Last years collapse of Pyramid Construction is a tragic story on numerous levels, fortunes lost, promises broken, etc. Last month came the worst news out of this continuing story.
A former employee, who was suddenly out of work when Pyramid folded, committed suicide. He and his widow had both worked at Pyramid and had not found new employment as the economy worsened. My heart goes out to her, their family and friends.
It was one year ago today that I broke the news that Pyramid was ceasing operations (see post). I was still in the hospital at the time, about four hours from St. Louis. My post indicated the news of the collapse was a “rumor.” I knew, based on my source, that it was true.
The fallout continues. Lenders have taken back preoperties. A few projects, like the senior housing center on South Grand, have been completed. Most remain no further than they were a year ago.
Normally I’d not do another smoking related post so soon after the one earlier this week. But, I agreed to publish the proposed ordinance to ban smoking in the City Of St. Louis. 28th Ward Alderman Lyda Krewson sent along the following note with the draft board bill:
Attached is a draft of a proposed smoke free air ordinance I plan to introduce soon.
I hope you will consider joining me in this effort. Most states already have smoke free air legislation, including our neighbors, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska & Arkansas… and of course, well known places such as California, New York, France and Ireland.
The following link gives a quick map and summary of the current laws in the U.S. All but 15 states have some form of smoking ban, to provide smoke free air.
Many think this legislation should be done at the state level, and frankly I agree. But Missouri is unlikely to move this forward. Many legislators consider it a ‘city issue’. Kansas City, Columbia, Kirksville, Nixa and others already have a broad smoking ban.
It seems clear to me that Mo’s largest city needs to provide leadership on this issue!
The science is clear… second hand smoke causes or exacerbates a wide range of adverse health effects, including cancer, respiratory infections, and asthma. Banning smoking in public work environments is about the health of workers… not about smokers. About smoke… not smokers.   It is a health safety issue, not a social issue.
The attached draft Board Bill says that it will become effective in the City, when St Louis County passes a similar ordinance. I am not interested in creating an advantage/disadvantage for a city vs. county establishment. Let’s take the leadership role on this. Maybe we can move the whole state?
I look forward to our discussions about this ordinance. The pressure not to do it will be heavy…  I hope you will join me in this effort.
You can view a PDF of the proposed bill here. One of the most important clauses is on the last page:
SECTION SIXTEEN. Effective Date
This Ordinance shall be effective on such date that a similar smoking ban ordinance becomes effective in St. Louis County, Missouri.
So we can pass the ordinance in the city but until St. Louis County passes a similar bill we will keep things as is. This prevents the challenge of city establishments losing customers to the county. Read the language and share your thoughts in the comments section because Alderman Krewson will be reading them.
The urban cemetery is quite different than the rural one. Urban cemeteries are often squeezed by surrounding development whereas the rural cemetery is lost in the corn fields.
My maternal grandparents are interred in just such a cemetery. The county roads to reach the cemetery are gravel. The only structure seen from the cemetery is a long abandoned farm house.
In the St. Louis area many of our oldest cemeteries started out rural and saw development come toward them. A good many were started as a way of moving bodies from cemeteries closer in locations.
Looking at many of the cemeteries on a map it is clear many of them were located on the outer edge of the city limits or beyond the city.
A partial mapping of cemeteries.
This land, far away from the core, would have been cheaper than vacant land closer in. Having already moved early 19th Century cemeteries, new ones from the late 19th Century probably wanted to be far enough away to avoid being moved. The wealthy had country estates to the west of the city. Ladue was incorporated in 1936.  With land to the West taken by estates it follows that new cemeteries would be located along major farm routes out of the city, to the NW & SW.
Yesterday I visited one such cemetery, Gatewood Gardens Cemetery on Gravios near Hampton (map). Gatewood is in a cemetery row with St. Matthew & the Old St. Marcus cemeteries to the East, Saints Peter & Paul across Gravois and the New St. Marcus Cemetery to the West, just across the River Des Peres.
Gatewood, located on both sides of Gravois, has an interesting history:
Gatewood Gardens Cemetery began with a small congregation of Germans in 1832. They organized the German Evangelical Church and held services in a small schoolroom on Fourth Street, just south of Washington Avenue in 1834. Two years later a gentleman named George Wendelin Wall arrived in St. Louis and became the pastor of the now named German Independent Protestant Evangelical Church of The Holy Ghost. In four years Pastor Wall was able to raise enough money to purchase the First German Church on August 9, 1840. He remained the pastor for three years before a new pastor took over the congregation.
Frederick Picker began his ministry in October of 1843, and by the time he retired in January of 1855 he had accomplished many things. He averaged 420 baptisms and 225 weddings a year, and was instrumental in purchasing ground for a cemetery located on a 20-acre lot. The cemetery was located in the Kansas-Wyoming-Louisiana-Arsenal area in South St. Louis. It opened in 1845 and was called the Holy Ghost Evangelical and Reformed Cemetery. Many victims of the great cholera epidemic of 1849 were interred there and the last recorded burial in this cemetery was in 1901. The cemetery acquired the nickname, “Picker’s Cemetery,” and was commonly called such by the people of the congregation as well as the surrounding areas.
In 1862 the German Protestant Church bought a new cemetery, and called it the Independent Evangelical Protestant Cemetery. It is located at Gravios and Hampton and like the old German cemetery took the name of pastor Picker. IT became known as New Picker’s Cemetery. This cemetery truly became Picker’s new cemetery, when all the burials at the original cemetery were moved to this location by 1916.
An additional plot of land was purchased across the street (Gravios) and New Picker’s Cemetery became Old Picker’s, while the new plot became New Picker’s. The Cemetery remained in the hands of the congregation for many years before eventually being purchased by another church in 1978. This began the downward steps of the cemetery. In 1981 the cemetery would begins its trip through different individual ownership, and the cemetery’s next 15 years would be in continual decline. At this time the cemetery’s name was also changed to Memorial Gardens, and later it would be changed to its current name. When the City of St. Louis seized Gatewood Gardens Cemetery in 1996, the owners owed back taxes totaling more than $234,000. In the past six years there have been many improvements on the land and the records of the cemetery. (source)
Yes, the City of St. Louis took control of the cemetery in 1996.
The only new interrments allowed are in family plots. For the most part the city appears to be a good steward. But you have to wonder if this is a good use of precious tax dollars. Could a non-profit be formed to buy & maintain the cemetery? Clearly, a cemetery with no plots to sell has no profit potential.
Four years ago today I was a candidate for Alderman in the 25th ward. I spent the day at Cleveland High School where two of the four precincts voted. I lost that election but gained a better understanding of local politics and what needs to change.
In 2007 I moved to downtown and now reside in the 6th ward. This year is the odd-numbered wards up for election. That leaves, for me and others in even-numbered wards, two races to vote on: Comptroller and Mayor.
Comptroller Darlene Green is unopposed in both today’s Democratic primary and the general election on April 4th. If she gets a single vote she’ll be reelected. I suppose a write-in could get some votes but basically this race isn’t a race at all. I’m not going to vote in this race. Green doesn’t need my vote.
The Democratic ballot for Mayor includes three candidates: incumbent Mayor Francis Slay, Irene J. Smith and the woman with too many names, Denise Watson-Wesley Coleman. Slay will win, no doubt. Slay has had very good timing. The availability of state historic tax credits helped fuel the rebirth of downtown during Slay’s first two terms. Slay and his cronies do want St. Louis to be like Chicago. Not the vibrant urban Chicago — the corrupt backroom Chicago. I cannot vote for Slay. I can vote against Slay.
Denise Watson-Wesley Coleman is an unknown and remains so on election day. No dice.
Smith is a very smart woman with a lot of passion and some good ideas. However, she’ll never get past the 2001 “incident.” But I will go vote today and it will be for Smith.
Remember that today’s primary is just that first step leading up to the general election. Until we go non-partisan, we have this charade of primary and general. What a waste of time and money. I saw Maida Coleman, the independent candidate for Mayor, last night at The Royale. She is gearing up for her race against Slay. That race will include the winner of today’s Green primary, a Libertarian and a Republican.
Hopefully the 2013 Mayoral race will be more competative.
Steve Patterson on Google’s Streetview taken before 2/1/08.
If you love Google maps then you probably love streetview — the ability to see what an actual street looks like.
Friends of mine, planning students from St. Louis living in New Orleans, recently blogged about spotting me on my former Honda Metropolitan scooter in a streetview at Washington & Grand (link).
Thankfully I wasn’t over the stop line! Thank you to Matt Mourning and Michael Powers! I’ll be back on a scooter by Spring 2010.
AARP Livibility Index
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Built St. Louis
historic architecture of St. Louis, Missouri – mourning the losses, celebrating the survivors.
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a guide to geospatial data about the City of St. Louis
