one filled with opportunities for growth and progress."

And no, that chapter does not involve Berkeley putting itself out of business. St. Louis County's 90+ municipalities are largely hanging on, despite various efforts to merge them.

Instead, clearance of the building, located at 6140 North Hanley, is part of a project to improve Airport Road, a $5.4 million initiative that began last year and includes repaving the road from I-170 to North Florissant Road, along with new sidewalks and a bike path. The new City Hall is already up and running just three-tenths of a mile down Airport Road.

With that project, City Hall promises many good things afoot, with redevelopment initiatives including "mixed-use development, job creation, infrastructure enhancement and community engagement."

But if the ceremony was high on symbolism, it was short on drama; the ball made just a handful of swings for assembled observers. Then they stuck the wrecking ball in the back of a truck and moved in with a non-symbolic backhoe to actually do the job.

The city manager told the crowd the demolition will be finished in the coming days.

click to enlarge