ST. LOUIS • The widow of artist and City Museum founder Bob Cassilly is seeking a restraining order against museum co-manager and co-owner David Jump, demanding restored access to the downtown building.

A suit filed in St. Louis Circuit Court by Melissa Giovanna Cassilly claims Jump changed various locks, depriving her of access to business records, salvaged metal, and a loft where she sometimes lives with her children.

Bob Cassilly, 61, died in a bulldozer accident Sept. 26 on the grounds of Cementland, a project he had been developing for more than a decade on the banks of the Mississippi River in Riverview.

Melissa Cassilly filed for the order Friday. No hearing has been set.

"It was very upsetting for Giovanna, and part of this was just trying to see what's there and secure it," said her attorney, Jill Silverstein. She said her client discovered the locks changes about a week ago.

"It's a very difficult time for a lot of people," Silverstein said. "The death was so unexpected and tragic, and he's been a force in a lot of people's lives."

Jump did not respond to a call for comment Tuesday.

The petition says Melissa Cassilly is the appointed personal representative of her husband's estate, and that Jump is the acting manager of the City Museum, a popular attraction at 701 North 15th Street.

Jump, a downtown real estate investor, owns half of City Museum I, LLC and the IBC Building where it is located, the petition says, while the Cassilly estate owns the other half. Jump also is president of American Milling, a Cahokia-based grain milling company.

The petition says Melissa Cassilly owns and operates a retail thrift store within the IBC building, and is not able to access it or her loft, where she has personal belongings.

The petition also says that about $100,000 worth of salvaged metal for Cementland, owned 100 percent by Cassilly's estate, is on the City Museum property. It also says that Cassilly & Cassilly, a company specializing in sculptures and restoration and also fully owned by the estate, keeps files in the building.

The petition alleges that Jump "has depleted the files, plans contained therein, and financial documents and has failed and refused to return all such files to Plaintiff."

Silverstein said she is not sure why the locks were changed. "We're trying to work everything out. Our job is to do what we have to do to make sure the assets are protected and preserved."

After Bob Cassilly's death, his wife obtained an appointment from the probate court to be administrator for his estate. Her husband did not have a will.

Her petition for the appointment said Bob Cassilly owned personal property believed to be valued at $500,000 and real estate in St. Louis valued at $1 million.