A Community Vision for a Restorative Future
A 30 Acre Opportunity
The Medium Security Institution — also known as MSI and commonly referred to as the Workhouse — is located at 7600 Hall Street in the North Riverfront area. The Workhouse was a municipal jail facility. Following significant community advocacy, the Workhouse was emptied and has been empty since June of 2022. This site and its future hold significance for many, including those who themselves or their loved ones were previously incarcerated there, and other St. Louis residents who see potential for its use in building up community benefit.
Collective Visioning Process
In 2023, the City of St. Louis invested time and funding into an engagement process to learn from community about desired and appropriate post-incarceration uses for the former jail and the land surrounding it. Nearly 2,500 St. Louis residents engaged in two rounds of participation. In addition, a project Stakeholder Steering Committee was formed of individuals directly impacted by the site through incarceration, work, advocacy, or residing nearby.
This vision, created by community stakeholders, with knowledge and insights of nearly 2,500 St. Louis residents, desires direct benefit for people most impacted by the Workhouse site through services, opportunities, and resources as a way to tangibly move into a post-carceral future that honors and remembers its past.
This is a summary of the documentation of a community vision and conversation for what these buildings and land could be used for and should not be used for.
Community Vision
What We Heard
Engagement and Visioning Process
Feasibility Considerations
Process Recommendations
Existing Conditions
Inspiration Projects
As the future of the site is considered, its legacy should be addressed. This moment is an opportunity for the closure of the Workhouse to leave a legacy that creates stability by addressing underlying causes of crime and incarceration.
Throughout the visioning process, many suggestions were made for desired services that support people vulnerable to or affected by incarceration. Many residents viewed the closure of MSI as an opportunity to refocus on positive community investment. However, site isolation and industrial surroundings make the site challenging for uses that most strongly support community stability, which are most effective when embedded in neighborhoods where people are and with strong public transportation access.
Because the site is not well suited for getting these resources and services to our communities, the vision begins with providing resources towards community stability off-site instead.
Resource Community Stability
OFF-SITE where People & Neighborhoods are…
Memorial Resource Hub
WORKHOUSE SITE where Logistics & Other Industries are…
STEP 1: Participatory Demolition
STEP 2: Memory Marker
STEP 3: Transform With New Uses
Shelter Animals & Unhoused Owners and/or Solar and/or Prairie and/or Industry
"I am especially excited for the community-driven process that is already underway to reimagine new uses for the space currently occupied by the Workhouse"
Mayor Tishaura Jones