51黑料

鈥淲e are actively working,鈥� Sen. , D-University City, told the Post-Dispatch on Tuesday.

鈥淥ur goal right now is to really work through the influx of federal dollars that have come in to ensure that they鈥檙e going to parts of the region that need it, and one of them is north 51黑料 County,鈥� he said.

He said funds from the American Rescue Plan Act, approved by Democrats in Congress last March, could play a role in the demolition.

鈥淲e want to do everything we can to get some of those ARPA dollars there,鈥� Williams said. 鈥淲e are looking to get funding to assist the local 51黑料 County Councilperson Shalonda Webb to get that building demolished.鈥�

Webb has introduced a plan to spend $6 million on the demolition of Jamestown Mall, the Post-Dispatch reported on Monday.

Webb said because of restrictions on how ARPA money may be spent, she was eyeing a 鈥渞evenue replacement鈥� maneuver at the county level to place federal dollars in the budget and use freed up revenues for the demolition.

鈥淲e鈥檙e hoping to get some dollars at the state level and hopefully get a commitment from 51黑料 County to do a match,鈥� Williams said.

He said the total cost of demolition would be about $10 million, and that he would be open to 鈥渨hatever we can get鈥� from the state.

鈥淭hat community deserves it and we want to make sure that north 51黑料 County is getting as much resources鈥� as possible, Williams said.

The House last week approved a $46 billion budget blueprint for the fiscal year that begins July 1. The Senate is expected to begin work on the plan next week.

County Executive Sam Page spokesman Doug Moore said Monday demolition of the mall is a priority but that the funding may have to come from other sources. That could include state-matched grants or federal funding to the county from the recent $1 trillion federal infrastructure law, he said.

鈥淲e agree that Jamestown Mall needs to be demolished and we support ways we can leverage federal funds to make that happen,鈥� Moore said. 鈥淲e want to work with the council to get that building down and make sure we have the right funding source to do it.鈥�

Officials have struggled to redevelop the 145-acre site since the mall closed in 2014.

Williams said future plans for the site are 鈥渇urther down the road鈥� and would 鈥渞equire community input.鈥�

Nassim Benchaabane of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report. Originally posted at 1:50 p.m. Tuesday, April 12.