A little of both, I guess – Kelo v. the saints!

St. Louis’ redevelopment agency sued a convent, a saint, a nun and an elderly
woman in a wheelchair who has a 999-year lease on Friday, seeking to use
eminent domain to condemn a property in the Ice House District north of Soulard.

City officials hope the area will be a hip entertainment district one day, but
first they have to remove stubborn landowners and tenants.

The suit, filed in St. Louis Circuit Court, says the city’s Land Clearance for
Redevelopment Authority has been unable to agree on a price for 1119-1127 South
Broadway, owned by the Convent of the Sacred Heart.

The land and buildings have been leased for no rent to Salvatore and Mabel
Inserra for a 999-year term, according to an appraisal supplied by the
Inserras’ lawyer, Francis X. Duda.

The Inserras have leased the 13,660-square-foot property since at least the
early 1980s. Salvatore Inserra, a longtime Soulard Market produce seller, died
at work in 1985 at age 60.

The suit also names property owners from centuries ago and their heirs,
including John Mullanphy, said to be St. Louis’ first millionaire, a nun and
“Philipini Duchesne.” The suit appears to be referring to St. Rose Phillipine
Duchesne, who founded a school for the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in
a cabin in St. Charles in 1818, according to the Vatican. She died in 1852 and
was canonized in 1988.