City to Buy Dick Weber Lanes for New Courthouse;

Move

The old Dick Weber Lanes on Washington will become the new city court for Florissant
The old Dick Weber Lanes on Washington will become the new city court for Florissant

Move Aimed to Alleviate Crowding

                     By Jeremy Thomas

The old Dick Webber Bowling alley at 4575 Washington St. has been an intriguing potential business building since it closed its doors in late 2014. The Florissant City Council passed a bill at their meeting last Monday that will allow a new court house to occupy the vacant building.

The bill authorizes the advancement of $1,170,000 from the city’s General Fund to the court building fund to provide for the purchase of the building and related costs. An agreement was also passed authorizing the Mayor to enter into a purchase and sale agreement, for the purchase of the property at 4575 Washington Street for the use of a new court facility.

“The new court house will provide ample space to conduct business; it will provide residents and employees alike the ability to have resourceful information closely available to them. It will make for what I believe will be a great location for a court house facility” Mayor Tom Schneider said. He expects the facility to be open before the end of the year.

City court is now being held at the JFK Center after years held in the city council chambers at city hall. When court was held in the council chambers, it was often so crowded that people had to line up outside on the sidewalk.

Holding court at the JFK Center has interfered with some programs offered by the parks department. To help with this problem until the new court is ready, the city has reached an agreement with the Ferguson-Florissant School District to hold court at Cross Keys Middle School while school in out for summer in June and July.

Two other bills were passed during the meeting, including one that sets new regulations for the sale and possession of vapor products. There are a few e-cigarette and flavor vapor product stores in the city. The bill restricts sales of vapor products to people over 18 years of age.

The other bill dealt with authorizing Dinner Lab STL to operate their catering business for the property located at 472 Howdershell Road. Dinner Lab STL made a presentation at the last council meeting and described the concept as a social dining experience. A representative said Dinner Lab STL planned food preparation 24 hours a day, seven days a week to cater to different events around the town and the metro area.

A postponed bill from Feb. 9 regarding the rezoning of a CVS was again postponed due to a delay in the development process. This was the fourth straight meeting in which this bill was postponed.

A request was also approved for a transfer from Kaslik Restaurant Inc. to Tropical Grill, for the location and operation of a carry-out restaurant at 8141 North Lindbergh. Kaslik Restaurant has moved south to 7847 North Lindbergh.

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