Poet Eugene Field Was Born 160 Years Ago, At Start Of Dred Scott Case

Eugene Field’s father filed the lawsuit to win freedom for slave Dred Scott.  Soon after (1850) his wife gave birth to a son, Eugene.  He was born at the family home at 634 South Broadway, now the Eugene Field House & Toy Museum.  Eugene Field went on to write children’s poetry in his short 45-year life.

The house has a lush green garden to the north and south (above) surrounded by a brick wall.  Roswell Martin Field was an attorney so it is fitting they would live well.  But looking at the house today gives you a false picture of South Broadway in 1850. But before I go back let’s start with the present conditions.

Of course the highways and ramps didn’t exist, nor did the acres of surface parking.  But neither did the lush walled garden you see today!

I don’t know the exact conditions in 1908 but I’d guess not much different.  City records indicate the house was built in 1845 – five years before Eugene Field was born. Very likely the area was all new at the time.  By the time the Sanborn Fire Insurance Map was created in 1908 the house was 63 years old  — equal to a house built in 1947 relative to today.

By 1958 all the other houses in the area had been replaced by industry and I-55 was built to the east.

By 1971 the industrial buildings were gone and highway 40 was now in place.

So much has changed in St. Louis over the decades it is important to peel back the layers to see how the city has evolved  — devolved

– Steve Patterson

Union Station 25 & 116 Years Ago

St. Louis’ Union Station opened to a massive crowd on September 1, 1894 – 116 years ago today.  Twenty-five years ago Sunday, August 29, 1985, Union Station reopened as a “festival marketplace” after being closed since the last train pulled out seven years prior on October 31, 1978.

St. Louis had gotten so bad the 1981 film Escape From New York was filmed here, able to pass for 1997 New York  – as a maximum security prison.  A big fight scene took place in the Grand Hall of Union Station prior to the restoration you see above.

In 1985 I entered architecture school, Union Station’s reopening was widely studied. In the days when 100,000 passengers a day would pass through Union Station there was no shortage of activity.  For the last 25 years the busiest spot has been the Fudgery:

When new Union Station was considered to be too far west of the central business district — the location is 8 blocks west of the station built under present-day Tucker in 1875.  When I arrived in St. Louis 20 years ago there were many well-known stores in Union Station as well as St. Louis Centre, also downtown.  In a few years a small mall just outside the city limits would expand and become the St. Louis Galleria — the shops quickly relocated.

– Steve Patterson

Readers Support Replacing Downtown Highway With Boulevard

I’ve been doing weekly polls for a year and a half and in the time I’ve noticed a pattern with the voting as the week goes by the percentage of each answer stays roughly the same as the total vote count grows. Sometimes a few answers will switch places.  Last week was different, the answer opposing highway removal was in last place for the first few day with just under 5% of the votes.

By Sunday morning when I changed the poll it had shot up to get the most votes of any single answer — 172.  The “yes” votes, however, total 186.

Q: Now that 4 of 5 City+Arch+River teams say highway removal is best, do you agree the highway should be replaced with a boulevard from the PSB to Cass?

1. No, highway lanes are still needed 172 [43.32%]
2. Yes, start the day after the new I-70 bridge opens in Spring 2014, even though the boulevard would not be complete on 10/28/2015 (Arch 50th Anniv) 127 [31.99%]
3. Yes, any time in the next decade is good. 37 [9.32%]
4. Inclined to agree, but I want to see a traffic study first 23 [5.79%]
5. Yes, start October 29, 2015, the day after the 50th Anniversary of the Arch (anniversary + ground breaking in one event) 22 [5.54%]
6. Maybe but I need to see the traffic after the new I-70 bridge opens 8 [2.02%]
7. Other answer… 7 [1.76%]
8. Unsure/no opinion 1 [0.25%]

The other votes were:

1. Start today!
2. who’s paying? we have other priorities.
3. Start immediately–remove the lanes completely, create a boulevard.
4. There needs to be a quick and efficient way to bypass downtown from the east.
5. Can I get a hell yes?!
6. begin now
7. Yes! Get rid of the Highway ASAP!

It is clear to me from these results that someone, or a group of persons, against removing the highway, made an effort to throw off the vote count. Also clear is that among those who support replacing the highway with a boulevard favor starting work as soon as possible, even if not done by the 50th anniversary of the Arch.

The following needs to happen:

• Do a very comprehensive traffic study to see how to make the boulevard work in conjunction with other north-south roads.
• Look at redesigning the interchange at the new I-70 bridge so that traffic heading into downtown from the direction of the airport is directed onto a boulevard approach.
• Build the first part of the boulevard between the new bridge and the start of the elevated lanes.
• Change connections to tie in 4th & Broadway into the new boulevard.
• Hold the ground breaking for the rest of the boulevard at the same time as the 50th anniversary of the Arch.

I’d previously noted that four of the five teams in the City+Arch+River competition supported removing the highway.  On Thursday last week the 5th team indicated they assumed highway removal after 2015!

Broadway Has One Less Lane, Still Unfriendly To Pedestrians

The other day I noticed the next to the Edward Jones Dome that one traffic lane of the one-way south Broadway has been blocked off. The road is too wide so I don’t miss the lane, but I didn’t think it could possibly get any more hostile to pedestrians — but it did.

– Steve Patterson

Kroenke, Rams, Dome, Broadway and the Elevated Highway

Last week NFL owners approved Stan Kroenke’s bid to increase his ownership in the St. Louis Rams from 40% to 100%.  The sale is not strictly about sports.

Speculation and rumors about the future of the Rams is swirling after Stan Kroenke was allowed to buy St. Louis’ football franchise.

Will they demand a new stadium? Will they threaten to leave town? Nothing is for sure, but Rams fans are crossing their fingers, getting out their rabbit’s feet and eating Lucky Charms: anything to swerve things in St. Louis’ favor. (Full Story: KMOV)

In the next couple of years decisions will be made that may profoundly change the area between St. Louis’ convention center (aka America’s Center) and the nearby Lumiere Hotel & Casino.  In 2012 the process starts to bring the Edward Jones Dome into the top quarter of NFL facilities by 2015.  If we don’t get the dome into the top quarter, the Rams are free to leave the dome for another facility.

Another facility might be elsewhere in the region or perhaps, back in Los Angeles. The message to us is clear, pony up some serious money to improve the dome or find the dome without a tenant.  The third, but unlikely possibility, is the Rams stay put through the end of the 2025 lease without upgrades to get the dome into the top quarter. From the same KMOV story:

There probably won’t be a lot of new, taxpayer funded initiatives to lure the Rams away from St. Louis, but Kroenke is a developer. There has been speculation that he could push for a new stadium. That stadium could be in St. Louis county, near Earth City or even Illinois.

Sports economist Patrick Rishe said moving the stadium out of the city is not likely.

“I don’t think St. Louisans want to go to the suburbs to watch professional sports,” Rishe said. “I think we’re accustomed to watching it downtown, so I don’t think that’s an option. Geographically that’s an option, but logistically I don’t think it will be a reality.”

Rishe is right — if you are talking baseball.

The poll this week asks what you think Kroenke’s purchase of the rest of the team means for the City/Region, the Rams and the dome. City to River wants to replace the elevated lanes you see above that divide Laclede’s Landing (right) from the city to the left.

– Steve Patterson