ST. LOUIS – It has been eight years since a massive hole emerged on a Washington Avenue sidewalk in St. Louis. 

It immediately became a safety hazard, an eyesore and sparked a debate over who was responsible for the collapse. And, after nearly a decade, it remains unfixed.

The hole, located near the corner of Washington Avenue and North 16^th Street and not far from the City Museum, is covered by pieces of plywood and easily accessible. 

Walkers and cyclists pass by—and even over—those pieces of plywood every day. But the history behind the hole tells a much bigger story.

FOX 2 News reported extensively on the hole in 2021 and revisited the site this week after a viral discussion thread on a St. Louis Reddit community page. 

It sits along a sidewalk outside a property at 1520 Washington Avenue known as the Ely Walker Lofts.

The hole reveals a hidden basement room when exposed. It is currently covered with four sheets of plywood, one of which is slightly tilted and held down in part by a sandbag. 

There are no fences or visible warning signs around the hole itself, just the plywood that covers it.

The hole formed in August 2017 during the Rise Up Beer Festival, when a stretch of Washington Avenue was closed, according to previous FOX 2 reporting.

At the time, Derrick Langeneckert was operating a forklift to transport beer to a booth. He stopped the forklift as a precaution while two pedestrians walked nearby. 

Moments later, the sidewalk gave way, sending Langeneckert and his forklift into the basement below.

Langeneckert suffered multiple injuries, including a broken back. He later attempted to sue the City of St. Louis, though his case ended with a “stipulation of dismissal with prejudice” in December 2023, according to Missouri court records, after the causes of action were reportedly “compromised and settled.”

St. Louis city property records list “Ely Walker Lofts Condos” as the building’s owner. 

The condos are managed by STL City Wide, while city property records tie several units to Asprient Properties. 

An ongoing St. Louis Circuit Court lawsuit, filed in 2023, links Asprient to brothers Victor Alston and Sid Chakraverty.

In September 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice indicted Alston, Chakraverty and their chief accountant on federal wire fraud charges. 

However, those charges were ultimately dropped on Aug. 27, 2025, according to federal court documents.

FOX 2’s efforts to contact Alston, Chakraverty, STL City Wide and Asprient Properties for comment about the hole were unsuccessful.

On Thursday, the city of St. Louis did issue a statement to FOX 2 regarding the sidewalk hole:“This is a complicated issue, since the basement underneath the sidewalk is privately owned, meaning the City cannot simply fill in the hole and repair the sidewalk. However, we are evaluating possible both short-term and long-term solutions,” said Rasmus Jorgensen, the Deputy Director of Communications for the City of St. Louis.