Poll: $70 Million To Renovate The Central Library A Good Investment?

Next month the Central Library will reopen after being closed for nearly two and a half years:

Central Library is in the midst of a $70 million dollar restoration and renovation. Over four million books and other items were moved out of the building for safekeeping and reorganization before this enormous project could begin. Central Library will reopen late in 2012 – a century after it first opened to the public – as a great research and community library for the 21st century. (slpl,org)

It reopens to the public on Sunday December 9, 2012.

From July 2010:

The city of St. Louis closed on the sale of $65 million in bonds June 30, clearing the way for construction on the nearly century-old facility to begin later this summer. (St. Louis Business Journal)

The remaining funds were raised privately through the library foundation. The new library will be quite different than what generations have known, the old central stack area behind the scenes no longer has the glass walkways and administrative offices moved to a newer building to the west, freeing up more public space.

A few Central Library facts:

• Opened: January 6, 1912
• Architect: Cass Gilbert 
• Carnegie grant: May 12, 1901

With Carnegie’s $1,000,000 grant St. Louis built seven libraries — six branches and the central (source). I read somewhere Carnegie told other cities to not do like St. Louis did — putting a large percentage in one building. Today some might say $65 million in public bonds might have been better spent if spread around to the many infrastructure needs of the city. Others say such an institution is critical to our future.

The poll question this week asks if this was a good investment? The poll is in the upper right sidebar.

— Steve Patterson

Scott Joplin’s Brief St. Louis Connection

Legendary ragtime composer Scott Joplin wasn’t born, or raised, in St. Louis, but he lived here during a significant part of his short career.  That much is well documented, Joplin’s birthplace & birthday aren’t so clear:

One tenacious myth tells us that Joplin was born in Texarkana, Texas, on November 24, 1868. The location is easily dispensed with: Texarkana was not established until 1873. Testimony of a family friend has Scott born in Marshall, Texas, some 70 miles south from what was to become Texarkana; in 1870, according to the U.S. Census, the family lived on a farm in Linden, Texas, almost 40 miles away. That same census, of 1870, certifies that on July 18, 1870, the young Scott was already two years old, thereby ruling out a birth date of November 24, 1868. The 1880 census and his death certificate support that conclusion. Though we cannot cite an exact date for his birth, documents place the event between July 19, 1867 and mid-January 1868. (source)

As a young man in his 20s he began his musical career:

During the late 1880s he left his job as a laborer with the railroad, and travelled around the American South as an itinerant musician. He went to Chicago for the World’s Fair of 1893, which played a major part in making ragtime a national craze by 1897.

Joplin moved to Sedalia, Missouri, in 1894, and earned a living teaching piano and continuing to tour the South. In Sedalia, he taught future ragtime composers Arthur Marshall, Scott Hayden and Brun Campbell. Joplin began publishing music in 1895, and publication of his “Maple Leaf Rag” in 1899 brought him fame and had a profound influence on subsequent writers of ragtime. It also brought the composer a steady income for life. During his lifetime, Joplin did not reach this level of success again and frequently had financial problems.(Wikipedia)

Joplin only lived in St. Louis from 1900-1907, but it was a productive period in his life:

Joplin moved to St. Louis in the spring of 1900 with his new wife, Belle. They moved into the flat at 2658A Morgan Street, now Delmar Boulevard. While living there between 1900-1903, he produced some of his better known compositions: The Entertainer, Elite Syncopations, March Majestic and Ragtime Dance. With royalties coming in from his musical creations, he began to perform less and became more of a teacher and composer. During this productive time in St. Louis, Joplin also wrote his first major serious composition, an operatic piece called A Guest of Honor, which had as its setting the Missouri governor’s mansion in Jefferson City. The original score for this work was lost, and it can no longer be performed. (Scott Joplin House)

Although Joplin and his wife only lived at that address for a few years, it is a Missouri state historic site, with most of the block face intact as it was during his time here.

Joplin moved to New York City in 1907 to further his career, but he never achieved  the same success. He died there on April 1, 1917, basically pennyless.

The Scott Joplin House State Historic Site is an interesting place to see. It’s is closed November-January but I’d suggest visiting next year.

— Steve Patterson

St. Louis Needs A Moratorium On Surface Parking Lots

Downtown has an excess of parking spaces: in garages, surface lots, and on the street, parking downtown is no problem at all. Yet some building owners seem to think each building needs it’s own dedicated parking. This is what’s done in suburbia, each building placed in the center of the property.

On Monday the Preservation Board will consider a request by the owner to raze the building at 1105-09 Olive Street for parking. The 4pm meeting is held at 1520 Market St #2000. I emailed my objections to the Director of Cultural Resources Betsy Bruce, 7th Ward Alderwoman Phyllis Young, and Partnership for Downtown St. Louis President Maggie Campbell days ago.

Additional reading:

• Seriously Larry??? (VanishingSTL)
• Part of Music Row Threatened (Preservation Research Office) 

We need an immediate moratorium on surface parking to protect downtown’s future. Nobody ever planned a convention or family vacation based on the amount of cheap surface parking. That’s also not a factor in deciding to live downtown. Companies that’ve relocated from the suburbs to downtown have done so because of the vibe, the places to walk to.

— Steve Patterson

UPDATE: 11/27/2012 8:30am:  I saw postings on social media last night that the Preservation Board denied the preliminary request for demolition. We still need to pressure leaders to get a moratorium.   

Happy Thanksgiving Day!

It’s Thanksgiving so I thought I’d share some personal thoughts.  I’m thankful to have been living downtown in my loft for five years now, the 2nd longest of anyplace I’ve lived in St. Louis. The longest was a decade in the two-family I bought in 1994 in Dutchtown.

I don’t see myself ever moving again, what I have is too perfect for me: zero steps, few interior doors, easy access to transit, etc.

Today I’m hosting Thanksgiving dinner for my friends I spend the holiday with every year, hopefully you’re spending time with family/friends.

— Steve Patterson

Readers: Price, Convenience, Selection Are Shopping Influencers

In the poll last week readers picked price as their top factor in deciding there to shop this holiday season.  Early in the week convenience was the top answer but it ended up just one vote behind price.

Q: Factors influencing where you’ll shop this holiday season (pick up to 3)

1. Price 41 [21.24%]
2. Convenience 40 [20.73%]
3. Selection 27 [13.99%]
4. Sales/Specials 24 [12.44%]
5. Shipping 14 [7.25%]
6. Customer service 12 [6.22%]
7. Ownership 9 [4.66%]
8. Politics of retailer 8 [4.15%]
9. Other: 8 [4.15%]
10. Employment policies 6 [3.11%]
11. Unsure, N/A, no answer 3 [1.55%]
12. Layaway plan 1 [0.52%]
13. Financing terms 0 [0%]

Interesting results, a decade ago I doubt shipping would’ve gotten any votes.

1. Patronize local shops in my neighborhood
2.  Within the St. Louis City boundaries!
3. Image / attitude
4. Locally Owned / Small Business
5. local
6. shop the city!
7. Cleanliness of store and patrons
8. Parking 😉

— Steve Patterson