Documentary on Pruitt-Igoe to be made...

Pruitt-Igoe has always fascinated me. I wasn't alive during its hey-day, but learning the story of the concepts and issues surrounding it has always intrigued me. It was a housing project built in North City, and was an extreme failure for urban renewal. It had over two thousand units until the demolition, which was televised, in 1972.
It's been dead since 1972, but still remains a controversial topic, as explained from Wikipedia:

Controversy over the project remains, based mostly on racial and social-class perspectives. Similar projects were highly successful in other larger cities, but St. Louis has a unique character and political climate. This was elaborated upon in the Harvard University study on public housing in American cities, and in reports by actual residents. During the Nixon administration, Pruitt-Igoe was widely publicized as a failure of government involvement in urban renewal, and the destruction of the buildings was dramatized in the media to show the American public that government intervention in social problems only leads to waste, and to justify cutbacks on social and economic "equalization" programs. Wealthy St. Louisans had also objected strongly to the artificial racial integration, and the resulting decrease in property values.

Getting to the point of this post - a documentary is in the works. Do you know anything about Pruitt-Igoe? Or people who perhaps lived there? If so, Chad Freidrichs wants to hear from you:

Unicorn Stencil Documentary Films of Columbia, MO is preparing to produce a feature-length documentary film about the notorious public housing development Pruitt-Igoe.
When Pruitt-Igoe was built in St. Louis in 1954, it was hailed as a triumph of modern architecture and a prime example of post-WWII federalism’s ability to improve the lives of underserved citizens. When it was destroyed in the 1970’s, it represented the failure of American public housing and urban renewal. To this day, Pruitt-Igoe remains a controversial symbol of bureaucratic inefficiency, systemic racism and the struggle to solve the problem of poverty in America.

The Pruitt-Igoe Documentary will explore the social, economic, historic, cultural and architectural issues surrounding the conception, construction, expectations, degeneration and ultimate destruction of the Pruitt-Igoe public housing complex. This is a pivotal story, not only for St. Louis’s history, but for the American urban experience. We seek to remove the layers of misconception and stereotype surrounding the development’s design, funding and tenant population. We are seeking:

-Former residents of Pruitt-Igoe who have interesting stories to tell about life in the developments.
-Anyone interested in contributing visual or audible artifacts (obviously photos and films are most beneficial) that would assist in the telling of the story of Pruitt-Igoe.

We will begin production in July. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated!

Contact:

Chad Freidrichs

Producer/Director

Unicorn Stencil Documentary Films

pruittigoedoc@gmail.com