St. Louis is asking residents for input on what the city should do with the empty Workhouse, the former medium security institution in north St. Louis.
A committee of organizers, experts, organizations, formerly incarcerated people and others have helped narrow down ideas from the community after a survey earlier this summer.
Some of the nearly 700 respondents suggested prairie lands, a motor sports or go-kart facility, a memorial, museum or animal shelter. Some envisioned the space as a renewable energy facility. Others suggested the property to be returned to Native tribes or left empty. Committee members are considering that input, but say they need help narrowing down the options.
“We're giving people a voice, so they can feel important, so they could want to better themselves,” said Diedre Wortham, a member of the steering committee who served time in the Workhouse. “They need that money from the Workhouse to put into our communities so that we can be more productive.”
Wortham was locked up for 22 days in the Workhouse a few years ago. She was taken to jail for a traffic ticket that she received in the early 2000s. She said being in jail upended her family and caused her special needs children to suffer in her absence.
People need to see something positive come out of the Workhouse, such as a facility that could provide resources to those in long-ignored communities, Wortham said.
The Workhouse is located in the North Riverfront area and sits on 23 acres of land. It has been unoccupied by detainees since June 2022.
Through the survey, the committee is exploring more options for the Workhouse and the surrounding area. The site sits away from residential neighborhoods, and city officials say its ground could be polluted because it's in an industrial area. So, committee members are no longer considering using the land for art or performance venues, a recyclable space, technology infrastructure, public works or parks.
The city also does not plan to use the land for a community center, housing, job training, health food centers, social service hub, health care and mental health services or legal services.
Mayor Tishaura Jones will have the final say on the recommendation. Jones said in a statement that the use of the Workhouse should be forward-thinking and that she is looking forward to hearing from the community about how to re-envision a place known for incarceration.
Many want programs and institutions in the city to help people stay out of trouble, said Melisa Sanders, an architect who serves on the committee.
“We're also hearing a lot from people about things that should be funded and resources that need to be created to help people prevent them from ever being incarcerated or help them as they're going through the process of being incarcerated or afterwards, and some of those things aren't appropriate for on site,” she said.
In the second survey, the committee is looking at what should be championed and initiated from profits from the site.
Some formerly incarcerated people want whatever the city does with the site to directly benefit people who were jailed in the Workhouse. Inez Bordeaux spent time in the Workhouse in 2016 for violating her probation. During the 30 days she was locked up, she witnessed a rodent and insect infestation, mold on the ceilings, showers not working and insects in food.
Bordeaux said that the jail brings back horrible memories and that she wants it to be torn down and the money from its demolition placed in a trust for marginalized people to determine how to use the profits.
“It could be something like a resource hub where we have one building where you can go to get help with housing, with child care or with rental assistance with helping to fill out the application for Medicaid,” Bordeaux, who is also on the steering committee, said. “A one-stop shop, where someone who is in need can go and get access to everything.”
