One hundred forty years ago the Eads Bridge opened after seven years of construction:
The structure was dedicated 4 July, 1874. It had a double deck structure. The upper deck extended over the entire width with a vehicular roadway and two pedestrian walkways. In 1947, this deck was replaced with concrete filled “I Beam Lok” and the roadway was widened to 41 feet. The original highway deck had consisted of treated gum flooring and wood stringers supported on steel floor beams. There were two “street car” tracks at floor level. The trolleys stopped running on the bridge in 1935, and the track work was removed in 1942. (St. Louis History — recommended!)
Wow, wood flooring!
Looking east, May 2011Eads Bridge with the Admiral in early 1991
Hopefully civic leaders will come up with a great way to celebrate the Eads Bridge on its 150th a decade from now. Happy Birthday America & Eads Bridge!!
In the poll last week more than two-thirds of readers the voted clearly support Tishaura Jones’ decision to continue enforcement of parking meters.
Q: Should the St. Louis Treasurer suspend parking meter enforcement during downtown events?
No 99 [67.81%]
Yes 41 [28.08%]
Maybe 5 [3.42%]
Unsure/No Opinion 1 [0.68%]
Yes, but only for the Komen Race 0 [0%]
I agree with Jones and those who voted no, too many events to say parking is free. How far away from the event would be free? What about events held elsewhere, would those events also have free parking too? Look, I’m sorry the Komen Race organizers failed to make it clear to participants that on-street parking hasn’t been free since July 2013. The ticket is only $10, take transit or carpool next year.
Five years ago today Citygarden was officially opened to the public. I want to talk about five big design flaws, but first some background and a few of the many positives.
The two blocks of Citygarden were cleared of some historic buildings in the early 90s to create “passive space.” They were too passive! Photo date: May 12, 2006Both blocks were fenced off for more than a year as workers built Citygarden. Photo date May 17, 2008.Mayor Slay at the opening on June 30, 2009. Instead of cutting a ribbon Slay called the mechanical room to have the splash fountains turned on.Splash fountains at night, October 2011Lighting is part of what makes Citygarden so special, September 2011A friend’s grandsons love ringing the bells. This photo is from June 2011, they’re much bigger now and they have a younger sister.
I’ve spent a lot of time in Citygarden in the last five years, observing the good & bad. Here are the five biggest flaws at Citygarden:
Didn’t plan for continuation of Gateway Mall “Hallway” to the east & west
Lack of curb bulbs on perimeter streets (8th, Market, 10th, Chestnut) — see map
Keeping 9th Street closed
No public restroom
Restaurant space
Let’s take a look at each:
1) Didn’t plan for continuation of Gateway Mall “Hallway” to the east & west
One the best things about the Gateway Mall Master Plan was the idea of a wide “hallway” running the length of the mall, Citygarden got things going with the first two blocks. Had they built the east & west ends of these two blocks, at 8th & 10th, with continuation we might have be wen able to add another block or two to the Hallway by now. In the center, at 9th, they built the prototype for how the hallway would cross streets.
The line of sight matches the path you take on the hallway, imagine this from Broadway to 20th.At 8th Street the hallway comes to an terminus, to continue east the Citygarden end will need to be busted out and rebuilt how it should’ve been done originally. The fire hydrant will also need to be moved, a rather simple task when the project was being built from scratch in 2008-09.The same problem exists at the 10th Street end of the 2-block hallway, the finished side will need to be busted out and rebuilt correctly to continue west of 10th Street.
Had the ends at 8th & 10th been designed to match how the hallway crosses 9th Street it would be so much easier (cheaper) to continue. Either continuation wasn’t considered or the decision was made to not make it easy. The previous version of these two blocks (1994-2008) had a similar scheme of a wide walkway through an allée of trees with the hope of it extending. Never happened in its 14 years.
2) Lack of curb bulbs on perimeter streets (8th, Market, 10th, Chestnut)
At the south and north ends of 9th, Market & Chestnut, respectively, 9th was narrowed by “bulbing” the curb out to cap the parking lane, reducing the crossing distance. This is also mentioned in the Master Plan. Sadly, it was only done on 9th.
Looking east from 9th a rain garden/ bulb to cap the parking lane would’ve helped shorten the walk across Market
Had they done it at 10th and 8th too they could’ve extended the hallway mentioned above. This also would’ve helped crossing the too-wide Market Street and Chestnut. The master plan called for a 20-direction bike lane along the north side of Market, but the planners could never describe how that would work with signals, entry/exit, etc.
3) Keeping 9th Street closed
Initially 9th Street was supposed to be reopened the vehicles once Citygarden was completed, 9th is one-way northbound. But some wanted to closed permanently.
Colorful barricades close off 9th Street to vehicles, the old fire ice cream truck is allowed in to vend
Initially they’d move the barricades late at night to allow traffic through, not sure if they still do that. One-way couplets only work if streets remain open in opposite directions, 8th & 10th are both one-way southbound. Except that now, because of Ballpark Village, 8th is two-way south of Market. We have a poorly functioning downtown grid of one-way & two-way streets, each with random blocks closed to traffic. Maddening.
I think part of the reason they wanted 9th kept closed is they quickly realized nobody had considered pedestrian signals at the hallway crossing 9th (nor at Chestnut). Oops. Once again pedestrians weren’t given proper consideration.
4) No public restroom
The Gateway Foundation spent tens of millions of dollars building Citygarden, and for the most part it is a world-class facility.
Half the year twi port potties are on the 10th street sidewalk on the west end of Citygarden — classy!
Really? All that money but no place to use the bathroom? The simplest fix now is to extend the hallway one block west to incorporate the Twain block, adding a modern restroom structure off of the hallway in that block. I suggested as much in 2010.
5) Restaurant space
The third restaurant opened recently in the restaurant space in the northeast corner (8th & Chestnut. Architecturally the building is a looker, the main reasons the first two places failed were poor service (The Terrace View) and food & service (Joe’s Chili Bowl). I ate at both more than once, because of the ambiance. I met a friend for lunch at Death in the Afternoon on Friday, I was impressed with both the food & service. Others seemed to be impressed too as the place quickly filled for lunch.
Interior of the restaurant on FridayOutside tables were also busy
The previous problems were service (2) and food (1), so why is the building a flaw? The problems are on the Chestnut side.
This cool-looking overhang onto the Chestnut sidewalk can’t be ADA-compliant, a visually impaired person could walk right into the building.The facade to the public street (Chestnut) isn’t welcoming. I know, it’s designed to face the garden. They could’ve grown vines over this side or done something to soften it. Mount menu boards so passersby could read the menu to see if they wanted to go around to the front.The previous modern sink in the unisex bathroom I used has been replaced by a traditional-looking non-ADA compliant pedestal.
These five flaws need to be addressed. A 6th, a poorly-built ADA ramp at 10th & Chestnut, got replaced a couple of years ago after I finally made a formal complaint with the city. The City of St. Louis owns the land but the Gateway Foundation funded, designed, built and manages Citygarden.
My wife, who is a cancer survivor, attended the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure walk on Saturday. We parked on the street at 17th and Locust to join the event. No one paid the meter; we were the last space on the block, so we assumed the city waived parking fees.
Two hours later, we arrived back at the car and saw every car was ticketed. The city and Mayor Slay should be ashamed! Attila the Hun had better PR techniques. When 30,000-plus people come to downtown for such a worthwhile event, all meters in the area should be free for the morning hours.
Tom Carpenter • Shiloh
This prompted a response from Treasurer Tishaura Jones:
The St. Louis City treasurer issued a statement on Tuesday addressing parking meter enforcement during Saturday’s Susan G. Komen St. Louis Race for the Cure. Some people were ticketed during the race, and this is the first year parking meters were enforced since the office decided in July to start charging for metered parking on Saturdays.
Treasurer Tishaura O. Jones defended the meter enforcement, praising the race and the other events held downtown, and pointing out that if they offered free metered parking for one event they would have to offer it to everyone. (stltoday)
The poll this week asks if you think the St. Louis treasurer should suspend parking meter enforcement during downtown events. Parking meters are enforced Monday-Saturday, no charge on Sunday. The poll is in the right sidebar.
For years the Partnership for Downtown St. Louis opposed food carts/trucks, saying they were unfair competition to brick & mortar restaurants.
Food truckle on Locust for a Partnership for Downtown lunchtime event on Tuesday
I’m glad to see they’re finally on board with mobile food. Here’s the info from Tuesday:
Lunchtime Live! What: Lunchtime Live! Concert Series
Where: Old Post Office Plaza (8th & Locust)
When: Every Tuesday, May – September (11:30 am – 1:30 pm)
More Information: 314-436-6500 ext. 237 or lvanquaethem@downtownstl.org
The Partnership for Downtown St. Louis is scheduled to present Lunchtime Live!, a concert series at the Old Post Office Plaza, occurring every Tuesday, May – September. The Old Post Office Plaza is a unique 30,000 square-foot open space that is surrounded by restaurants, hotels, office and residential buildings, right in the heart of Downtown.
Each week, a different band will perform and an assortment of Food Trucks will be featured. This week (6/10) we invite you to listen to the musical stylings of the Trixie Delighter and enjoy delicious food from Bombay Food Junkies, Guerilla, My Big Fat Greek Truck and Sweet Divine! (source)
Given that no food establishments face their Old Post Office Plaza the options for food are limited. Brick & mortar restaurants aren’t going to prepare food, set up tents, during the lunch rush hour to sell to a smallish crowd. I think more activities and more food trucks will attract more people, benefitting everyone. I’m glad to see they’ve changed their policy.
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