Veterans, County Police Vying for Land at Sylvan Springs

After nearly two years of quiet talk and negotiations, St. Louis County is seeking public input on the possibility of a new police station on Sylvan Springs County Park land.

If progress continues, the new police station would be located at the intersection of Sheridan and Boundary Roads on the unused gravel commuter lot.

“We need a regular police station,” said Fourth Precinct Capt. Marion Monteleone. “The (current) building is falling apart. There’s inadequate parking and prisoner holding and everyone cannot work out of this building. Resources are spread out, cars are spread out, it’s not a good system.”

The building used to be an insurance office before being converted and used as a police station for the last 11 years.

The county rents the main precinct headquarters at 3031 Telegraph as well as two substations on Lemay Ferry and Telegraph Roads. With three buildings, the county pays about $110,000 a year in rent, Monteleone said.

“If we consolidated, we could have regular roll calls and operations like we used to,” he said. “We hold 2-3 meetings a day and don’t have a place to go.”

St. Louis County Parks owns the land and would designate 2-3 acres for the proposed 5,000 square-foot facility. Monteleone said a site study estimated the building to cost between $1.5 and $2 million dollars and would include a public meeting room, locker room, more parking and a place where a helicopter could land.

Monteleone addressed members of the Jefferson Barracks Community Council at their meeting May 13. 

“We’re in the initial phase of the funding for a Fourth Precinct station,” he said at the meeting. “County Parks said if we can secure the funding, they would give 2-3 acres for it.”

The proposed police station was met with some opposition at the meeting, mainly from veterans who want to use Sylvan Springs land to expand Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery. The county remains undecided on whether or not to give up a county park. 

“It’s pitiful, we’ve got a cemetery that dates back to the Revolution and there’s even slaves buried there. I’d hate to see us run out of space for these younger fellas,” said Harrison Ochs, who works as a service officer representing American Legion posts.

With the cemetery’s latest addition providing space until 2027, veterans are looking for other options to expand for the future. One solution is to purchase Sylvan Springs land from the county.

“We’re having a heck of a time trying to get that annexed to the cemetery,” Ochs said. “I’m not against these folks, but I believe there is some ground up there a little farther that can be annexed. There ought to be another place around there for the police station.”

Jeff Barnes, the director of Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, said all land acquisitions for national cemeteries was decided by the Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington D.C.

“We definitely are exploring the opportunity with County Parks to see if there’s a possibility,” he said. Barnes said the goal was to keep the cemetery attached, without having to have two locations for gravesites.

“We would love to get Sylvan Springs, it is right next to the cemetery,” Barnes said. “We are hoping to get an environmental assessment this year. It’s approximately 50 acres at Sylvan Springs and they have to look at terrain for burial space.”

The cemetary uses approximately one acre per year, with each acre holding about 2,000 gravesites.

But Monteleone said having the headquarters near Jefferson Barracks would make it easier to assist with funerals and events in the area.

“With more activity, you want a police station, and it's already county property. We wouldn’t have to buy property anywhere,” he said. “Hopefully within the next year, everything comes together and we’d be able to start this thing. We assist with so many funerals here, with the expansion, it would be a great location.”

County Councilman Steve Stenger said that while he’s spoken with police, it is too early in the process to know the best use of the land. Stenger has not heard anything directly from veterans’ groups about the land.

“I’m sympathetic to the needs of the cemetery and that’s a very solemn thing,” Stenger said. “On the other hand, I’m also very much for community safety and very much for the facilities they need to protect the neighborhood.”

After speaking with the police and touring the Fourth Precinct, Stenger said he realized the need for a new police station.

“County Parks and County Police are the same entity and political subdivision. The county wouldn’t be giving it away, it would be utilized by a different department, if that’s what would happen,” he said. “I think it’s a function of when the police are willing to act on this and willing to get their facility put together.”

St. Louis County Parks Cultural Site Manager JD Magurany said the parks would do what the public wanted with the land.

“The veterans came to us about six months to a year ago and just asked if we would consider it,” Magurany said. “They’re obviously limited on the amount of real estate there. They’re planning now for that end.”

When the Department of Veterans Affairs came to County Parks initially, Magurany said they told the county their statute mandates that they pay fair market value for any property they want to acquire.

“We’re not in the business of selling park land, but we are in the business of serving the community,” Magurany said. “But if you lose that acreage, you lose it forever.”

County police looked into other locations for a new police station when they initially had the idea to consolidate buildings almost two years ago.

Then-precinct Capt. Kenneth Cox asked real estate agent and Lemay Chamber board member Greg Hayden to look for properties within the precinct.

“Me being in real estate, he felt I knew the area and we started looking in that direction,” Hayden said. “We knew funds were limited and if they could own something, that would be best.”

The precinct reaches east of Highway 55 to the Mississippi River, from the north border of Lemay to Oakville and the Meramec River. Hayden said they wanted to be in a strategic location with easy access to the highways.

“We looked on Union Road up and down that corridor,” Hayden said. “We looked at Sappington Barracks and went down as far as Kingston and Telegraph because they really want to be able to access the highways and get across into the Oakville area as well as serving Lemay.”

After research, Hayden found that by the time they purchased and built what they needed, it would be cost-prohibiting and overbudget. Then, Hayden and Cox started talking about what County Parks had.

“I think as well as the cemetery, they’re going to have to do their feasibility studies to see if the site is buildable,” Hayden said.

For additional information or to weigh in, contact St. Louis County Parks at 314-615-4FUN.