By Brendan Marks ST. LOUIS (AP) — A large homeless encampment near downtown St. Louis will soon be torn down due to health and safety concerns, but the city's Human Services director says officials will work with those living in tents to help them find better alternatives.
It marks the second time in three years that St. Louis officials have taken steps to remove homeless encampments. In 2012, more than 100 residents of an area near the Mississippi River dubbed "Hopeville" were removed, and bulldozers cleared the land.
The encampment is the first thing that greets visitors crossing into St. Louis on the new Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge that crosses the Mississippi River. Twenty-one tents with roughly 25 residents were on the vacant land Tuesday.
Two smaller encampments also near downtown will also be cleared.
