American City: St. Louis Architecture Three Centuries of Classic Design

Two days ago my post contrasted St. Louis natives & newbies.  That day a beautiful large-format book arrived at my door.  American City: St. Louis Architecture, with text by Robert Sharoff and 140 color photographs by William Zbaren, is stunning.  They affirm my point from Tuesday, that outsiders see what we often overlook.  Sharoff & Zbaren, both from Chicago, came to St. Louis in 2007 working for the New York Times. In the cover letter with the book they say they “wound up being knocked out by some of the greatest architecture in the country.”

St. Louis can and does impress persons from Chicago, New York, San Francisco, etc.  Books like this new volume will hopefully open they eyes of people who’ve never once visited St. Louis.  This book is the second in their American City series, the first was Detroit. Upcoming volumes will look at Chicago and Savannah.

Sure St. Louis, and Detroit, have issues but the gems presented in this book are part of the reason why St. Louis is home for me.  This book will be available for purchase in March 2011.

– Steve Patterson

PR: ‘Let Freedom Ring’ on Monday

The following is a press release:

—

In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, Christ Church Cathedral is hosting “Let Freedom Ring” — a daylong reading of his writings and speeches on Monday, January 17, 2010.
For the second consecutive year, the Nave of the Cathedral (13th and Locust, across from the Central Library) will be open from 9 am through 5 pm for the reading, which will be accompanied by a visual display of pictures of the civil rights leader. The public is invited both to come and listen and also to take part in the reading. There is no admission charge.
Leaders have been assigned for half-hour reading shifts, but anyone in attendance is invited to be part of the reading as well by coming to the lectern and indicating they wish to take over for a time. Whenever they wish to stop, someone will be ready to take their place.
“Like scripture, Dr. King’s words don’t just have meaning for the generation in which they were written, but new meaning for every generation,” says the Very Rev. Mike Kinman, provost of Christ Church Cathedral. “We’re hoping people will come and let these words just wash over them and also participate in reading them. Whether people come for 10 minutes, an hour or all day we want to provide chance for everyone to hear these words, let them re-enter our consciousness and continue to form us today.”
“Dr. King embodied the deepest tradition of our faith being a balance of reflection and action. There are many wonderful opportunities for action in our communities. We are providing an opportunity for reflection to inform our actions not just on this one day but every day.”
“We had a steady stream of people who came last year. A few stayed most of the day. Some came for an hour or two. Some just for a few minutes. Many of them talked about how moving it was not just to hear Dr. King’s words but to have the chance to speak them as well.”
This is the second year Christ Church Cathedral has offered this observance. You can hear the story local NPR affiliate KWMU did on it last year at http://tindeck.com/listen/xjtv.
Please address all questions and requests to the Very Rev. Mike Kinman at mkinman@gmail.com or 314.348.6453.
#30#

Remembering The “Revolutionary” Max Starkloff

On Tuesday I attended the visitation for Max Starkloff.

Max Starkloff lived in a nursing home on a hill outside St. Louis from the time he was 26 until he turned 38. The day after he moved out, he did something he knew he couldn’t do and stay in a nursing home: He got married.  (NPR – recommended)

I forgot that my friend & Tower Grove East resident, Christian Saller, is the nephew of Starkloff. The following were his remarks at the funeral Mass:

It’s impossible to summarize anyone you love in 2 or 3 minutes. In the case of my Uncle Max, it is especially difficult to adequately express my admiration for his character and extraordinary understanding.

He recently objected to being characterized as a “super hero”, but it’s difficult to avoid the term when speaking of a man whose dedication and tenacity were heroic.

From the time I was a small child, I always saw my Uncle Max as a person with a strength and dignity all his own. Like other truly strong people, he was kind and generously shared his spirit. When I looked at his paintings I saw him: bold, alive, a formidable force.

He has also been referred to as an activist, but this is as insufficient as any other label. I think a better term for his life and legacy is revolutionary. Activists may add a lot to a discussion, but revolutionaries start the conversation and exert fundamental change. My Uncle Max’s cultural revolution continues.

His work and advocacy were not a bid for accommodation or sympathy, but for recognition that a society that limits opportunity and justice for any of its members ultimately denies itself the full measure of its own potential. He made people understand that. Like other transformational leaders, he made his life a lasting gift we can never imagine not having.

I never knew he spent 12 years in a nursing home before he turned 38 years old!  It was the times, thankfully they have changed.  Instead of spending the next 35 years there he had a wife, three kids, and a career – a normal life basically.

Something like 80% of those who are disabled were not born disabled.  Something happened.  For Max Starkloff it was an accident at age 21 when he crashed his Austin Healey.  Each of you will know someone in your lifetime that will become disabled. Everyday I’m grateful for the work of Max & Colleen Starkloff.

Thank you Christian for sharing your remarks.

– Steve Patterson

Readers: Missouri Shouldn’t Lower Cap On Historic Tax Credits

In July of this year Gov Nixon created the Missouri Tax Credit Review Commission, co-chaired by Steve Stogel & Senator Chuck Gross, to review the various state tax credit programs, including the successful historic preservation tax credit.  From the detailed historic preservation subcommittee report:

“A well-thought-out and skillfully drafted tax incentive for historic preservation cannot achieve its objectives if the total amount of credits that can be awarded annually is subject to a statutory limit, particularly if the limit is fixed at a low figure…

…Where demand for credits exceeds the amount permitted by law, applicants either must compete for credits or participate in a lottery or other arbitrary allocation system. Projects that truly require the state credit to be financially feasible have tended to be discouraged from participating because of the lack of certainty as to the outcome, the cost of preparing a competitive application that nonetheless may be unsuccessful, and the difficulties of keeping financing commitments in place during the evaluation process.”

Still it is possible Missouri will lower the cap on our historic preservation tax credit, thus prompting my poll question & post last week:

Q: Missouri is considering lowering the cap on the Historic Rehab Tax Credit from $140 mil to $75 mil. Reaction?Bad idea, this credit pays for itself 75 70.75%

1. Bad idea, this credit pays for itself 75 [70.75%]
2. Good idea to lower the limit 11 [10.38%]
3. I’d set the cap even lower 6 [5.66%]
4. Other answer… 6 [5.66%]
5. We should eliminate this tax credit entirely. 4 [3.77%]
6. Unsure/no opinion 4 [3.77%]

The six “other” answers were:

1. Fight for $100 million in order to be realistic about state of politics
2. The cuts have to come from somewhere.
3. There are probably other tax credits that should be lowered before this one.
4. I’m not happy, but I realize we are in the middle of a recession
5. sacrifices have to be made to have a balanced budget
6. Good idea if and only if savings are put towards job creation tax credits

No surprise that over 70% of the readership wants the state to not lower the cap.

In November 2008 nearly 85% of St. Louis voters supported Democrat Jay Nixon for Governor.  Statewide Nixon received just over 58% of the vote, showing how much St. Louis voters support Democrats.  Will Gov Nixon listen to the people of St. Louis, or does he know we always vote for the Democrat regardless?

St. Louis and communities across the state need the historic tax credit to put buildings back into use, creating jobs & revitalizing areas along the way.

– Steve Patterson

Poll On Missouri’s Historic Tax Credit Program

The State of Missouri is facing a budget crunch so everything is on the table, including tax credits:

“Missouri has 61 tax credit programs that waived $521 million in state income taxes last year. Costs for tax credits have increased five-fold during the past dozen years while state revenues have risen much less.” (AP via Bloomberg)

One credit that may be scaled back is the historic tax credit:

“Gov. Jay Nixon’s tax credit commission recommended Tuesday lowering Missouri’s annual cap on historic tax credits from $140 million to $75 million a year.

The commission said the reduction, which would be permanent, should cover all historic renovation activity under the program. Nearly $100 million in historic tax credits were authorized in 2010, according to the commission’s report.”  (St. Louis Business Journal)

In 2010 “nearly $100 million in historic tax credits were authorized” so lowering the cap would reduced the number of projects getting renovated using the tax credit.  This is the subject of the poll this week.  I want to know how you, the readers, feel about the cap being lowered.  The poll is in the upper right corner of the blog.

– Steve Patterson