Broken Zipper: Washington Ave Street Tree Wells
The Washington Avenue streetscape, completed about 15 years ago, was designed to visually play tribute to the area’s history as a garment district:
Through the ’30s and ’40s, St. Louis had one of the largest needle-trade centers in the country—second, many said, only to New York—and was the center of manufacture for junior-size dresses. (St. Louis Magazine)
So Washonhgton Ave was given a zipper motif. But in the last 15 years the very expensive streetscape’s design elements haven’t always been respected. Most recently the street trees.
The street trees never did well because the costly streetscape was designed with style over function — too small of a surface area to collect rainwater. After removing the dead/dying trees extra grates were used to cover the holes where the original trees were planted, which kept the design motif intact.
If the the new trees survive perhaps it’s worth sacrificing the design, still visually jarring after all these years.
— Steve Patterson
What about the runway lights that have been out for the past 9 months? I have been pressing the street dept to get them fixed but they are dragging their feet. In addition I have also had communication with them to fix the street lights and sidewalk lamps. They claim they are waiting on part. In addition I noticed some of the street lamps have been removed entirely. Do you have any info on these issues?
Is this a city responsibility? Or that of a local Improvement District? I agree that basic infrastructure needs to be maintained, but I see little need for general taxes to be spent on frills like “runway lights”.