The vacant 4-story warehouse building at 3519 Page Blvd is a favorite of mine, it was built in 1909.
ABOVE: Beautiful detailing on the Page Blvd facade
ABOVE: The simpler rear elevation of 3159 Page faces MLK Dr
The building and it’s 1926 neighbor to the west are owned by NorthSide Regeneration LLC, Paul McKee’s project. Hopefully this building will be renovated into office or residential space.
- Steve Patterson
Come downtown tomorrow morning for a parade to honor Iraq War veterans:
ABOVE: A family walks through St. Louis' Court of Honor, June 2010
The parade will step off at noon Saturday from Kiener Plaza and travel west on Market Street to Union Station. Inside Union Station, organizers plan to offer a “resource village” from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. where veterans can connect with service providers such as the Red Cross or Department of Veterans Affairs. Entertainment is planned from 3 to 8:30 p.m. (STLtoday.com)
While you are downtown along Market Street be sure to visit the Court of Honor (between 13th & 14th streets). The Court of Honor was the subject of my posts on Monday & Tuesday. Officials at the Soldiers’ Memorial say the space sees few visitors. The design of the space is remarkable from all sides, it opened Memorial Day 1948.
-Steve Patterson
Saturday January 6, 1912 a new library opened for the citizens of St. Louis. The St. Louis Library was started in 1865 and was located in various buildings until this structure opened a century ago.
ABOVE: South facade of the Central Library before renovation work started
The site contained a building, less than 30 years old, that was razed for the library:
The Central Library building at 13th and Olive was built in 1912 on a location formerly occupied by the St. Louis Exposition and Music Hall and was designed by Cass Gilbert. The main library for the city’s public library system has an oval central pavilion surrounded by four light courts. The outer facades of the free-standing building are of lightly rusticated Maine granite. The Olive Street front is disposed like a colossal arcade, with contrasting marble bas-relief panels. A projecting three-bay central block, like a pared-down triumphal arch, provides a monumental entrance. At the rear, the Central Library faces a sunken garden. The interiors feature some light-transmitting glass floors. The ceiling of the Periodicals Room is modified from Michelangelo’s ceiling in the Laurentian Library. Renovation and expansion of the building began in 2010 and is scheduled to finish in 2012 (Wikipedia)
The library is a complex building as described above and as seen below.
ABOVE: Central Library as viewed from the roof of the Park Pacific, May 2011
The library closed in mid-2010 to undergo an extensive top to bottom renovation (see Beacon story w/video). The library will reopen later this year, most likely in the fall.They’ve put together a great website on the history of the building and the renovation plans, click here to view (highly recommended).
Prior to the closure the administrative offices moved to a newer building across 14th Street, freeing up more space for public use.
ABOVE: Library administration is now housed in this building at 14th & Olive
I live two blocks west of the library, I can’t wait for it to reopen.
- Steve Patterson
The week between Christmas and New Year’s is always slow so I fill the days with odd little posts.
ABOVE: 1721 Hadley Street on December 22, 2011 (click for map)
Last week driving around I spotted this gem. The detailing on the front porch, the proportions and the cute side entry caused me to stop the car to get this picture. 1721 Hadley Street is a 1,714 sq foot house built in 1890. It’s owned by a couple on 13th Street. The main roof and back roof have both collapsed so this structure won’t be around long.
It faces the south end of the proposed Iron Horse Trestle:
The Trestle is an 1.5 mile abandoned railroad alignment purchased by Great Rivers Greenway. It is the same railroad alignment that connects from the McKinley Bridge to Branch Street and was renovated in 2007 as part of the McKinley Bridge Bikeway.
The Trestle project begins at Branch Street where it will connect with the Riverfront Trail and the existing McKinley Bridge Bikeway. The Trestle is elevated above North Market Street adjacent to Produce Row, the City’s fruit and vegetable wholesale district and continues as it crosses over Interstate 70. Offering views of downtown St. Louis, the Mississippi River and the adjacent neighborhoods. The Trestle touches down near the intersection of Howard and Hadley Avenues just north of the new Mississippi River Bridge.
Status:
Great Rivers Greenway purchased the Trestle in 2005 and in 2007 initiated work to develop a conceptual plan for developing the trestle into a linear public park and greenway. Over the past several years, detailed engineering plans have been prepared in anticipation of construction.
In 2010, Great Rivers Greenway hired a construction management firm to work with the design team to recommend strategies to construct the project in phases as well as identify construction methods for renovating the elevated deck. It was identified that the Trestle could be constructed in two phases and Great Rivers Greenway is determining the best strategy to move towards construction in the next several years.
In mid 2011, Great Rivers Greenway began work to develop plans to paint the portion of the Trestle over Interstate 70. The painting will occur in the 2013 or 2014 as permits are secured from the Missouri Department of Transportation.
1721 Hadley Street is zoned industrial, not residential.
- Steve Patterson
b
One of the differences I see between urbanists and suburbanites is the love of old vs new, respectively. Urbanists see beauty in old, even decaying, structures whereas others feel more comfortable around new everything. Take the Missouri approach to the MacArthur Bridge over the Mississippi River as an example.
ABOVE: Missouri approach to the MacArthur Bridge as seen from 4th & Chouteau
I love the rusting steel structure.
The MacArthur Bridge over the Mississippi River between St. Louis, Missouri and East St. Louis, Illinois is a 647 foot (197 m) long truss bridge. Construction on the bridge was begun in 1909 by the city of St. Louis to break the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis’s monopoly on the area’s railroad traffic. Money ran out before the bridge approaches could be finished, however, and the bridge did not open until 1917, and then only to automobile traffic. Railroad traffic would not use the bridge’s lower deck until 1928. The bridge was initially called the “St. Louis Municipal Bridge” and known popularly as the “Free Bridge.” Tolls were added for auto traffic beginning in 1932. In 1942 the bridge was renamed for Douglas MacArthur. The MacArthur Bridge was one of several bridges in St. Louis which carried U.S. Highway 66 until the completion of the nearby Poplar Street Bridge. At one time U.S. Highway 460 crossed the bridge, terminating on the west side of the bridge. In 1981 the bridge was closed to vehicles because of pavement deterioration and the western ramp approaches were torn out. The bridge is now in use only by railroads. (Wikipedia)
Sure I love the bridge itself but the approach is…well, approachable. I’m sure most suburbanites don’t see the beauty I see. To them it is an eyesore that should be removed or replaced.
ABOVE: Missouri approach to the MacArthur Bridge as seen from NB 4th at Chouteau
I’ve crossed this bridge once on Amtrak but I prefer seeing the structure from the area around 4th Street & Chouteau. When I’m driving in the area I hope for red lights just to be able to look at the structure longer. When I’m on the bus I get to look at it without worrying about being distracted.
Do you see what I see? Or do you just see rusted steel?
UPDATE:
I need to clarify my suburbanite vs urbanite thesis. Many urban dwellers have rejected New Urbanism because of it’s newness even though it is otherwise well designed and compact. Similarly “newness” is always included a criteria in suburban preference studies. One study in California looking at residents of traditional neighborhoods & suburban neighborhoods found: “Residents in suburban neighborhoods have a higher average score for the safety factor, and among the individual attributes, their average ratings are particularly higher for cul-de-sacs, newness, school quality, parking, and quiet.“ (emphasis added). I’ll dig into all the large amount of literature and do a followup post.
- Steve Patterson
ABOVE: The historic Pevely Dairy maintains the building line at both Grand & Chouteau. Click image for my post from last month
The Preservation Board usually meets on the 4th Monday of each month but due to the holidays will instead meet tonight. On the agenda is Saint Louis University’s proposal to replace the historic structures with a lawn. And probably a fountain.
The conclusion of the staff report (see agenda):
The proposed subsequent construction of the Ambulatory Care Center cannot be evaluated at the time these comments were prepared and needs to be considered once presented at the Preservation Board meeting. The Cultural Resources Office recommends that the Preservation Board approve the demolition of the milk plant at 3626‐80 Chouteau and the garage at 1101 Motard, as the loss of these Merit buildings would have an acceptable effect on the urban design and the streetscape. The Cultural Resources Office also recommends that the Preservation Board uphold the denial of the demolition of the office building as it is a sound, High Merit resource and has reuse potential, and the iconic smokestack. These two structures on the parcel with the address 1001‐03 S. Grand, are prominent in the streetscape and their loss would have a noticeable effect on the physical fabric of the neighborhood and urban design.
Many have expressed the viewpoint the corner structure and smokestack occupy a tiny portion of the total site and therefor do not impede plans for new construction on the rest of the site. I’d love to see a drawing with Saint Louis University’s proposed building superimposed over the corner structure and smokestack.
- Steve Patterson
Two hundred years ago today the first of a series of three earthquakes hit near the Missouri town of New Madrid:
This sequence of three very large earthquakes is usually referred to as the New Madrid earthquakes, after the Missouri town that was the largest settlement on the Mississippi River between St. Louis, Missouri and Natchez, Mississippi. On the basis of the large area of damage (600,000 square kilometers), the widespread area of perceptibility (5,000,000 square kilometers), and the complex physiographic changes that occurred, the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-1812 rank as some of the largest in the United States since its settlement by Europeans. They were by far the largest east of the Rocky Mountains in the U.S. and Canada. The area of strong shaking associated with these shocks is two to three times as large as that of the 1964 Alaska earthquake and 10 times as large as that of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Because there were no seismographs in North America at that time, and very few people in the New Madrid region, the estimated magnitudes of this series of earthquakes vary considerably and depend on modern researchers’ interpretations of journals, newspaper reports, and other accounts of the ground shaking and damage. The magnitudes of the three principal earthquakes of 1811-1812 described below are the preferred values taken from research involved with producing the 2008 USGS National Seismic Hazard Map .
The first principal earthquake, M7.7, occurred at about 2:15 am (local time) in northeast Arkansas on December 16, 1811. The second principal shock, M7.5, occurred in Missouri on January 23, 1812, and the third, M7.7, on February 7, 1812, along the Reelfoot fault in Missouri and Tennessee. The earthquake ground shaking was not limited to these principal main shocks, as there is evidence for a fairly robust aftershock sequence. The first and largest aftershock occurred on December 16, 1811 at about 7:15 am. At least three other large aftershocks are inferred from historical accounts on December 16 and 17. These three events are believed to range between M6.0 and 6.5 in size and to be located in Arkansas and Missouri. This would make a total of seven earthquakes of magnitude M6.0-7.7 occurring in the period December 16, 1811 through February 7, 1812. In total, Otto Nuttli reported more than 200 moderate to large aftershocks in the New Madrid region between December 16, 1811, and March 15, 1812: ten of these were greater than about 6.0; about one hundred were between M5.0 and 5.9; and eighty-nine were in the magnitude 4 range. Nuttli also noted that about eighteen hundred earthquakes of about M3.0 to 4.0 during the same period.
The first earthquake of December 16, 1811 caused only slight damage to man-made structures, mainly because of the sparse population in the epicentral area. The extent of the area that experienced damaging earth motion, which produced Modified Mercalli Intensity greater than or equal to VII, is estimated to be 600,000 square kilometers. However, shaking strong enough to alarm the general population (intensity greater than or equal to V) occurred over an area of 2.5 million square kilometers.
The earthquakes caused the ground to rise and fall – bending the trees until their branches intertwined and opening deep cracks in the ground. Deep seated landslides occurred along the steeper bluffs and hillslides; large areas of land were uplifted permanently; and still larger areas sank and were covered with water that erupted through fissures or craterlets. Huge waves on the Mississippi River overwhelmed many boats and washed others high onto the shore. High banks caved and collapsed into the river; sand bars and points of islands gave way; whole islands disappeared. Surface fault rupturing from these earthquakes has not been detected and was not reported, however. The region most seriously affected was characterized by raised or sunken lands, fissures, sinks, sand blows, and large landslides that covered an area of 78,000 – 129,000 square kilometers, extending from Cairo, Illinois, to Memphis, Tennessee, and from Crowley’s Ridge in northeastern Arkansas to Chickasaw Bluffs, Tennessee. Only one life was lost in falling buildings at New Madrid, but chimneys were toppled and log cabins were thrown down as far distant as Cincinnati, Ohio, St. Louis, Missouri, and in many places in Kentucky, Missouri, and Tennessee.
The Lake County uplift, about 50 kilometers long and 23 kilometers wide, stands above the surrounding Mississippi River Valley by as much as 10 meters in parts of southwest Kentucky, southeast Missouri, and northwest Tennessee. The uplift apparently resulted from vertical movement along several, ancient, subsurface faults. Most of the uplift occurred during prehistoric earthquakes. A strong correlation exists between modern seismicity and the uplift, indicating that stresses that produced the uplift may still exist today. (USGS)
Many have been saying for years a big one is coming again.
ABOVE: Earthquake strengthening under I-64/Hwy 40, click image for more info
MoDOT began strengthening the double-deck portion of I-64/Hwy 40 in August 2006 and the work continues. Will we have the big one? I don’t know, my family & friends in Oklahoma didn’t think they’d feel an earthquake there but they did last month. I probably should put together an earthquake preparedness kit.
- Steve Patterson
Yesterday morning a fire started in one of the buildings in the historic Crunden Martin Manufacturing Co complex:
Fire officials said the building, in the 700 block of 2nd Street in Chouteau’s Landing, caught fire some time between 11:00 and 11:30 a.m. Authorities said the building is a six story, warehouse, formerly the Crunden Martin Manufacturing Co. (KMOV)
I saw the smoke but haven’t been down to the area following the fire.
ABOVE: Facing south on 2nd from Cedar St, fire damaged the red brick building on the right. Late yesterday reports indicate firefighters expect this wall to collapse. Photo by P.R. Lanning, July 2011
The following quotes are from the nomination to the National Register of Historic Places (PDF).
Crunden-Martin steadily developed into one ofthe more important and successful woodenware, willow wear and metal-goods industries ofthe city between 1891 and 1990; second only to the Samuel Cupples Woodenware Company. By1924,Crunden-Martin was the only woodenware firm represented in the Merchant’s Exchange of St.Louis. During WWII, Crunden-Martin manufactured helmets, stoves, buckets and five-gallon gasoline ‘jerry cans‘ for the U. S. military; the company was one of two St. Louis companies to make helmets and the only one to manufacture ‘jerry cans.”
Between 1904 and 1920 they built seven buildings, each designed by leading architects of the day:
The Crunden-Martin Manufacturing Company is comprised of seven buildings; six are adjoining, the seventh is attached via a four-story bridge.
It was the building attached via the bridge that had the fire. The nomination labeled it #5 since it was the fifth out of seven constructed:
Building #5, a six-story brick rectangular-shaped warehouse, was designed (and completed) in 1912 by Mauran, Russell and Crowell; interior mill construction consists of wooden plank and beam(photo9).Primary elevations face south and east;elevations are identical in design to building #2. Building #5 is connected to the main complex (through building #2 to the east) via the 1912 four-story bridge located above the second story; the bridge continues to the sixth story. The first story ofthe east elevation contains six wide bays with tripled six-over-six double-hung windows; one bay contains an entrance surrounded by multi-lights and a transom above. At basement level the bays contain a pair of single-lights. A seventh bay contains a single, narrow six-over-six double-hung window. A corbelled cornice wraps the building just above the first story and continues to the south elevation. Windows at the second through the sixth stories are double-hung six-over-six with soldier arches and metal sills (twelve windows are at the second through the sixth stories;four additional windows are at the half-story between the second and sixth stories);windows are between brick pilasters capped with stylized, square-paneled capitals. An overhanging terra cotta cornice supported on corbelled brick crowns the building. A half-story projects above the building at the northeast side. The building corners are accented with rounded brick.
The south elevation of building #5 contains five wide bays; two have tripled six-over-six double-hung windows, two have bricked-in portions and one has a pair of six-over-six double-hung with brick in between. At the basement level each bay contains a pair of single-lights. The corbelled cornice, from the east elevation, wraps the building just above the first story. Windows at the second through the sixth stories are double-hung two-over-two and six-over-six with soldier arches and metal sills (nine windows are at the second, eight are at the third through the sixth); windows are between brick pilasters capped with stylized, square-paneled capitals. An overhanging terra cotta cornice supported on corbelled brick crowns the building. Iron fire escapes at the southwest corner are accessible from windows at the second through sixth stories. The building corners are accented with rounded brick. Above the first story the building remains unchanged (photo 9).
The north elevation is a blank wall of brick with no fenestration. A half-story (visible at the east elevation) extends above the building. The west elevation contains two wide garage doors and two rear entrances at the first story. The second story contains three pairs and one single double-hung two-over-two windows with soldier arches and metal sills. The third through the fifth stories contain thirteen similar windows; the sixth contains fourteen.
At this time I’m not sure of the extent of the damage and if the building can be saved. The history of the company and the manufacturing complex is certainly interesting,
- Steve Patterson
A week ago the St. Louis Preservation Board unanimously upheld the staff denial of a demolition permit for the Cupples 7 building. Had Mary “One” Johnson still been on the board there would have been one vote in favor of demolition. But enough about her…
ABOVE: Cupples 2 (left, renovated) and Cupples 7 (right, deteriorated), Busch Stadium at the end of Spruce
Demolition was a moot point, owners Kevin McGowan & Nat Walsh couldn’t afford to demolish the building even if they were given the permit to do so. This was about liability, specifically the transfer of liability. Should the building collapse, damaging adjacent properties, they can say they tried to remove the hazard but were denied the right to do so. A clever move to absolve themselves of responsibility.
Well, at least an attempt to absolve responsibility. However, I’m not quick to forgive and forget. How did we get to this point? In 2000 when Bank of America owned several of the Cupples buildings a tank collapsed causing a hole in the roof of #7. The hole was known five years later when McGowan & Walsh bought three of the warehouses, including #7. They attempted to tarp over the roof, right?
ABOVE: Corner of Cupples 7 at 11th & Spruce (click for map)
Wrong, they did nothing! Water poured in a small hole in the roof for five years prior to their ownership causing structural damage to get to the point where it is today — which is mostly in the basement. They’ve been irresponsible owners for years and now they are maneuvering to blame the city if this historic structure collapses.
The city certainly has failed, I’ve had to resolve issues like peeling paint or end up in court! Where has the city been? They condemned the structure in 2008 and that did…nothing. Everyone has been covering their own ass, but nobody has been trying to stabilize the building.
Can we all work together to find a way to support the exterior walls for future use? Not you Kevin and Nat, stay out of the picture — let Montgomery Bank foreclose on the mortgage or the city for back taxes.
- Steve Patterson
The proposed demolition of the historic, and urban, Pevely Dairy complex at Grand and Chouteau is on today’s Preservation Board agenda, but won’t be heard:
St. Louis University’s request for permits to demolish the Pevely Dairy buildings is off Monday’s agenda of the city’s Preservation Board but that does not mean SLU is abandoning its effort to raze the historic complex.
A university spokesman said today that seeking a delay for a hearing on its request for demolition permits gives SLU more time to present its case to the city panel. SLU has said it wants to replace the Pevely complex with a building for its SLUCare physician’s practice. (STLtoday.com)
Part of me doesn’t trust that the issue won’t be decided at today’s meeting. But, it’s quite possible the staff will indicate the issue will be on the December agenda.The main problem I have is SLU’s false claim the historic structure is in the way.
Given the history of Saint Louis University these past two decades the Pevely building and smokestack aren’t in the way of a new building. No, they are where SLU President Fr. Biondi wants grass and a fountain. Trying very hard not to use a few choice expletives!
ABOVE: SLU's anti-urban research building on the SE corner of Grand & Chouteau
Biondi hates urbanity, or maybe he just doesn’t know what makes a good city. The SLU campus is very pristine and in the center, interesting, But the edges are dead zones due to all the fenced lawns created by Biondi. Intended to make the area safer, SLU policies suck life out of the area to the point the sidewalks are nearly vacant, which isn’t safe. People create safety.
ABOVE: Most of the large site is occupied by non-historic structures
The smokestack and building at the corner, with the rooftop sign, are the two elements that should be saved. The warehouse elements in the foreground (above) should be replaced, just not with lifeless iron fencing with lawn. New medical buildings can be built around & embracing the old. The smokestack could be the centerpiece of a courtyard. The architectural possibilities were explored during a recent design charrette:
After a thorough discussion of the site’s dimensions, SLU’s extensive landholdings in the area, and the university’s probable needs, participants subdivided into four groups. Each focused on a different approach, including converting the corner building into doctors’ offices with a larger modern addition, adapting it into market-rate housing and ancillary facilities for the medical school, finding additional on-site locations for new buildings, and generating an overall site plan to connect this corner to the rest of the university. (SLU Says It Can’t Reuse the Pevely Buildings; Local Designers Beg to Differ)
I look forward to seeing the many varied solutions these teams developed.
We must resist SLU’s efforts to destroy both Grand & Chouteau corridors. Biondi has already done a number of Grand at the main campus and the medical campus but hope remains for Chouteau and eventually Grand can be urbanized again, largely by building over Biondi’s lawns.
ABOVE: The historic Pevely Dairy maintains the building line at both Grand & Chouteau
Where SLU has replaced walkable urban buildings with acres of fenced lawn we can build new 1-2 story “liner buildings” to recreate the walls of the urban street. The SW corner shouldn’t be destroyed, liner buildings can fix the anti-urban SE corner but two such corners would be a disaster.
The NE corner is a suburban fast-food chain and the never urban NW corner is being cleared for more dead SLU grass. Yawn.
ABOVE: The NW corner of Grand & Chouteau should be developed in a urban manner, respecting & engaging the sidewalk.
The Grand viaduct is being replaced and the MetroLink station getting rebuilt. The #70 Grand bus is Metro’s busiest and the #32 MLK bus travels up and down Chouteau & Manchester. If developed right, Grand & Chouteau could be a great pedestrian environment. Chouteau is important for connecting Lafayette Square & Downtown to The Grove.
My guess is Biondi has surrounded himself with yes men that tell him he’s done a great job with the campuses. Well, on the chance he’ll read this post:
RSS
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
