Readers Favor Sympathetic Infill, But Clearly From A Different Period

The poll last week was interesting with the largest group of readers picking the answer that best sums up my thoughts.

1. Respectful of the massing & proportions of the old but clearly from a different period 84 [47.73%]
2. Be whatever is fashionable in new neighborhoods at the time 36 [20.45%]
3. Any structure is better than a vacant lot 22 [12.5%]
4. Replicate the older structures so you can’t tell new from old 18 [10.23%]
5. Approximate the old structures but not as detailed so you can easily tell new from old 9 [5.11%]
6. Other answer… 5 [2.84%]
7. Unsure/no opinion 2 [1.14%]

The five other answers were:

1. Replication is the first option, but new style should blend well with existing.
2. I think the one in the picture looks cool.
3. Whatever historic preservation boards tell us bc theyre always right.
4. As long as it is quality construction…
5. they can do whatever they want; it’s their property and money

I’ll plan a future post looking at numerous examples of infill in St. Louis.

– Steve Patterson

Modern Infill In Older Neighborhoods

For the poll this week I hope to gauge the opinion of the readers on the subject of the design of infill in older areas.

Should infill be so well detailed that you can’t tell which building is from 1910 vs 2010? Or should infill be just whatever is being built in new edge communities at the time? Should high-design modern infill be given some wiggle room?

– Steve Patterson

Poet Eugene Field Was Born 160 Years Ago, At Start Of Dred Scott Case

Eugene Field’s father filed the lawsuit to win freedom for slave Dred Scott.  Soon after (1850) his wife gave birth to a son, Eugene.  He was born at the family home at 634 South Broadway, now the Eugene Field House & Toy Museum.  Eugene Field went on to write children’s poetry in his short 45-year life.

The house has a lush green garden to the north and south (above) surrounded by a brick wall.  Roswell Martin Field was an attorney so it is fitting they would live well.  But looking at the house today gives you a false picture of South Broadway in 1850. But before I go back let’s start with the present conditions.

Of course the highways and ramps didn’t exist, nor did the acres of surface parking.  But neither did the lush walled garden you see today!

I don’t know the exact conditions in 1908 but I’d guess not much different.  City records indicate the house was built in 1845 – five years before Eugene Field was born. Very likely the area was all new at the time.  By the time the Sanborn Fire Insurance Map was created in 1908 the house was 63 years old  — equal to a house built in 1947 relative to today.

By 1958 all the other houses in the area had been replaced by industry and I-55 was built to the east.

By 1971 the industrial buildings were gone and highway 40 was now in place.

So much has changed in St. Louis over the decades it is important to peel back the layers to see how the city has evolved  — devolved

– Steve Patterson

Union Station 25 & 116 Years Ago

St. Louis’ Union Station opened to a massive crowd on September 1, 1894 – 116 years ago today.  Twenty-five years ago Sunday, August 29, 1985, Union Station reopened as a “festival marketplace” after being closed since the last train pulled out seven years prior on October 31, 1978.

St. Louis had gotten so bad the 1981 film Escape From New York was filmed here, able to pass for 1997 New York  – as a maximum security prison.  A big fight scene took place in the Grand Hall of Union Station prior to the restoration you see above.

In 1985 I entered architecture school, Union Station’s reopening was widely studied. In the days when 100,000 passengers a day would pass through Union Station there was no shortage of activity.  For the last 25 years the busiest spot has been the Fudgery:

When new Union Station was considered to be too far west of the central business district — the location is 8 blocks west of the station built under present-day Tucker in 1875.  When I arrived in St. Louis 20 years ago there were many well-known stores in Union Station as well as St. Louis Centre, also downtown.  In a few years a small mall just outside the city limits would expand and become the St. Louis Galleria — the shops quickly relocated.

– Steve Patterson

Culinaria Increasingly An Accessibility Nightmare

A year ago yesterday Culinaria, a Schnuck’s Market, opened in the ground floor of the 9th Street parking garage.  You know, the parking garage that replaced the historic Century Building.  The intersection of 9th & Olive was the last intersection in St. Louis’ CBD that still had it’s pre-WWII buildings on all four corners. More on the Century in a bit.

The store has been open a year now yet there is no door opener on either front door. Because of the settings on the door closer it is nearly impossible for me to enter without help from others.  I exit by pushing the door open with my wheelchair.

Inside the situation is getting worse.  The once attractive store has every bit of floor space occupied my an increasing number of display boxes.  They change based on what company is paying them.  Trying to access a freezer case was difficult the other day because a stack of product on the floor next to the door handle prevented me from getting in the right position.

A year ago I was impressed by the design of the store.  Today I use it as a convenience store, the bulk of my groceries comes from other grocery store and markets. I need to go once a month for my prescriptions but I try to avoid the place now.  It is hard to access and circulate, increasingly not worth the hassle.

I’ve asked before about a door opener.  “We are working on getting the state to pay for it.”  You see, Schnuck’s is a tenant in the state-owned parking garage. The garage wasn’t designed for a grocery store but the developer was DESCO which is owned by members of the Schnuck’s family.

Which brings us back to the 1896 Century Building. Local property owners & residents (and friends) Roger Plackemier & Marcia Behrendt had sued various entities prior to the destruction of the Century, questioning the legality of the process used in the garage project. In 2004 they were unable to raise the money to post a bond and the demolition of the Century began.

In April 2005 the developer and development agencies of the city & state sued Plackemeier & Behrendt for “malicious prosecution“, seeking $1,000,000 in damages. The trial has been scheduled several times and each time the plaintiffs request a delay. The trial was to begin on Monday of this week but once again they were granted a delay.

For over five years now two citizens have had a million dollar lawsuit against them and those suing them keep delaying the trial.  Talk about malicious prosecution!

– Steve Patterson