Nearly 60 years ago, history was made in Saint Louis, Missouri. Around 1950, the city of Saint Louis was known as a place of segregation and abandonment. Due to the need for better living conditions, restoration of Central Saint Louis, and overall population decline, the city decided it was time for a change. They came to a final decision to build an eleven story, fifty-seven acre apartment building, which consisted of thirty three buildings. The city believed constructing these monuments would renew their population growth and overall improve the city; however, that was not the case. Today it is still an issue regarding how the thirty six million dollar project came to be a failure. Many believed African Americans were the cause; others thought it had to do with poor maintenance and inefficient management; and the rest assumed the architectures and housing authority were the blame. The Pruitt Igoe Housing Project was unsuccessful because of multiple factors that were ignored, including all three motives that were believed here.
The documentary "The Pruitt Igoe Myth" produced by Chad Freidrichs and Jaime Friedrichs, describes how it all began, from the time the city witnessing the decline in population and deciding to build the housing project to them deciding it was time to come to an end. The original plan for the project, which consisted of playgrounds for the children and green space between buildings was not carried out due to construction costs, labor wages, and the clearance of the land. The total funding for the project, which came out to be thirty-six million dollars well exceeded the budget for the project, eliminating several amenities that were originally part of the plan. The quality of the housing modules were so poor that the building deteriorated rapidly, demanding immediate maintenance. The services that were needed, the Housing Authority couldn't afford so they did what they could.
