Octagonal buildings and structures are characterized by an octagonal plan form, whether a perfect geometric octagon or a regular eight-sided polygon with approximately equal sides. Octagon-shaped buildings date from at least 300 B.C. when the Tower of the Winds in Athens, Greece, was constructed. Octagonal houses were popularized in the United States in the mid-19th century. There aren’t many in Missouri…and just a few in St. Louis. In Glendale, there’s an octagon house designed and built in 1886 by Demetrius Jannopoulo, president of the Missouri Tent and Awning Company.
There is one in St. Charles. Located at 2757 Plaza Way in the Regency Plaza, it was originally built in 1989 as a veterinarian practice called Veticare. The original architect was D.L. Lurtz, with Harold Crane as engineer. The Octagon design made it possible for several exam rooms to be accessible from its own outside door so people could drop off their sick pets right to the exam room.
The building stood vacant the last several years but Greater Missouri Builders, along with architect Ron Powell, are renovating it to house both small businesses and non-profit organizations that are looking for a unique and diverse space.
“When I looked up and saw this ceiling, I just knew I had to have this building…because it’s so unique and special,” says Ron.
He said he could envision using it as part of a non-profit he would develop called The Octagon Building, which would serve as an umbrella for several charitable endeavors.
Having recently designed a 3-story octagon house in Columbia, MO., Ron is very passionate about this particular building because of his vision for it, which includes it serving as an art gallery, meeting & event space, offices and fundraising center.
“A lot of non-profits have a hard time finding meeting and event space, so he'd like to have this available for things like Rotary luncheons and fundraising events,” says Rotary member Sally Faith. "The Rotary has toured the building. I'm going to help with the project as much as I can," she added.
He also foresees having such things as art therapy classes, recovery meetings, services for veterans – especially those with PTSD…just a variety of things that serve the community.
“I’m involved with St. Charles Neighborhood Preservation Partnership, which builds handicapped ramps for homes. It was started about 10 years ago by St. Charles City employees. We’re wanting to expand to include a ‘handyman service’ for people who need help with home repairs,” explains Ron. “We’ll even do hands-on training here for that.”
And since 2013, he says he’s been wanting to get more involved with disabled veterans and this building will help me with that. “I’m a facilitator for SMART Recovery. We can have our meetings in the Octagon room, which will seat about sixteen people.”
He has space planned for an art gallery in the building. It will be dedicated to Nadine Boone (in memoriam), and will feature her favorite art, along with her husband Leonard Frasier’s artwork and that of other local artists.
He’s even wanting to utilize the property adjacent to the building as a park and as an event space for non-profit fundraisers.
“The commercial leasing of office space and building memberships will help support the social service aspect of the building that we have planned” says Ron.
It’s a uniquely-designed building that will serve the community in a variety of ways, thanks to the vision and hard work of people like Ron Powell. It will be exciting to watch its transformation and know that it’s going to serve the community well.