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The suit comes a day before the city of Kirkwood was expected to issue a permit to demolish the Marquitz-Garesche house, which dates back to the founding of Kirkwood in the 1850s. 

Kirkwood officials previously said their historic preservation laws don't give them power to deny demolitions. The lawsuit says the city has the power under state law. 

"You can’t protect a property unless you have the ability to deny demolition," said Jay Burns, an attorney representing residents trying to save the Marquitz-Garesche house. "If you don’t have that power, you can’t protect anything." 

The house's owner, Harlan Sorkin, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Kirkwood spokeswoman Jessica Winter did not return requests for comment. 

The lawsuit is the latest in a fight over the future of the 1858 city landmark at 751 N. Taylor Avenue, in the city's North Taylor Historic District, part of the National Register of Historic Places.

Sorkin bought the house in February 2025 and applied for demolition three months later to the Kirkwood Landmarks Commission, the city's historic preservation panel. He said he and his wife intended to live in the house but found the renovations it required would ultimately erase the house's historic character.

A petition to save the house drew more than 1,500 signatures. The house's prior owner, Mary Glen, who lived there from 1976 to 2025, disputed Sorkin's description and said the home was in good condition.

The Landmarks Commission required Sorkin wait 270 days, the maximum under the city's historic preservation laws, to consider alternatives to the wrecking ball. But the city of Kirkwood issued a statement saying officials had no authority to block any demolition once the maximum waiting period expired. 

A group of Kirkwood residents filed an appeal to the city council last week asking officials to consider saving the home.

Their suit, filed Monday, asks a judge to require officials to hear them out. 

The lawsuits argues Kirkwood is authorized under state historic preservation laws to block demolitions, even if it doesn't specifically give itself that power in its own ordinances. 

The city is one of several in the region classified as a "Certified Local Government," meaning it is was certified by the Missouri State Office of Historic Preservation to participate in the nation's historic preservation program. 

The lawsuit says Missouri's program only certifies cities that, like Kirkwood, have historic districts and historic preservation boards designed to protect properties from unnecessary demolition.

That gives Kirkwood "implied" power to deny demolitions, the suit says, even if it hasn't written it into law. 

"The requirement that the City Ordinances must enforce protection of historic properties leads to the obvious conclusion that demolition (destruction) must be preventable," the lawsuit reads. "There is no other way to protect historic properties when demolition is proposed."

The petitioners include five homeowners in the North Taylor Historic District and Erin Mariscal, a Kirkwood resident who authored the petition to save the house.