News Summary

• Benton Park was built in the mid-1860s on what had been a cemetery.
• Maps from the time show large bowl-shaped depressions — sinkholes — throughout the south St. Louis area.
• In the 1980s, the city spent $30,000 to fix it; in 2007, it spent another $700,000.
• 30% of Missouri’s land is classified as having high or very high sinkhole susceptibility, the 3rd highest in the nation.
• In July 2000, Chip Clatto excavated the opening of a hole that opened up in the 3300 block of Lemp Avenue.