Globe Building, St. Louis
Built in 1932 as the headquarters of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat newspaper, the Globe Building on North Tucker Boulevard is a distinctive Art Deco and industrial modernist landmark, its brick-and-limestone facade reflecting the robust architectural ambitions of Depression-era print media.
At a glance
The Globe Building stands at 710 North Tucker Boulevard in St. Louis, Missouri. Completed in 1932 for the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, one of the Midwest’s leading daily newspapers, the seven-story structure combines Art Deco decorative elements with the functional requirements of a newspaper printing and publishing plant. Known also as the Midwest Terminal Building and, later, the Illinois Terminal System Building, it has been adapted over the decades and now serves as an office and data center complex.
Key facts
- Built: 1931–1932
- Style: Art Deco; industrial Modern
- Original use: Newspaper headquarters and printing plant (St. Louis Globe-Democrat)
- Former names: Globe-Democrat Building; Midwest Terminal Building; Illinois Terminal System Building
- Height: 166 feet; 7 floors
- Address: 710 N. Tucker Blvd., St. Louis, Missouri
- GPS: 38.63260, −90.19570
History
The St. Louis Globe-Democrat was founded in 1852 and by the early twentieth century had become one of the most influential morning newspapers in the Midwest. In 1931 the paper commissioned a purpose-built headquarters on North Tucker Boulevard, combining editorial offices with the printing presses and support infrastructure required for a major daily publication. The building was completed in 1932, and the Globe-Democrat continued to operate from the site for decades.
Like many mid-century newspaper headquarters, the building outlasted its original occupant: the Globe-Democrat ceased publication in 1986, and the building subsequently passed through several ownership and use configurations, including service as the Midwest Terminal Building for rail and passenger terminal operations and later as a data center. The industrial robustness that made it suitable for newspaper production — heavy floors for press machinery, large floor plates, and masonry construction — made it equally adaptable to the mechanical and electrical demands of data infrastructure.
What you see
The facade combines the two strands that shaped American industrial architecture of the early 1930s: Art Deco’s insistence on ornamental modernity and the functional directness of industrial Modernism. The lower floors are clad in brick with limestone applied masonry accents at the entrance, the window surrounds, and the cornice — a material palette that signals institutional permanence without abandoning the practical vocabulary of industrial construction.
The entrance bay is the building’s most elaborated element, with Art Deco geometric ornament framing the main portal in a way that separates the public face of the institution from the purely utilitarian volume behind. The overall effect is of a building that takes its civic responsibilities seriously — a newspaper headquarters projecting authority and credibility to the street — while refusing to disguise its industrial program behind a false curtain of historicist decoration.
Practical information
- The building currently operates as an office and data center; the exterior is freely viewable from North Tucker Boulevard.
- North Tucker Boulevard runs through St. Louis’s downtown civic corridor; the Gateway Arch National Park is approximately 10 minutes south on foot.
Getting there
The Globe Building stands at 710 North Tucker Boulevard in downtown St. Louis, accessible from Interstate 70 (Arch/Stadium exits). Lambert-St. Louis International Airport (STL) is approximately 14 miles northwest. The MetroLink light rail system connects the airport to downtown, with Union Station and Convention Center stations nearby.
Nearby
- Gateway Arch National Park — Eero Saarinen’s 630-foot stainless steel arch on the Mississippi riverfront
- Old Courthouse — antebellum Greek Revival building where Dred Scott cases were tried
- Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis — early twentieth-century Romanesque building with the world’s largest mosaic collection
- Union Station — 1894 Romanesque Revival train shed, now a hotel and entertainment complex
Sources
- Wikipedia: “Globe Building (St. Louis)”
- St. Louis Globe-Democrat historical archive
- Wikimedia Commons: Globe-Democrat_building_-_2012.JPG, CC BY-SA 3.0
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