Security guard Kevin Lease checks on an open door amid the metal security plates surrounding the ground floor of the Railway Exchange building in downtown St. Louis on Friday night, April 3, 2026.
When one door closes at the Railway Exchange Building in downtown St. Louis, another is opened. Then a window is broken. And a steel panel that covered an entryway is ripped off.
(LEFT) A torn off steel panel that was installed to prevent entry into the vacant Railway Exchange Building is seen April 9, 2026. (RIGHT) An employee of the Lewis Rice law firm took this photo of trespassers on the roof of the vacant Railway Exchange Building in December 2025. The photo was included in an email exchange between city officials that was obtained in an open records request.
(LEFT) Steph Kukuljan; Post-Dispatch; (RIGHT) City of St. Louis
Layers of security are torn off of the Railway Exchange Building leaving an entry hole on Friday, April 3, 2026. Trash and debris fill the space inside.
Metal siding and wooden paneling are torn off of the Railway Exchange Building on Friday, April 3, 2026. People continue to break into the vacant downtown building by tearing off the siding.
Liz Rymarev, Post-Dispatch
Screenshots from a security camera depict several individuals leaving the Railway Exchange Building in downtown St. Louis in the early morning of Feb. 28, 2026. The screenshots were included in a daily incident report from Hudson Security, which the city hired to patrol the building's perimeter.
The new data doesn't include the AT&T tower or the Railway Exchange Building, two of the largest office buildings in downtown St. Louis.
Security guard Kevin Lease checks on an open door amid the metal security plates surrounding the ground floor of the Railway Exchange building in downtown St. Louis on Friday night, April 3, 2026.
(LEFT) A torn off steel panel that was installed to prevent entry into the vacant Railway Exchange Building is seen April 9, 2026. (RIGHT) An employee of the Lewis Rice law firm took this photo of trespassers on the roof of the vacant Railway Exchange Building in December 2025. The photo was included in an email exchange between city officials that was obtained in an open records request.
(LEFT) Steph Kukuljan; Post-Dispatch; (RIGHT) City of St. Louis
Layers of security are torn off of the Railway Exchange Building leaving an entry hole on Friday, April 3, 2026. Trash and debris fill the space inside.
Metal siding and wooden paneling are torn off of the Railway Exchange Building on Friday, April 3, 2026. People continue to break into the vacant downtown building by tearing off the siding.
Screenshots from a security camera depict several individuals leaving the Railway Exchange Building in downtown St. Louis in the early morning of Feb. 28, 2026. The screenshots were included in a daily incident report from Hudson Security, which the city hired to patrol the building's perimeter.