National Trust for Historic Preservation Subsidiary Among Entities Suing Two Preservationists

In the many twists and turns over the last six years over the now demolished Century Building is the fact that a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation is among the plaintiffs in what I believe to be a SLAAP suit against two downtown St Louis residents that tried, and ultimately failed, to save the Century Building from being razed and replaced with another parking garage (prior post).

The National Trust once had an ad campaign touting preservation over parking garages. However when they stood to gain $438,000 in fees they tossed aside their principals and agreed to the razing of the 1901 marble-clad Century Building that was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

And when the developers, City of St Louis and the State of Missouri decided to sue the two individuals that had sought to save the building, there was the richer National Trust joining in the case as a minority stakeholder in one of the complex web of entities used to get tax credits. It’s nice to know that the Nation’s leading preservation organization can be bought off for under half a million. From the National Trust Community Investment Corporation (aka NTCIC):

NTCIC created a subsidiary Community Development Entity, NTCIC/Old Post Office, LLC, with US Bank to facilitate the transaction. US Bank is the federal and state HTC investor and the NMTC investor and will own 99.99% of NTCIC/Old Post Office, LLC. That entity in turn owns 99.99% of the St. Louis’ U.S. Custom House and Post Office Building Associates, LP, which owns the Old Post Office. (source)

I’ve got a challenge for you. Find me an intersection downtown (East of Tucker) where all four corners are intact historic buildings. While you are thinking on that one try to get a picture of downtown without a parking garage in the image.

The intersection of 9th & Olive was the very last corner with historic buildings remaining on all four corners – The Old Post Office, The Paul Brown, The Frisco and the Century. No other intersection in the CBD still had such a historic grouping of buildings. When the Century was smashed into bits we lost that last historic corner. All other intersections have a modern building, a surface parking lot or a parking garage on one or more of the corners. Which brings us to the challenge of taking a picture of downtown without a parking garage in the image.

If you get close enough to a building you can do it. But step back and try to get a street view and it becomes more difficult to avoid garages. Sometimes taking a picture from within a parking garage helps but even then you are likely to see another.

Former Mayor Schoemehl’s legacy is the razing of historic structures such as Eames & Young’s Title Guaranty Building and the construction of Gateway One in its place. Mayor Slay’s legacy in this city will be the taking of the Century on that one last remaining historic intersection and the tactics employed to get there. Remember that the Washington Ave rebirth was started during the Harmon administration, not Slay’s.

Of course people will say it was necessary to raze the Century in order to save the Old Post Office across the street. It was argued that a garage had to be built immediately adjacent to the Old Post Office. Its location a block from the 8th & Pine MetroLink line and within a few blocks of other garages wasn’t good enough. The Downtown Now plan from a decade ago called for saving the context around the Post Office and for there to be no parking garages facing the building. But ignoring the plan’s call for no garages facing the building, where to place a garage? Three sides have historic structures while the North side has already lost it’s historic buildings and is surface parking. Three historic blockfaces and one missing. So the plan was to raze a second blockface rather than utilize the existing missing tooth. Brilliant! Nice job Francis.

This actually connects back to Schoemehl’s legacy a few blocks away. The state of Missouri has offices at the Wainright Building and had parking where the May Amphitheater is now. Once Schoemehl had finished razing what was known as “real estate row” parking was supposed to be built underground for the state. The last two blocks got done in the 90s without any underground parking for the state. These are the two blocks being redone again as a sculpture garden. So when it came to locating state courts and offices in the Old Post Office the state didn’t want to get screwed over again.

We almost need to keep reelecting Mayor Slay. Each Mayor for decades has a legacy of destruction in our city. If we keep Slay around hopefully he is done with the Century and thus the balance of our historic structures are safe. Mayor Slay’s 2nd term ends next Spring. If we elect someone new then we must worry about how they are going to put their mark on the city.

No matter who we have as Mayor the National Trust for Historic Preservation Demolition will be there ready to sign off on the demolition of a historic structure in exchange for a hefty fee. It’s reassuring to know some things don’t change.

I Didn’t Know What To Do With a Hair Brush

People seem to miss the obvious such as the crosswalk that didn’t align with the curb ramps or the curb ramp at the bottom of stairs. Following my stroke I was in three hospitals over three months. Overall I’d say I received good treatment.

However it makes you a bit nervous when they miss the obvious. In my first few weeks they had me sedated so I hadn’t clue what was going on around me. Apparently I’d respond to people talking to me — using facial gestures and shaking my head. They were trying to determine how much brain damage had suffered and thus how much of my functions I might regain.

My friends tell me they medical staff thought it was good that when they handed me a toothbrush I knew what to do with it. However they were concerned because I appeared clueless at what to do with a hairbrush. If you’ve seen my picture or met me you know that for a good seven years or so I’ve kept my head shaved. For years before that I had very short clipped hair. So to hand a guy with a shaved head (now with a couple of weeks of stubble) a hairbrush is just plain stupid.

A few weeks as I was awake and receiving therapy I was so happy when the therapist said I was going to get to work on shaving. I had quite the stubble on my face and head by this point. Again for about 7-8 years shaving meant shaving my head and face. Naturally I begin to apply shaving cream to my head. The therapist stops me. In a report I read later it was noted that I was “confused” because I applied lotion to my head. I wasn’t confused at all — I felt like a hippie with 6 weeks of growth on my head. The obvious was missed. Granted I was not really in the best shape to be taking a razor to my head but confused I was not. Well, at least not about that.

I convinced a friend to bring in my clippers and to buy me an electric shaver. One way or another my head was getting shaved.

This is just one example of where trained professionals missed the obvious. Perhaps they always use the toothbrush and hairbrush as measures of cognitive ability? But handing a guy with a shaved head a hairbrush is like handing someone with false teeth a toothbrush.

Often it takes a third party to point out things like “he’s bald” or why put a ramp at a staircase. Professionals do f-up. That is why architects & engineers carry Errors & Omission insurance.  The obvious isn’t always obvious to everyone.

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Examples of the Passenger Loading Zone that the Chaifetz Arena Lacks

Last week I did a piece on the poor accessibility at Saint Louis University’s new $80+ million Chaifetz Arena. The new sidewalk removed at prior curb cut which permitted wheelchair users to cross Compton at Laclede. The new facility lacks a proper passenger loading zone.  Eighty million and the accessibility is worth about a buck fifty.

The SLU Men’s basketball team had been playing at the Scottrade Center built in 1994:

The zone gives a place for a car to pull out of the street to let someone out or pick someone up. You can see the curb ramp to facilitate helping someone in a wheelchair. This facility opened in 1994.

Just down Clark we have Busch Stadium which opened in 2006:

On the other side of the Central Business District is the Edward Jones Dome. I visited that facility recently just prior to a home Rams game and noticed an excellent loading zone:

The ADA standards require:

Passenger loading zones shall provide an access aisle at least 60 in (1525 mm) wide and 20 ft (240 in)(6100 mm) long adjacent and parallel to the vehicle pull-up space (see Fig. 10). If there are curbs between the access aisle and the vehicle pull-up space, then a curb ramp complying with 4.7 shall be provided. Vehicle standing spaces and access aisles shall be level with surface slopes not exceeding 1:50 (2%) in all directions.

Chaifetz fails the above.  All that Chaifetz has is the outside parking lane marked for no parking and some guys to lift a chair onto the sidewalk due to the lack of even a single curb ramp.

No 5ft aisle space, no curb ramp.  The designers had three good examples in town to serve as examples for their new 10,600 seat facilit.  This sends a strong message the disabled are not welcome at Chaifetz. Clearly no thought was given about their arrival points and access issues.

Brilliance Continues at Loughborough Commons

I’ve gotten lots of good material from Loughborough Commons over the last couple of years. They start off by taking homes on the corner of their large site. They open the Schnuck’s without any pedestrian access from the public street (including a bus stop used by employees and customers). The Lowes still lacks a pedestrian access route as required under federal civil rights law, the ADA.

One of my favorites was the curb ramp at the bottom of a flight of stairs:

I also enjoyed the half buried fire hydrant:

But they managed to correct this:

Note the pedestrian crossing in the upper left. Behind me is parking, including a couple of disabled spots. However people parking behind me have no way to get to this sidewalk, curb cut and crossing unless they have the ability to walk through the planter that separates the parking from the walk. But that is OK because they’ve got you covered:

Brilliant! They have two crosswalks 20ft apart and one is of little use to those its intended to serve.  The hydrant, walk and crosswalk from above is at the front of the vehicle in the above image.

Last month the Suburban Journal reported a Fifth Third Bank branch and a Burger King will be built on two of the four outlots. Of course these two are also required by the ADA to have a pedestrian access route to their front doors. We’ll see if that happens or if they end up out of compliance like the Lowe’s.

But hey, had they built a nice urban mixed use project on this site I’d have nothing to complain or laugh about. Again, they have provided me with a wealth of content. I have a feeling the bank and Burger King will simply be more of the same.

Food, Clothing and Shelter

The basics of life.  We need food for nutrition to keep our bodies going.  We need clothing to cover our bodies for a sense of modesty and in the winter warmth.  We need shelter as a place to rest our fed and clothed bodies.  Everything else is a luxury.  Cable, Cars, and even my iPhone – all luxuries.  For many in our society they don’t have the three basics, most notably shelter.

My first class back at SLU this Fall is a law class called Housing & Community Development.  Our reading for today was on the right to housing.  Do we have a right to be provided shelter if we are outside the margins for private housing?

The goal of the Federal Housing Act of 1949 was a “decent home…for every American family.”  That is a tall order.  Since that act became law government has had many programs designed to accomplish that goal.  Everything from building housing to rent vouchers have been tried.  Yet we still have Americans that are homeless and others with less than decent shelter.

Clearly the private market doesn’t work for everyone. Was the goal of a decent home for every American family simply too ambitious?  Well, I have reading to finish – discuss.