Planning Commission To Hear Appeal On Denial Of Permit To Raze Historic Pevely Dairy (Update w/Agenda)

I have a note on my calendar that the St. Louis Planning Commission will hear an appeal of the Preservation Board’s decision in December 2011 to uphold the staff denial of Saint Louis University’s demolition requet for the historic Pevely Dairy at Grand & Chouteau tomorrow. Yesterday I tried to confirm this but was unable to do so online.

ABOVE: Screen shot of Planning Commission "meeting materials" page taken 2/20/2012, click to view live

All I got was two links to an agenda from March 2011 — neither of which worked. Frustrating! The main page gave me some general information on the Planning Commission:

The thirteen-member Planning Commission adopts and amends the comprehensive Strategic Land Use Plan and General Land Use Plan for the City of St. Louis.

The Commission adopts zoning ordinances and makes decisions on some variance and all rezoning petitions, thereby guiding the development and redevelopment of the City. It also renews blighting studies and redevelopment plans and provides recommendations to the Board of Aldermen.

The Planning Commission consists of thirteen members. The following city officials are members: The President of the Board of Public Service and the Chairs of the Transportation and Housing, Urban Development and Zoning Committees of the Board of Aldermen. The Mayor, Comptroller and President of the Board of Aldermen each designate one member. The Mayor appoints the seven remaining members (“citizen members”).

The directors of the Departments of Parks, Recreation and Forestry, Public Safety, Public Utilities and Streets serve as advisors to the Commission.

I emailed a couple of people and confirmed the Planning Commission will indeed hear an appeal to raze the Pevely Dairy at their meeting tomorrow:

The Planning Commission meets the first Wednesday of every month at 5:30 P.M. Meetings are held at the Planning & Urban Design Agency office located at 1015 Locust Street, Suite 1200 and are open to the public unless otherwise posted.

Hopefully the room will be packed with people supportive of the Preservation Board’s decision.

ABOVE: The historic Pevely Dairy maintains the building line at both Grand & Chouteau

I’ll be at the meeting, will you? Update: view the agenda here.

- Steve Patterson

Poor Pedestrian Accessibly at Saint Louis (Panera) Bread Co on Chippewa St. at Lansdowne Ave

The comments on a recent post brought up the issue of poor pedestrian accessibility at the Saint Louis Bread Co on Chippewa St at Lansdowne Ave and the fact they added a drive-thru to the existing location last year at a cost of $125,000 (per city records).

ABOVE: Recently added drive-thru lane at the Saint Louis Bread Co at 6607 Chippewa, click image to view aerial in Google Maps

The building at 6607 Chippewa was built in 1974 but became the present Saint Louis Bread Co after a major remodel in 2000, a decade after President George H.W. Bush signed the American’s with Disabilities Act (ADA) into law. Like most places in this part of town, most customers arrive by private automobile, that’s how I arrived earlier this month.

ABOVE: Easy access from disabled parking, my car is the vehicle on the left

The location is in the Lindenwood Park neighborhood and across the street from the St. Louis Hills neighborhood.  Both neighborhoods include many people who walk recreationally. The Saint Louis Bread Co likely has a fair number of employees that arrive as pedestrians via MetroBus (#10 or #30).

ABOVE: Accessibility in the public right-of-way is good with ramps, crosswalks and signals to assist crossing Chippewa St

Public sidewalks and public transportation is equality important with respect to accessible route:

4.3.2 Location.

(1) At least one accessible route within the boundary of the site shall be provided from public transportation stops, accessible parking, and accessible passenger loading zones, and public streets or sidewalks to the accessible building entrance they serve. The accessible route shall, to the maximum extent feasible, coincide with the route for the general public. (Source: ADA Accessibility Guidelines)

They are good on the route from accessible parking but they fail to provide a route from “public transportation stops…and public streets or sidewalks.”  There is no “or” in guideline 4.3.2.1, it’s clear a route must be provided for all. Since most public transportation stops happen in the public right-of-way you cover access from a public sidewalk you’ve got transportation covered as well.

ABOVE: The only pedestrian entry point is a stair on the SW corner of the building

ABOVE: The stair doesn't meet the ADA guidelines regarding railing design, click image to read guidelines

The stair as numerous issues, the railings don’t extend beyond the last step. One addition step exists beyond the stair and it does’t have a railing.

ABOVE: A switchback ramp should have been constructed in the above space in 2000, click image for ramp guidelines

In 2000 and in 2011 they made substantial alterations to the property yet they failed to correct the lack of a proper pedestrian access route. I will follow this until a pedestrian access route is finally provided.

- Steve Patterson

Poll: Will Komen St. Louis Suffer From Recent National Controversy?

At the start of the month the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation implemented a new funding policy that would cease funding $680,000/yr in breast cancer services at Planned Parenthood, setting off a huge backlash against Komen. On February 3rd the new policy was reversed:

After Komen’s decision to end the grants became public, Planned Parenthood raised about $3 million in pledges from more than 10,000 donors, Cecile Richards, Planned Parenthood’s president, said in a call with reporters. Komen announced its reversal in a statement today with an apology “to the American public” from Chief Executive Officer Nancy Brinker. (Bloomberg)

On Facebook, many of my friends said they were done with Komen which got me wondering about the annual fundraiser in St. Louis.

ABOVE: The fountain at Kiener Plaza is pink in preparation for the big event last year

ABOVE: Thousands come out to support the participants

ABOVE: Thousands of women, men and children in last year's St. Louis Race for the Cure.

Will the 2012 event have fewer participants than the 64,461 last year?

The 14th annual Susan G. Komen St. Louis Race for the Cure® will take place in downtown St. Louis on Saturday, June 23, 2012.

Sharon Korn and Stacy Kingston will serve as volunteer co-chairs of the 2012 Komen St. Louis Race for the Cure.

“I look forward to seeing a huge crowd gathered in downtown St. Louis on the morning of June 23,” said Korn. “It’s such an exciting day and a meaningful event that directly benefits those in need in our community. I am so honored to be a part of it.”

In June 2011, the Komen St. Louis Race for the Cure welcomed 64,461 participants. The event raised more than $3.1 million in the fight to end breast cancer forever.

Up to 75 percent of the net money raised by the Komen St. Louis Affiliate stays in the St. Louis area to fund screening, treatment, education and research programs. A minimum of 25 percent of money raised goes to the national Susan G. Komen for the Cure Research and Awards Program® specifically to fund research. (Komen St. Louis)

This is the setup for the poll question this week — see right sidebar.

- Steve Patterson

Spring Equinox is a Month Away

We may be buried under snow and have freezing temperatures but the Spring Equinox begins on March 20th — 31 days away.

An equinox occurs twice a year, when the tilt of the Earth’s axis is inclined neither away from nor towards the Sun, the center of the Sun being in the same plane as the Earth’s equator. The term equinox can also be used in a broader sense, meaning the date when such a passage happens. The name “equinox” is derived from the Latin aequus (equal) and nox (night), because around the equinox, the night and day have approximately equal length.

At an equinox, the Sun is at one of two opposite points on the celestial sphere where the celestial equator (i.e. declination 0) and ecliptic intersect. These points of intersection are called equinoctial points: classically, the vernal point and the autumnal point. By extension, the term equinox may denote an equinoctial point.

An equinox happens each year at two specific moments in time (rather than two whole days), when there is a location (the subsolar point) on the Earth’s equator, where the center of the Sun can be observed to be vertically overhead, occurring around March 20/21 and September 22/23 each year. (Wikipedia)

ABOVE: Forest Park

I don’t know about you but I’m ready for green grass and warmer temperatures.  As Winters go ours has been mild, hopefully our Summer will also be mild.

- Steve Patterson

Utility Crews A Sign of Progress on Tucker Boulevard

Work continues on rebuilding Tucker Blvd (12th), continuing southward in phases. Now that work on removing the old road built over a railroad tunnel is getting closer to Washington Ave utility crews can be seen more frequently.

ABOVE: Utility work at Tucker & Washington, January 30, 2012

As with most construction there have been inconveniences but soon Tucker will play a new role as a major in/out route for downtown from the north.

- Steve Patterson

Former City Hospital Power Plant to Include Rock Climbing Gym, Banquet Hall, Rooftop Dining

An interesting new concept will open for business next month:

Is St. Louis ready for one of the tallest bouldering walls in the nation? Or a banquet facility where attendees can watch rock climbers scale a 55-foot wall? Or a corporate party that includes rock climbing? Ready or not, Climb So iLL will be opening in the historic City Hospital Power Plant in mid-March. (St. Louis Business Journal)

You’ll be able to grab lunch at a restaurant while viewing the climbing space.

ABOVE: Former City Hospital power house, September 2011

This is a creative  use of a difficult building:

Listed on the city’s historical registry, the Power Plant supplied power to the St. Louis City Hospital for nearly 50 years. The City Hospital complex is made up of several buildings including the Laundry Building, the Administrative Complex, the City Hospital itself, and the Power Plant.

 The once abandoned City Hospital has been renovated into the Georgian Condominiums, and the Laundry Building is now home to the Palladium Banquet Center. Several other construction projects are underway on the site. Phase two of construction hopes to bring with it a bakery, a micro-brewery, a locally-grown food processing distribution center, and a hotel. (climbsoill.com)

It has been nice seeing the City Hospital site develop over time. The streets and sidewalks have been in place and one by one the development is filling in between.

ABOVE: The interior didn't look like anything last September during a pre-construction tour

This is an example of what I was talking about the other day regarding The Bottle District – the planning was done and the infrastructure (streets & sidewalks) to connect development parcels within the site and to the adjacent neighborhoods. As demand and financing becomes available vacant buildings are renovated and occupied and new construction is built to fill in other areas.

We need more of this — plan the site, put the infrastructure in place and build/renovate over time. The developer of the site isn’t responsible for financing all the future renovations and new construction at the beginning. For more info and artist renderings of the rock climbing gym see climbsoill.com.

- Steve Patterson

‘Schoemehl Pots’ Need To Be Maintained Or Removed

When I voted last week I walked by this pot in the center of a walkway near 10th Street, next to Henry School. The walkway was once a public street.

Attractive huh? I’m sure these have a proper name but I’ve always liked the term “Schoemehl Pot,” a name based on their use starting during the administration of former mayor Vincent Schoemehl.

ABOVE: "Schoemehl Pots" used at N 22nd & Newhouse Ave, click image to view aerial in Google Maps

Most often they are used to destroy our street grid. Sometimes they are planted nicely but most often I see them full of trash, weeds, or both. In these cases they are not a positive part of the community but just another symbol of failed urban policies.

I’d like to see a study done of how many of these are scattered around the city and in what condition they are in. Just like broken windows or boarded up buildings, these foster negative behavior. I’d like to many, if not most, removed.

 - Steve Patterson

The Bottle Undistrict

The soft drink 7-Up was once marketed as the uncola. For years now people have been trying to market the vacant land and a vacant warehouse north of the Edwards Jones Dome as The Bottle District. The first post where I mentioned The Bottle District was in August 2005 (Thoughts on St. Louis’ Proposed Riverfront Makeover, Lid Over I-70 and Mississippi River Bridge).

The Bottle District is a six-block area north of Downtown St. Louis, Missouri that is being redeveloped as a mixed-use entertainment and residential district. The area is located north of the city’s convention center and west of Laclede’s Landing.

The district is located in what was once known as the Kerry Patch neighborhood of the city, which was home to thousands of Irish immigrants in the 19th Century. The neighborhood gradually became more industrial in nature. In the 1920s this area was famous for animal stockyards and bottling companies.

McGuire Moving and Storage Company, a longtime business located in the area, announced plans for redeveloping the district as an entertainment destination in 2004. Noted architect Daniel Libeskind was hired to design the district. The Ghazi Company of Charlotte, North Carolina is the co-developer of the Bottle District.

The first phase of the redevelopment is scheduled to open in 2007. A groundbreaking ceremony was held on September 27, 2005. The first phase will include a Rawlings Sports museum, a Grand Prix Speedways kart-racing center, a boutique bowling alley, 250 residential units, and several restaurants. The first phase of the development is anticipated to cost $290 million and is being funded in part by $51.3 million in tax increment financing.

Several explanations for the origin of the name of the Bottle District have been given. It has been suggested that the name honors the longstanding connection between St. Louis and the brewing and bottling industries. Others have suggested that the name comes from bottles found buried on the property, or the many broken bottles found in the neighborhood. Finally, the site is noted for a decades old, 34-foot-tall (10 m) advertisement for Vess Soda, shaped like a bottle, which the developers intend to restore during the redevelopment. (Wikipedia)

Here we are years later and this district remains anything but a district. To me it’s The Bottle Undistrict.

ABOVE: The neon-covered Vess bottle for which the area is named, Vessville didn't have a good ring

ABOVE: The bottle itself isn't looking so refreshing

ABOVE: The bottle with the Arch in the background, both familiar shapes

The problem here is this has been developer-driven planning. Big picture urban planning would have looked at how to develop this land and connect it to the west, the former Cochran public housing project, now the nice mixed-income Cambridge Heights neighborhood and renovated Neighborhood Gardens apartment development from 1935. Developers rarely think beyond the borders of their property, that takes municipal planning to knit together private parcels into a cohesive city.

We should be planning now for when the new I-70 bridge opens to the north, allowing the replacement of the highway lanes with a high volume boulevard instead. This district could then front onto the boulevard and more easily connect to the east. But our leadership doesn’t get it, to them the 1970 way is just fine.

- Steve Patterson

New Mission & Neighborhood for Ittner’s Henry School

Last year’s redistricting meant I was now in the 5th ward, rather than the 6th. As such my polling place for voting changed from the senior apartment building on Olive west of Jefferson to Patrick Henry Elementary on North 10th St.

ABOVE: Henry Elementary at 1220 N. 10th, click image to view in Google Maps

It’s official name is now Patrick Henry Downtown Academy:

Nestled in the heart of downtown St. Louis, Patrick Henry Downtown Academy, located at 1220 N. 10th Street, offers a tuition-free world-class urban educational experience for children grades Pre-K-6th. We are beginning the first phase in the implementation of a GREEN School Model. We will emphasize ecological sustainability, environmental health, nutrition, personal responsibility, leadership and a comprehensive, high-quality academic program.

Patrick Henry Downtown Academy will serve as a unique springboard for students who will be at the forefront of the industries and disciplines of the 21st Century. There will be an emphasis on the environmental sciences, energy alternatives and conservation, recycling, organic gardening and the food sciences, and the emerging “green” economy, students will focus on developing the math, science, writing and “hands-on” skills that will make them successful leaders to make a difference in improving the environment for humanity. Our goal is to be the first urban GREEN Model Pilot School in the country! (Saint Louis Public Schools).

The Henry school is one of many designed by architect William B. Ittner (Landmarks Association, Wikipedia). Voters entered through a basement entry to get to the small gym so the areas I saw weren’t grand spaces designed by Ittner. They were nice and clean and students going from class to class were well behaved. School staff were clearly in charge of the students. Those working the polls were helpful.

Last November I voted absentee but I’m glad I went in person on Tuesday, even though I had to walk down numerous steps. The area to the east was the Cochran Gardens high-rise public housing projects. Cochran has been replaced by Cambridge Heights, a mixed income neighborhood. Now that construction is nearly complete I’ll be visiting and posting about the changes, including pictures of the high-rise buildings before they were razed.

- Steve Patterson

One Block of Cherokee Street Took 17 Years to Build

My friend suggested we meet for lunch at Tower Tacos on Cherokee. I knew that meant I’d have to drive there and he could walk, but I rarely pass up lunch on Cherokee.

ABOVE: Tower Tacos at 3147 Cherokee is in the middle of a block, click to view in Google Maps

This side of Cherokee between Compton Ave on the west and Michigan Ave on the east contains seven buildings. At a casual glance I didn’t give much thought to them, they all looked like they were from the same period. Out of curiosity I decided to find out using Geo St. Louis, “a guide to geospatial data about the City of St. Louis.” What I found out was these seven buildings were built over a 17-year period (1896-1913):

1. The first, 3137 Cherokee, was built in 1896 , a two-flat originally. This was the second lot from the east, not the corner.
2. In 1905 a brick one story house was built to the lot to the west, at 3139 Cherokee. For nine years the other house stood alone, unless previous structures existed on this block.
3. In 1909 a corner storefront was built next door to the east at 3133 Cherokee. This is the corner at Michigan Ave. Now we’ve got three buildings in a row.
4. Also in 1909 a 2-story with first floor storefront space was built at 3147 Cherokee. This skipped a lot. This is now Tower Tacos
5. A year later, 1910,brick 4-family was built at 3143-45 Cherokee filling in the gap left the previous year. Five buildings now in a row.
6. In 1911 2-story with two storefronts and two flats was built on the next lot at 3151 Cherokee.
7. Finally in 1913 a large 2-story  building with storefronts & flats was built at 3155-59 Cherokee, finishing the block at Compton Ave.

It’s possible earlier frame or soft brick buildings existed on this block but I have no knowledge of such. The point? Development, residential & commercial, used to be done a building at a time based on demand. The financing package was limited to buying the lot and building a single structure.

Today all 42 buildings on city block 1502 would have been built at once — or at least in the same development package. After the first developer goes under someone else would come in to finish building on the remaining vacant lots. All the buildings would have the same basic look, the exact same brick color and the same setback from the sidewalk. Boring.

The days of people buying lots and building their own home are long gone but in parts of the country it’s not uncommon for a developer to create building lots and then have many builders buy those lots. Some would get built on a speculative basis and some would be custom for a specific buyer. For filling in vacant parts of the city I’d like to see us try the idea of separating the development of build-able lots and the construction of new buildings.

- Steve Patterson