Parking Needed for Restoration and Occupancy of the Municipal Courts Building?

On April Fool’s Day Paul Hohmann had an excellent post suggesting the city was going to raze the vacant Municipal Courts Building and replace it with a parking garage.

The city isn’t going to raze the building but what are we going to do with the structure? There have been numerous ideas over the last decade but it seems the lack of a large source of dedicated parking is problematic.  Downtown has an excess of parking but the oversupply isn’t where it is needed.  I’ve got an idea.

I still miss the old city jail that occupied the NE corner of Clark Ave & 14th Street, why not build a mostly underground parking structure with street-level storefronts facing both 14th & Clark Ave? The parking could serve the need of tenant(s) in the Municipal Courts, City Hall, Scottrade Center, Busch Stadium and the Peabody Opera House (formerly Kiel).  Retail & restaurants could serve all the above as well as the Sheraton Hotel located one block south and the many daily transit riders at the Civic Center bus & light rail station, also a block south.

Activating the sidewalks along both 14th and Clark Ave would do wonders for improving the walkability of the area.  I’m thinking 3-4 floors of occupied floors about grade. If parking was above grade it should be fully enclosed.  Ideally the bulk of the parking would be below sidewalk level, not above.

The big picture would be to evaluate all 10 blocks of Clark Ave from Busch (8th) to Union Station (18th), finding opportunities to improve the many people who currently walk all or part of this stretch.  Way back in July 2006 I posted about building over the existing MetroLink lines between 15th-18th, also facing Clark Ave.

The Municipal Courts Building would be a premier location for one or more law firms.  Treasurer Larry Williams has the ability to fund the structure, leasing some space to future firns in the Municipal Courts.

– Steve Patterson

Giving Away Parking at City Hall

Saturday April 2nd I noticed the main portion of the parking lot south of city hall was full while the part closer to 14th St was empty.  The Cardinals had an away game this day so I’m not sure why all the cars.  I thought it was good to see the parking lot bringing in revenue on a Saturday rather than just sit vacant.

But wait, the gates are wide open! Of course on a Saturday there probably isn’t enough turnover to staff the booth.  The Treasurer’s Office needs to enter the 21st century and get technology to automate the process to collect the parking fee. Of course the Treasurer also has downtown parking meters at no charge on weekends but some [refer lots and would pay.

– Steve Patterson

U.S. Bank Plaza To Remain A Dead Space?

Back in 2008 it was announced that the plaza at 7th & Locust would be replaced with a parking garage (Tough Decisions: Useless Plaza Vs. Another F-ing Parking Garage).  The plaza unfortunately replaced the Ambassador Theater.

Since the 2008 announcement St. Louis Centre is being converted into a parking garage with ground-level retail. So the plaza remains a lifeless hole downtown. Don’t even think about sitting on the grass at lunch, the guard will run you off. The grass, and the entire plaza space, are for show only — not use.

The Ambassador filled the space beautifully but it has been gone more than 15 years now.  Mercantile Bank, later bought by U.S. Bank, wanted to create a welcoming entrance to the tower.  A massive dead space isn’t welcoming! The solution?

In the short term invite vendors to sell food from carts & trucks at lunchtime.  A vendor truck can just pull into the circle drive.  Also, invest in a few tables, chairs and umbrellas.  Encourage people to sit on the grass and play in the fountain. Basically the opposite of what they’ve done for 15+ years.

Longer term the grassy area should be replaced with a highly  modern glass & steel building of at least 2 stories in height. I’m thinking a restaurant space, perhaps with more seating on the roof.  The auto access for the circle drive could be removed and the plaza repaved to eliminate the curbs, part being used for seating of the restaurant.

We just can’t afford dead corners like this to remain lifeless, no matter how green the grass is even in November.

– Steve Patterson

Parking Garage Contributes to Dead Zone

Continuing my look at the vast dead pocket of downtown St. Louis that is north of Washington Ave and west of the convention center.  Last week I looked at buildings at 10th & Convention Plaza (formerly Delmar).  See posts from Tuesday & Friday.

The blocks between Lucas Ave and Cole St are an unfriendly zone between the residential neighborhood north of Cole and the improving core of downtown. This garage is the only structure on the block bounded by 9th on the east, Martin Luther King Dr on the south, 10th on the west & Cole  on the north (aerial)

Cities can handle poor planning here and there, but multi-block areas just can’t be absorbed.  These must be redone.  That doesn’t mean raze everything within the area and start over, just take a close look at the area and plan for fixes to the problems.  Changes to zoning & sign codes would eventually improve the area.

I suggest a detailed look and the issues in the small area bounded by th, Lucas Ave, Hadley & Cole.  Both sides of the boundary streets would be included in the evaluation because the blank wall of the convention center along 9th is dreadful.  A larger downtown plan can’t address this area at the level of detail it needs.

– Steve Patterson

Car Blocked Hydrant On 9th At Olive

Recently I posted about an illegally parked city vehicle (City Employee Parks City Vehicle Next To Fire Hydrant) but many of you felt it was a non-issue.  The car wasn’t that close to the hydrant and the curb wasn’t painted yellow.  The other night I saw a clear example.

No question this car is blocking the fire hydrant. But no, the red Mazda RX8 isn’t a city-owned vehicle.  This illegally parked car belongs to an on-duty police officer!

Yes, I called the police non-emergency number to report the vehicle. I also reported this to Charles Bryson, Director of Public Safety. I doubt the officer got a ticket.

– Steve Patterson