Readers Opposed To Viewing Aldermanic Seats As White or Black Seats

Few readers felt vacant seats should be viewed as white or black seats in the poll last week:

Q: Should vacant seats on the Board of Aldermen be viewed as “white” or “black” seats?

1. No 81 [81.82%]
2. Yes 6 [6.06%]
3. Tie
   • Unsure/no opinion 4 [4.04%]
   • Depends 4 [4.04%]
   • Other: 4 [4.04%]

The “other:” answers were:

1. hell no
2. If we want to remain locked in the bitter battles of the past, I suppose we will
3. NEVER
4. Absolutely NOT. Another example of how race should not be a factor in decision..

I personally agree we shouldn’t think a seat is automatically supposed to be for a certain race. First of all, our city is more than just white and black. That said, many realized voter suppression is alive in 2012.

Not only were black folks angered and shocked at Republicans’ blatant attempts at voter suppression in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, Virginia, Texas and other states, they exacted revenge at the ballot box. (CNN)

But St. Louis votes Democratic, right? Technically yes, but substitute “old guard” for conservative above and the problem is one of gaining power or just enough to be appeased. On the other hand for the last five years I’ve been represented by numerous black persons: Board of Aldermen, President of the Board of Aldermen, Comptroller, State Rep, State Senate, US Rep. While some white folks certainly try to keep the balance of power I hope blacks can see we’re not all like that.

— Steve Patterson

Locate Bike Racks Near Building Entrances

Public bike racks, if existent at all,  often end up in the worst locations.

Maybe the engineers/designers of the streetscape thought someone would bike downtown to sit on a bench and face another bench? Several of these bike racks in adjacent blocks have been removed because their placement interfered with cafe seating and pedestrian flow.

Bike parking needs to be obvious as to use, visible to others, and near building entrances.

— Steve Patterson

Lack Of Crosswalks May Have Contributed To Death Of Boy

On the evening of Friday October 5th a tragedy happened:

A boy has died and another is in critical condition after a pickup truck hit them and left the scene in Pagedale Friday evening.

The incident happened at about 7:30 p.m. in the 7300 block of St. Charles Rock Road in Pagedale at Salerno Drive, just east of Pennsylvania Avenue. (stltoday.com)

His 10 year-old brother survived, with serious injuries. Earlier this month I visited the accident site, well I got as close as I could.

I couldn’t reach the convenience store or cross the street in my wheelchair due to a lack of sidewalks and crosswalks.  The distance between signalized crossings is more than a quarter mile, as a result pedestrians regularly cross the street where it is convenient to do so.

Media reports focussed solely on the driver’s record:

In the last 30 years, he has been arrested about 150 times, almost always while driving in north St. Louis County. Six of his 11 DWI arrests resulted in convictions: four times on misdemeanors and two on felonies. He has served fewer than two years total in prison on the DWI charges. (He also has served time in prison on gun charges.) (stltoday.com)

Yes, those who drink & drive are a problem, but only part of it. The other part of the problem is this area, just a short distance from the Rock Road MetroBus/MetroLink center isn’t designed for use by pedestrians.

My sympathies to the families of all involved.

— Steve Patterson

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