Stifel Missed Opportunity For Good Urbanism

I’m a fan of public art, but I’m a bigger fan of active urban corners. I’ll explain the missed opportunity at the end, first let’s look at the corner of Stifel’s building known as One Financial Plaza.

So what’s the missed opportunity? This would’ve been the perfect time to activate the street level of the building, the corner in particular. Imagine a 24 hour Walgreens or CVS with a glass corner entry. Or a coffee shop/cafe, newsstand, etc.  Something more interesting than seeing the closed vertical window blinds of office workers.

They can still create an active corner on the west side, at 6th — facing MetroLink.

— Steve Patterson

Riverfront Groundbreaking Held

Yesterday a ground breaking was held for the riverfront portion of the CityArchRiver project. Sitting there listening to the speakers I realized the enormity of the project, just how many federal, state, & local agencies are involved.

Reminded me of how long it took to get the Arch in the first place. It was nearly 35 years from the time the idea of a riverfront memorial (December 15, 1933) to the dedication (May 25, 1968). Even then, the landscaping wasn’t completed.

On October 28, 2015 I’m sure some will be critical of what isn’t complete. In 2017 we can celebrate the 50th anniversary of the trams or in 2018 the 50th anniversary of the original dedication, more will be completed by then.

The next couple of years will be interesting, I hope the new visitor experience being built pays off over the coming 50 years.

— Steve Patterson

The Former 16th Street For Able-Bodied Pedestrians Only

In 1951 the Plaza Square urban renewal area was defined. More than a decade later, in 1962, six new apartment buildings finally opened on four city blocks that were completely razed, except for two churches, which remained. In addition to removing hundreds of existing buildings, 16th Street was also removed. Both churches and two of the six buildings fronted a new pedestrian-only walkway where 16th Street had been. For over 50 years this has remained mostly unchanged, and, I’ll argue, has been part of the reason behind the decline in the area.

First, some background provided by city staff highlighted in a 1970 report:

In 1951, shortly after the establishment of the Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority, Plaza Square became a federally-assisted Title I Urban Renewal Project. A bond issue for the project was submitted to voters in 1953 and failed, but was approved later in that year. Execution began in 1954 and rebuilding was done by the Urban Redevelopment Corporation. The Federal Government defrayed two-thirds of the $2,618,000 loss incurred in the write-down and the City bore the remaining third. By developing a park and making street and utility improvements in the area, the City exceeded its required contribution by $114,500. This was applied as credit to the cost of another project at a later date.  

The present 16-acre, $20 million Plaza Square Apartment project completed in 1962, contains 1,090 apartments in six multi-story buildings. In addition, it includes two rehabilitated churches with expanded sites, a small park, shopping facilities, and a $2 million office building for the Blue Cross Group Hospital Service. The Plaza Project also has been a significant link in the concept for an East-West Axial Mall extending from Aloe Plaza eastward to the riverfront arch.   

In the mid-1960’s, occupancy lagged in the project. In 1966, in an attempt to alleviate this problem, the Bethesda Foundation took title to one of the buildings. The Bethesda Townhouse is now a non-profit residence for senior citizens who lease the dwelling units for life. By 1970, the occupancy rate had reached 88% in the Plaza Square Project.

The success of Plaza Square has had far reaching consequences since it was the first of its kind in the City. One of the most important aspects was the fact that Federally assisted renewal program encouraged private investment in the reconstruction of the City. Its success provided the stimulus for later revitalization projects such as the Civic Center redevelopment.(History of Renewal)

The non-profit building for seniors later became the Blu condos, many of which became rentals or were sold at auction. This post is a look at the pedestrian-only path left after 16th Street was removed. This matters to me personally because I live at 16th & Locust and need to reach the bus stop & city offices at 16th & Market (map).

Few people use the former 16th Street walkway, it’s dark, narrow, uneven, and uninviting. I’m forced to take 17th, 15th or 14th instead. Like I said at the opening, I think this dead walkway has been a contributor to problems in the Plaza Square area.When the general public avoids an area and when a church erects a fence to keep out unsavory activity then you know a problem exists — a problem created by the poor design. It performs the opposite of how it was intended, a safe & pleasant car-free zone.

Cars are activity generators. The drivers are eyes on the street, police can drive down streets.

I’d like to see the community look at all options for 16th, including:

1. Revising the walkway so it is ADA-compliant.
2. Remaking the walkway so it is wider, more inviting and ADA-compliant.
3. Reopening 16th Street to traffic, on the same scale as north 14th in Old North. Both were a 60 foot public right-of-way.
4. Making Chestnut and Pine two-way streets again

I met with clergy from both churches, neither likes the idea of losing parking or the space in front of each respective entrance. Meanwhile, the owner of four of the six Plaza Square buildings wants to build a parking garage between two of the buildings, without losing the historic designation needed for tax credits (via NextSTL).

— Steve Patterson

Arch Topping 50th Anniversary Just Two Years Away

Two years from today marks the 50th anniversary of the topping of the Gateway Arch. October 28th wasn’t the original date, but delays happen:

President Lyndon B. Johnson and Mayor Alfonso J. Cervantes decided on a date for the topping out ceremony, but the arch had not been completed by then. The ceremony date was reset to October 17, 1965, and workers strained to meet the deadline, taking double shifts, but by October 17, the arch was still not complete. The chairman of the ceremony anticipated the ceremony to be held on October 30, a Saturday, to allow 1,500 schoolchildren, whose signatures were to be placed in a time capsule, to attend. Ultimately, the Pittsburgh-Des Moines Steel(Warren, Pa) set the ceremony date to October 28.

The time capsule, containing the signatures of 762,000 students and others, was welded into the keystone before the final piece was set in place. On October 28, the arch was topped out as then Vice President Hubert Humphrey observed from a helicopter. A Catholic priest and a rabbi prayed over the keystone, a 10 short tons (9.1 t), 8 feet (2.4 m)-long triangular section. It was slated to be inserted at 10:00 a.m. local time but was done 30 minutes early because thermal expansion had constricted the 8.5-foot gap at the top by 5 inches (13 cm). To mitigate this, workers used fire hoses to spray water on the surface of the south leg to cool it down and make it contract. The keystone was inserted in 13 minutes,[30] only 6 inches (15 cm) remained. For the next section, a hydraulic jack had to pry apart the legs six feet. The last section was left only 2.5 feet (0.76 m). By 12:00 p.m., the keystone was secured. Some filmmakers, in hope that the two legs would not meet, had chronicled every phase of construction. (Wikipedia)

So 48 years ago delays were common. In fact, it was years later before the Arch opened to visitors. Landscaping came later as well.

What will be completed in two years, what won’t be? Word is still that Kiener Plaza will be done as this is key to directing visitors to the newly planned museum entrance from various downtown parking garages.  That must happen so the existing garage on the north end can be razed.

— Steve Patterson

Gravel on Sidewalk Next to MetroBus Stop

For a couple of years I’ve  come across a problem that I hadn’t addressed, until now.

The few times I’ve been through here I’ve gotten through without getting struck, it seems the sidewalk underneath the gravel is just fine. Still it’s annoying to me and I’m sure it is to any pedestrian trying to catch the bus, or visit the Downtown Children’s Center in the background.

I checked Google’s street view where this doesn’t appear but the lot has bare dirt. My guess is the gravel was placed on the dirt to prevent erosion. Well, the dirt isn’t washing away…

I’m going to send this to the Streets Dept and to Metro, hopefully between the two the gravel will get removed. If an adjacent property owner is at fault, I hope they get billed for the cleanup costs.

— Steve Patterson