Webster Groves Labels Ozark Theatre Dangerous, Gives Owner Deadline for Repairs
Date Posted: August 25, 2026
Posted In: News, Projects,
From St. Louis Post-Dispatch: The owner of Webster Groves’ historic Ozark Theatre has two weeks to make repairs to the building or face further action from the city after the building commissioner labeled the building “dangerous.”
The notice, with “DANGEROUS BUILDING” in bright red letters, was taped to the front door on the Lockwood Avenue structure this month. The notice states that the building’s owner, personal injury attorney Jim Onder, has until Sept. 1 to file a demolition or building permit and until Sept. 4 to begin the work.
City attorney Neil Bruntrager said at a Tuesday City Council meeting that the city had found a number of structural issues in the building, including water damage, damaged walls, a broken climate control system and inoperable plumbing.
Mayor Laura Arnold said the city doesn’t want to see Onder demolish the building, and city leaders have no plans to demolish it themselves.
“Doing this actually keeps the building in better repair, so it does not reach the point where demolition is suitable,” she said. “This is not something you do because you want the building to be torn down. This is something you do because you want to maintain it.”
City spokesperson Jordan Rowe said the building is not condemned. “If the deficiencies identified by city staff are appropriately remediated, the process initiated by the city will cease,” he said in a statement.
Onder did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
Known for his high-profile wins in cases against Johnson & Johnson’s talcum powder and against Bayer’s Roundup weed killer, Onder most recently has drawn more local attention for his real estate ventures.
He bought the sprawling former campus of industrial tech giant Emerson in Ferguson earlier this summer, though it is unclear whether he will move forward with plans to turn the campus into a $19 billion technology hub.