Midtown Sidewalk No Longer Blocked
On February 11, 2009 I highlighted an abandoned platform for a long-removed construction elevator blocking the sidewalk on Olive at Grand:
Last week, on the way to class at Saint Louis University, I stopped to take a picture of the now open sidewalk:
Two days ago reader John M. beat me to the punch with the following comment on the original post:
The eyesore has been removed and the sidewalk is back to the way it was. In addition, the one way on the half of Olive down to Theresa will be reinstated back to a two way street in April after the signs are removed ( one way ) and the block re-striped yellow in the center line.
This is very good for FOX traffic congestion as they can take that right into ample parking.
Yes, Olive is back to two-way traffic. The picture above was taken when it was still one-way Westbound. I emailed everyone at City Hall I could think of as well as the bank that owns the property. Clearly someone got the job done and removed the obstacle that had been left behind for roughly 9 months after the construction elevator was removed.
One day, hopefully soon, the building will sell and will undergo renovations. The sidewalk may get blocked again when that time comes. I’m more tolerant when work is ongoing.
While I don’t live down the street from the building located at the intersection of Olive and Grand anymore, I’m glad to see that hideous/dangerous structure is gone. Patrons of the Fox Theater will enjoy being able to drive east on Olive and park at other locations than the Continental Life Building parking garage and the other garage across the street (both are expensive).
As for the building itself, what a shame that it stands empty, as it has for decades. In the fall of 2007, while I was in grad school at SLU, I worked with some SLU and Wash U students on a planning proposal for McCormick-Baron-Salazar and SLU focusing on the empty park space at the corner of Lindell and Grand. Of course, SLU and MBS decided not to move forward with our planning proposal for the site which included a new SLU bookstore/coffee shop, a small grocery store, additional classroom space and apartment housing including space in the vacant, dilapidated building. I guess that SLU decided to spend their millions of dollars elsewhere and keep their abysmal bookstore in the Busch Student Center basement. Have fun buying books in a white-washed dungeon SLU students…