City plans to start cleanup along Polar Express route Monday
By Nathan Vickers
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ST. LOUIS, Missouri (KMOV) — A video showing a mess along the north riverfront has generated a social media response that Chris Nagus didn’t expect.
“I’ve been surprised,” Nagus said. “But I think there’s a lot of people in St. Louis who see what I see.”
Nagus, a former investigative reporter for KMOV, had taken video from his train window of construction debris and trash while riding the Polar Express holiday attraction with his family.
He posted the clip on X, the social media site formally known as Twitter, calling the mess a bad look for the city. He also tagged Aldermanic President Megan Green and Mayor Tishaura Jones in the post, starting a heated discussion about problems with vacant buildings, illegal dumping and other issues that contribute to blight.
First Alert 4 looked into the owner of the property in Nagus’ video, reporting on Tuesday that it belonged to Eubanks Storage, an LLC registered to Seamus McGowan and Travis Brown. Eubanks also owned a property across the tracks that had burned in October 2022, leaving behind piles of bricks and charred wood. Neither party responded to calls and messages requesting comment.
A city spokesperson said other entities were responsible for maintaining the area, too, including the Terminal Railroad and the city’s Land Reutilization Authority. Though most of the trash appeared to be construction debris from work to secure the Eubanks Storage building, the spokesperson said the city planned to clean up the mess.
Wednesday morning, city workers checked the site, but plans to clean up the trash were put on hold until Monday. The city said it needed to wait for Terminal Railroad to provide safety support.
Eric Fields, a spokesperson for the Terminal Railroad, responded to First Alert 4 via email, confirming that the company would assist.
“Terminal Railroad is always concerned with trash or illegal dumping near our rail lines,” Fields wrote. “TRRA will always provide the necessary flagging services for the property owner and/or City to complete any cleanup as well as performing clean up near the tracks.”
Nagus said he was glad the city was taking action. He also said he felt the issue was about something bigger than a single mess on a tourist route.
“This is not a story about the Polar Express,” he said. “This is a story about a systemic issue that’s plagued St. Louis for a long time.”
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