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ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Mississippi River Museum is set to receive a $25,000 grant from the city to boost operations. But it’s not clear there are any operations to boost.

The museum’s website advertises a facility, historical exhibits and a passion for illustrating the history of the Mississippi River and the people who have lived on its banks. But its address leads to a brick four-family structure in a neighborhood just north of the Central West End. No one answers the door, even during advertised business hours. And the building itself is surrounded by weeds and overgrowth.

“I’ve never heard anything about that place being a museum,� said Ray Sims, a longtime neighbor of the building. “How do I get the money?�

After years of preparation, St. Louis leaders are working to send well over $30 million in federal pandemic relief money to more than 300 businesses and nonprofits in an effort to begin reversing years of disinvestment and neglect on the city’s north side.

It’s a big deal: The money involved is almost as much as the city budgeted for the Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department last year. Politicians have spent years arguing over how best to distribute the cash. And when it started to go out the door this summer, Mayor Tishaura O. Jones, up for reelection this spring, talked about the grants restoring vibrancy to long-struggling corridors and making them places where businesses thrive — one of her chief priorities as mayor.

But when the Post-Dispatch visited more than a dozen entities listed as grant-winners, several appeared to be much less than the burgeoning north St. Louis businesses they were supposed to be.

Some had boards over their doors and windows. Others hadn’t paid their property taxes or properly registered with the state. One had its office in Shrewsbury. Several had big ideas, and nowhere near enough money to accomplish them.

And some refused to answer questions about their businesses.

To be sure, a significant portion of the grants are headed toward intact, active organizations. Big winners include the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis. Smaller winners include Collier Brothers Auto Body, one of the oldest Black-owned enterprises in the city, and Annie Malone Children and Family Services, which boasts roots in north St. Louis dating back to 1889.

The St. Louis Development Corporation, the city’s economic development arm, did not make anyone available to be interviewed for this story and declined to release applications for the program, which could have shed light on the businesses’ plans. It responded to questions about several businesses late Wednesday.

SLDC chief Neal Richardson has publicly said that staff thoroughly reviewed the more than 700 applications, and made tough decisions in picking winners.

Moreover, he said, while SLDC announced the grant winners in June, it’s still verifying information in many applications, and won’t actually send the money until that’s done.

Jared Boyd, the mayor’s chief of staff, said the same thing. “If any awardee is found not in compliance or unable to complete the project outlined in their application, they won’t be receiving these funds,� he said in a statement.

But criticism is building.

“The whole process is a mess,� said Alderwoman Pam Boyd, who represents a large swath of the North Side. “I want an audit.�

A big opportunity

Talk of the North Side grant program began in the summer of 2021, shortly after the city learned about a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to rebuild after decades of losing businesses and people. The $1.9 trillion federal pandemic relief bill, championed by new President Joe Biden, would send $500 million to St. Louis — an amount equal to nearly half of the city’s annual budget.

Then-Aldermanic President Lewis Reed, who called the money a potential “game-changer,� proposed putting more than $30 million into building up four of north St. Louis’ main thoroughfares.

Over time, the program was opened to virtually all of north St. Louis. The final bill tasked SLDC, whose chief the mayor selects, with awarding the grants.

But those choices have come under scrutiny recently. The announcement of grant winners revealed, for instance, nearly $1.3 million set to go to organizations with ties to the family of Alderwoman Shameem Clark Hubbard, who sponsored the grants bill and sits on the board of SLDC.

Now critics are worried there might be more problems.

“I’ve had concerns about this process from the beginning,� said Alderwoman Cara Spencer, who is running for mayor against Jones this spring, and sits on the SLDC board. “This is extremely troubling.�

There are four main types of grants in the program. “Community enhancement� grants bring big money, upwards of $1 million, and are intended to spur building rehabs or new construction that will improve the surrounding area.

Façade grants bring up to $100,000, and are intended for small organizations that fill a gap in needed services.

Expansion grants, which have been as big as $125,000, are intended for existing businesses maintaining or expanding their work.

Stabilization grants top out at $15,000, and are supposed to help existing businesses maintain existing operations. Unlike the other grants, stabilization grants are not competitive, and are being given out first-come, first-serve. Many have already been paid.

A South Side address

One business, When You Require Computer Services, is in line for a $50,000 expansion grant. But it lists a South Side address — a well-kept, two-story brick home in Marine Villa belonging to the company’s owner, Micah Wangia.

A pickup truck bearing the company’s name and website was parked on the street on a recent day.

That website advertised a different address for the IT company — a squat, one-story building off Big Bend Boulevard in Shrewsbury. There, the company’s logo could also be found on a sign outside. Another company vehicle was parked in the back.

Wangia, interviewed at the Shrewsbury office Monday morning, said he has a third location in north St. Louis, on Minerva Avenue near the Wellston border, where he said he stores things.

But he wouldn’t say what he planned to do with the $50,000 expansion grant.

Alderwoman Boyd, whose ward covers the area near the Wellston border, was baffled.

“That’s not making any sense to me,� she said. “He doesn’t have a business in north St. Louis. He has a storage unit in north St. Louis.�

Empty buildings, big plans

Lester McKinley is line to get a $25,000 expansion grant. He listed the name of his business as 4437 & 39 Martin Luther King Drive Professional Building LLC.

But 4439 Martin Luther King Drive is not a professional building.

The two-story brick structure, in the Ville neighborhood, is empty. Boards cover old front doors and windows. The brick walls are cracked, and, in places, crumbling. In the back, several windows are uncovered, revealing slices of a weathered interior. Trash has been dumped in the overgrown grass.

There’s some scaffolding on the back wall, and a pile of brick and old wood on a tarp. A mechanic at the body shop across the street said he saw someone working on the building last year.

But he said he hadn’t seen anything since. City records show no building permits have been issued in a decade. And it wasn’t clear that $25,000 would be enough to put it back into use.

Property taxes haven’t been paid in five years.

McKinley could not be reached for comment.

Team Academy, in line for a $50,000 expansion grant, purports to be a school.

But its address is a weathered, one-room building just north of Fairground Park, with a “PRIVATE PROPERTY KEEP OUT� sign in the window. Pink paint is peeling off the brick. The only sign of recent activity is a U.S. Rep. Cori Bush sign, defaced with profanity, over the window.

Last year’s property taxes — $580 — are unpaid. And key state schooling paperwork needed renewal.

The building belongs to Carla “Coffee� Wright, a longtime activist and former candidate for U.S. Senate and the St. Louis Board of Aldermen.

She insisted the academy is a serious endeavor. She said she was working on the tax and registration issues.

She said she meets and teaches struggling people, like those trying to get out of gangs or those recently released from prison, at McDonald’s or her home.

“It is a real school,� she said. “We teach life skills.�

She conceded the building doesn’t look like much. But she said she had big plans: She asked the city for $1.7 million to add another room and bathroom to her building, hire paid instructors, and open the place to the public.

“I want to make it nice,� she said.

She acknowledged it’s a long shot now. But she said she had to try.

“Maybe you can ask them to give me more,� she said.

‘Discrepancies in viability assessments’

Finus Smith, owner of La Rose Room, a bar in the Jeff-Vander-Lou neighborhood, is trying to revive his establishment after a three-year hiatus.

He said it shut down during the pandemic, endured three separate flooding incidents, and saw cars drive through a front window twice. Stacked furniture, construction supplies and detritus litter the ground inside the dark main room, where musicians once performed.

Smith said he applied for $360,000 to put the place back together. The building needs new windows and tuckpointing all over in addition to the internal rehab. But he’s only in line for $25,000.

“$25,000,� he said, “isn’t enough to tuckpoint one end of the building.�

He said he would be all right, though. A retired engineer, he has some money of his own, said he’d muddle through and maybe reopen a portion while he works on the rest. But when the work is finished, he said, so is he.

“The city is terrible,� he said. “I’m ready to sell out anyway.�

SLDC’s reply to questions from the Post-Dispatch came late Wednesday.

One of the applicants, Restore Saint Louis, with an address in a vacant building on Martin Luther King, isn’t getting the $15,000 initially promised. Staff found the project to be unviable.

Four others, La Rose Room, the Professional Building, Team Academy and the Mississippi museum, would be reviewed “regarding discrepancies in the viability assessment reports,� SLDC said.

And the award to When You Require Computer Services is pending its own viability assessment.

On Thursday, the SLDC board gave initially approval to another round, this time of 159 grants of $12,500 each.

Those grants, dubbed Supplemental Support grants, are intended for applicants who lost out on the other grants for reasons including low scores on initial reviews.

Richardson, the SLDC CEO, said the grants would compensate people that have dedicated a lot of time to applying for money and may have diverted time from their businesses.

“I think,� he said, “it will help us continue to build that trust.�