The Failure of St. Louis’ Gateway Mall

For those that don’t know, the Gateway Mall is not a failed downtown shopping mall. That would be St. Louis Centre. The Gateway Mall is a failed grand outdoor space running from the Arch on the East to Union Station on the West.

Originally envisioned decades ago as a grand green space along the lines of The National Mall in Washington D.C., it has consistently failed to live up to expectations. The reasons for failure are numerous and complicated. As decade after decade past the reason for failure changed.

Keep in mind that clearance for what would become the Arch grounds didn’t commence in earnest until the early 1940s. Yet, in the decades prior to WWII plans were under way to begin creating a grand boulevard in downtown St. Louis. Early plans focused on Market Street from Tucker (then 12th) West to Grand. Yes, plans show concepts clearing a path all the way from 12th to Grand! Thankfully they only found money to raze 10 blocks from 12th to 22nd.

So first came the vacant blocks along the North side of Market Street West of 12th. Then one by one blocks between the Civil Courts building and the Old Courthouse were razed. During the same period the adjacent blocks were also raised for banal buildings and parking garages. One-way streets and other mistakes drove the life out of downtown.

[Gateway Mall in the 1980s. Gateway One office building and the Morton May amphitheater are not yet constructed. Area is dominated by wide streets, surface parking and lifeless parking garages. Photo courtesy of Robin Ringwald]

Gateway One, the 1980s office building that was built on the site of old buildings and in the middle of the greenway has received much deserved criticism. It wasn’t until I was reading through many newspaper columns and proposals did I fully understand what happened and why. The politics was ugly. One property owner had the best plan to restore most of his buildings but the call for open space was overwhelming. He lost, confirming the St. Louis tradition for razing buildings on the National Register of Historic Places. I never thought I’d say this but Gateway One is far better than some proposals on the drawing boards.

At the time the local chapter of the American Institute of Architects did not support the plan that would have preserved the historic buildings. Instead, they supported a plan calling for new buildings along the North half of about 4-5 blocks. The South half of these blocks were to be a walkway. While I would have preferred keeping the historic and no so historic buildings the plan supported by the AIA was not bad. It had the openness and views sought by many while having street level retail in the bases of the new buildings. While people didn’t think so at the time, this plan would have resulted in more pedestrian activity than what we ended up with.

Each generation over the years has developed a new plan to stimulate the area. All sorts of ideas have been suggested including ice staking, world-class museums, fountains and special paving patterns. Each and every time these schemes have failed to understand one important ingredient…

People.

If marketed correctly I could hold a successful event on the ruins of the former Pruitt-Igoe housing complex but that doesn’t mean it will remain active after the event. Same is true downtown. Events draw people for the event. Assuming people will return to a location after the event is the downfall of many schemes to revitalize areas. Pretty plans with decorative paving stones and retro lanterns will continue to fail.

Downtown St. Louis has too much open space.

Decades of razing buildings for surface parking and gratuitous green space has left too little urban activity. The current ratio of active buildings to open space is too low to sustain a lively downtown during non-event times. Washington Avenue is thriving partially because it feels like an urban street should feel.

Successful urban open space has lively edges. That is, the surrounding buildings are a haven of activity with lots of people coming and going at all hours. The best way to achieve this constant level of activity is street-level retail. But take a good look at what surrounds the Gateway Mall — parking garages, low activity office towers, and other buildings not adding to the area. Jurors in the middle of the area must leave to find food and beverage. The City Hall entrance facing Market is closed. The Kiel center remains closed.

The most recent of many plans is the Downtown Now! action plan from 1999. I think it correctly determines the problems the area faces but only offers window dressing for solutions. In some cases I think this plan would worsen things by turning Market Street into one-way Westbound. Thankfully they never found funds to make they recommended changes. To read the Downtown Now! 1.8mb PDF file on the Gateway Mall click here. More information on The Gateway Mall can be found on the St. Louis Parks Department website.

I’ve got some specific thoughts on the area but I’m going to save those for this weekend when the AIA is holding a design charrette to examine the area. The public is invited to participate in one of two ways. First, by serving on a design team for $10. Second is to view the results at a free Sunday afternoon open house. More information including the program and registration forms at AIA St. Louis.

This is your chance to participate in the process — don’t let it slip by.

– Steve

Dutchtown’s Virginia Mansion Has Been Sold!

Hallelujah!

For those not familiar with the Virginia Mansion let me give you a short brief. It is a well known building on Virginia just South of Meramec. Purchased a few years ago by a local non-profit (Our Lady’s Inn that intended to renovate the building for transitional housing. This news didn’t raise many eyebrows but when about a year later said they wanted to raze the building people were upset. Demolition permit was denied by city and reaffirmed by circuit court judge. OLI lists and sells this building and buyers a four-family for their transitional housing program.

Myself and a small group of other local property owners were instrumental in fighting the demolition plan. OLI attempted to characterize our opposition as racist since many of their clients are African-American. But our opposition had nothing to do with who their clients were and everything to do with the building and zoning. We repeatedly suggested four-family buildings in the area as alternative locations — even some adjacent four-family buildings were they could have a total of eight units. They were having nothing to do with anything other than razing the building.

I’m glad OLI has moved on and purchased a four-family near their main facility. Now we can move on by working with the new owner on getting the building renovated and once again contributing to the area.

– Steve

Reflections on New Orleans, Gulf Coast

Watching the news this morning I’m saddened by the loss of life and property in the Gulf Coast. It will be days and weeks before we get the full picture of the extent of damage. While we can replace property we cannot replace those who were lost to Katrina.

The reports of rescue crews unable to continue into the night are deeply disturbing. The cries of people and pets must have been horrific for rescue crews. I have the greatest admiration for those people risking their lives to save others.

Mobile, Alabama; Biloxi, Mississippi and New Orleans, Louisiana along with numerous other cities have all been devastated by high winds, walls and water and flood waters. A levee breach in New Orleans is allowing the city to flood — 80% of the city is under water at this point. As a child I have visited the three cities listed above. In April 2004 I visited New Orleans for the New Orleans Jazz Festival.

The beauty of New Orleans was overwhelming to me. Block after block of well proportioned frame & masonry structures. The city was very walkable and the streetcars made it easy to get to areas too far to walk to.

I’ve selected a few pictures of the hundreds I took.

I hope New Orleans can repair the broken levee soon and get the water pumped out of the city. The longer these buildings sit in the contaminated waters the harder it will be to repair and rebuild.

The proportions and details of New Orleans’ architecture is quite unique. I loved the use of the shutters to keep out the hot Southern sun.

It was the tiny shotgun houses that captivated me. While not as valuable as the large homes of the Garden District they are still worth saving. I fear these more modest homes will not be saved to the extent of those in more affluent areas.

This French Quarter building was in a state of disrepair in 2004. Not sure how well it survived the wind and water.

Beyond the lives and property lost is the aftermath. At least tens of thousands of people are suddenly unemployed as their workplaces were destroyed. Oil production has been halted sending gas prices upward. Power is out for hundreds of thousands. Roads and highways were ruined which will created challenges to rebuilding. Tornados and flash flooding are now affecting other parts of the South. Groups such as the Red Cross are ready to help.

The big lesson in all of this it that we, as humans, are not invincible. Natural will always prevail.

– Steve

‘Sunday Morning’ Showcased Century/Old Post Office Issue

This mornings CBS News ‘Sunday Morning’ showcased preservation battles in three cities, New York, a Chicago suburb and here in St. Louis.

I like that CBS showed the National Trust for Historic Preservation advertisement about trying to save a school from being torn down for a parking garage. The same National Trust has done a 180 and now finds it acceptable to sacrifice one historic building for another. They need to change their name to the National Trust for Every Other Historic Preservation.

Among the many points that couldn’t be made in such a segment is parking could have been built on the vacant lot on the North side of the Old Post Office. Yes, three sides of the Old Post Office had spectacular original buildings while the fourth side had already lost its historic structure and now serves as a surface parking lot.

Another key point is the historic Century could have been modified to to serve as a parking garage. Thats right, if parking was so critical to the success of the Old Post Office why not place it in an existing building? The simple answer is the developers would have made less money from development fees and other development incentives!

Part of the picture is that for decades we’ve been alterting our downtown, city and region in the name of progress — read: the car. Streets have been widened. Buildings razed for parking. Lots of buildings gone for lots of parking. Leaders in other cities have learned from their similar mistakes and begun the process of mending. But not in St. Louis. Our “leaders” are decidedly old-school.

Parking is still king in downtown St. Louis. The city still bends over to take whatever the suburban monied set wants to do downtown. Oh they’ll brag about all the new downtown loft residents, of which there are many, but when it comes to setting a vision for an urban and walkable downtown the residents take a back seat. We need change at city hall — top to bottom. Elected, appointed and staff. We need to start over.

– Steve

CBS’ ‘Sunday Morning’ To Look At Landmark/Preservation Issues

Sunday August 21, 2005 Martha Teichner, Sunday Morning Senior Correspondent, will look at three recent landmark/preservation issues in New York City, Chicago and St. Louis.

NYC’s Two Columbus Circle, a 1964 modern building designed by Edward Durell Stone, has been the center of controversy among preservationists over a plan to raze/alter the structure. The Landmarks Preservation Commission has, so far, refused to even hold a public hearing to consider the building for Landmark status.

Chicago’s North Shore has seen a rash of McMansions built on the sites of more modest houses, including some significant mid-century modern homes.

In St. Louis preservationists lost a battle to save the Century Building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, for a parking garage. Much of the controversy around this project was the fact the National Trust for Historic Preservation sided with developers in razing the historic marble-clad structure citing it was necessary to save another historic building, St. Louis’ Old Post Office.

‘Sunday Morning’ airs at 9A.M. Eastern/8A.M. Central.

– Steve