A special meeting was held Sept. 23 by the Crestwood Board of Aldermen to discuss the dilapidated community center and the prospect of building a new one. The current community center, at 9245 Whitecliff Park Lane, is in its 43rd year of service “and it shows,” according to City Administrator Kris Simpson. “And it shows”.
The city of Crestwood is taking bids to see what it could cost to move a 200-year-old historic log cabin from Affton to the Historic Sappington House in Crestwood, doubling the number of Sappington houses at the site.
The nonprofit Sappington Foundation has raised nearly $100,000 to move the house, but no one really knows what it could cost since a similar log cabin move has not been done that often.
In March, aldermen approved a nonbinding letter of intent 5-0 to move the cabin after new owner Jim Freund offered to donate it if the city covered relocation. John Sappington was a cousin of Thomas Sappington, whose 1808 brick home is the centerpiece of Sappington House Museum.Freund has given the city until Aug. 1 to move the cabin or has threatened to sell it to a buyer outside St. Louis County.
A 200-year-old cabin is one step closer to possibly making the move to Crestwood after the Board of Aldermen approved an ordinance last week for an engineering firm to study what it would require to transport the cabin from Affton.
The 1816 cabin once owned by Joseph Sappington at 10734 Clearwater Drive is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Aldermen voted 6-2 April 20 to contract with consultant Case Engineering to review what would be involved in transporting and moving the house.
The study does not commit the city to actually moving the cabin to the Historic Sappington House Museum, 105 S. Sappington Road. The nonprofit Sappington House Foundation will cover the consultant fees which are not to exceed $26,000 using private donations the foundation has deposited with the city.