Busch Stadium: Out With the Old, In With the New

The latest spectator sport in St. Louis is the demolition of the 1960s Busch Stadium designed by Edward Durell Stone. Every day you can see people lining 8th Street taking pictures and watching the demolition. To maintain their tight schedule demolition continues into the evening hours as well.

Friday night when I passed by on my scooter I got to see an amazing sight. The wrecking ball just hit a large section of the old stadium and a falling exterior column took out a scissor lift on the site. Ouch, expensive mistake.

Many are upset to see the modern stadium go in favor of the new retro stadium. In a post last month I listed buildings I’d raze before the old Busch. The circular form of the old stadium was one of its best features. The arches were unique and looked great at night. Other than that, I was not so impressed.

The old stadium was not a good urban neighbor. The harsh forms & materials did not invite anyone to look and touch. The building was not pedestrian friendly. The arches, the one redeeming feature, were too far removed from the sidewalk to compensate for the lack of interest otherwise presented to the outsider. The design never mattered much on game day because of all the people, it is those non-game days when empty that it took life away from the area. Sorry all you folks that love the old stadium, I’m not going to miss it.

But what about the new stadium?

Well, I’m over the whole red brick with black metal retro stadium look exemplified by the new Busch and countless other stadiums across the country built in the last 10 years. The whole notion of building something new trying to pass itself off as being from a century earlier makes me noxious nauseous. That having been said, I think the new stadium will accomplish a number of positive things the old stadium could not.

First, by constructing the new stadium closer to the highway it leaves room downtown for the “ballpark village,” a mixed-use development. This should help repair part of downtown torn apart in the 60’s. The new Busch is still bigger than a city block and therefore messes with the street grid. However, it recognizes the grid. Entrances on 8th Street and Broadway are aligned with Spruce, a subtle but important design element.

The new design will also be more inviting on non-game days. Despite what people may think, the inviting aspect will not come from the red brick and retro details. Instead it will come from generally pleasing massing and texture. With the new ballpark village and more activity at Cupples Station, the new stadium will have more activity around it on non-game days.

In time the new stadium will become beloved. Just not the same as the old stadium it replaces. The generic retro look is just too commonplace to set this stadium apart from all the other red brick retro buildings filling our city and others.

– Steve

Saving Face in Seattle

What do you do when a beloved building is where you want to build a new 22-story high rise tower? Most developers and elected officials would assume you have to clear the existing site.

Saving a facade is not a new concept but when done well it still interests me. I think it is good to continually remind ourselves this is an option to completely razing an existing structure.

From the new architect’s website:

The new tower retains old walls facing each street but the corner element is new — a retail space. The windows in the old facade are also updated with metal canopies to help protect pedestrians from rain as they walk along the sidewalk. While not a pure restoration of the entire original envelope it is an acceptable compromise.

Architect Blaine Weber from the Puget Sound Business Journal:

The retention of the old facade as well as the use of massing to relate to the low-rise buildings adjacent to the site shows great skill. From the sidewalk you really don’t get the sense you are walking next to a 22-story tower — and that is a sign of a pedestrian friendly high rise.

– Steve

Historic Doering Mansion in Path of Broadway Bluffs Townhouses

The South Broadway bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River in South St. Louis offer some of the most stunning views in the region. Seldom does a week go by that I don’t stop at Bellerive Park and take in the view. The view of Illinois is rural and lush while barges and industry remind me of the long history of the Mississippi as a working river.

Since the founding of St. Louis and Carondelet people have enjoyed these views. Most often is was the well to do that built great country mansions along the bluffs. But over time we’ve lost nearly every early mansion. We are about to lose yet another.

… Continue Reading

Century Building SLAPP Suit in Court Today

Judge Ohmer today considered two motions in the case alleging two downtown residents of “malicious prosecution.” Marcia Behrendt and Roger Plackemeier were plaintiffs in a number of cases against the players behind the razing of the Century Building and the Old Post Office Project. By coincidence, today is the one-year anniversary of the wrecking ball striking the Century.

After the Century was razed the players: the Missouri Development Finance Board; the Land Clearance Redevelopment Authority of the City of St. Louis; NSG Developers LLC; and St. Louis’ U.S. Custom House and Old Post Office Building Associates, L.P. filed their malicious prosecution case against Behrendt and Plackemeier, seeking over a million dollars in damages.

From the Defendant’s Special Motion for Summary Judgement

“Upon information and belief, the Plaintiffs malicious prosecution suit is nothing more than an attempt by the City of St. Louis, the State of Missouri and two developers, Mark Schnuck and Steve Stogel, to punish and intimidate citizens from exercising their constitutional rights to speech, petition, and access to the courts. This suit against citizens whose speech against a government project at public hearings and meetings resulted in the filings of litigation to challenge the project is a SLAPP suit dressed up as a malicious prosecution cause of action.”

Today Judge Ohmer issued a stay in the plaintiff’s request for discovery. Judge Ohmer also heard arguments in the defendant’s motion for Summary Judgement (a form of dismissal). Matthew Ghio, attorney for the defendants, said he does not expect a ruling until sometime next year. Both sides have indicated they will appeal if they lose the motion for Summary Judgement. Thus, the litigation against Behrendt and Plackemeier could last for another couple of years.

– Steve

St. Louis Likes to Raze Buildings on October 20th

One year ago today developers building the unnecessary parking garage in the Old Post Office District began demolishing the Century Building while a judge was considering a temporary restraining order against demolition. Clearly they wanted to damage the building before a TRO was issued. Ultimately the TRO was not issued. It was a very sad day.

Heard on discussion forums on Wednesday evening, 10/20/2004:

The next day:

I drove downtown at 10:30pm Wednesday night to take a peek at progress, St. Louis style. The southeast corner of the Century’s top floor certainly had Geisman’s signature on it, but the wrecking ball was idle – at least for the half hour I was there. I asked a construction worker what was going on and he said they were just taking a break at that moment, had been delayed while adding another section to the crane, planned on continuing the demo all night long and that it would take about 4 months to complete the job. I wonder if all-nighters, such as this are budgeted for the entire 4 month term or limited to only the wee hours of evenings preceding a judge’s ruling on a petition for a TRO. Does the side opposing the motion for a TRO in this case, gain leverage by rendering the building beyond redemption? Geez, given the issues being heard by a judge concurrently, ! wouldn’t such a blatant and vitriolic action be considered Contempt of Court?

From another on 10/21/2004:

The mood for many in the city was low. In time the “establishment” will realize the error of razing the Century Building.

Fast forward to present…

Last night the St. Louis Cardinals lost to the Houston Astros, ending their 2005 season. Demolition will now begin on the old Busch Stadium. Originally they had planned to implode the 40 year old structure but they will instead use more conventional demolition techniques.

When they were discussing imploding the stadium I began a post I was going to title, “Top Ten Buildings I’d Implode Before Busch Stadium.” I didn’t want my work to go to waste so here is the list:

While I like the arches of the “old” stadium I can live without the rest of it. The building to sidewalk relationship is dismal. The new stadium shows more promise from an urban perspective although the whole red brick retro thing is a predictable.

– Steve

PS @ 10:45am: It was 11 days later, on October 31, 2004, that I started Urban Review – St. Louis.