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

Bollards Reconfigured At America’s Center To Create Protected Pedestrian Zone

Link to above pic: http://www.flickr.com/photos/urbanreviewstl/5587359644/

I’ve done numerous posts about the sidewalk along Washington Ave in front of America’s Center (St. Louis’ convention center), in January 2007 the pedestrian experience was bleak (Taxi Cabs Block Sidewalk at Convention Center, Exit Via Crosswalk).   By May 2007 bollards were installed to prevent cabs from exiting at the crosswalks, but they were still on the sidewalk space (Taxis Still Blocking Pedestrian Sidewalk at St. Louis’ Convention Center)  It took me until December 2010 to get the cabs relocated onto 8th Street so the sidewalk was free for pedestrians (Sidewalk In Front Of Convention Center Now Just For Pedestrians).

Last week the bollards were relocated to clearly separate the circle drive from the pedestrian space.

Link to above image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/urbanreviewstl/5586769385/

The lesson for me is to get to the person in charge.  I was only after I left my card for Kitty Ratcliffe, president of the St. Louis Convention & Visitor’s Commission, that change happened. Once I was able to explain the situation directly to her she began having meetings to get the cabs relocated.  After that was done she hired a form to redesign the bollard locations so the pedestrians would be protected from vehicles in the circle drive. I picked up a copy of the bollard plan the week prior to the work being done just in case I saw something that might need correcting. But the plan was great.

– 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

Weekly Poll: What Do You Think Of When You Hear The Term “Affordable Housing”?

Earlier this month I participated in a two-day conference on affordable housing sponsored by FOCUS-St. Louis (agenda- PDF):

FOCUS St. Louis, in partnership with the Des Lee Collaborative Vision, presents Housing: Building a New Foundation for Economic Prosperity. This symposium explores affordable housing in Missouri and Southwest Illinois, taking a close look at the disparity between the location of many jobs and the location of housing that is affordable for workers who fill those positions, and ways to resolve these issues to help build sustainable, prosperous communities.

You are thinking, “Why bother in St. Louis?”  Our housing is cheap, right?  I was on a panel discussing land use policy as it relates to affordable housing.

Affordable Housing is the subject of the poll this week (upper right of site). Results and commentary on Wednesday April 6, 2011.

– Steve Patterson

The Corner ‘Blade’ Sign Making A Comeback

I’ve eaten at Rosalita’s Cantina only once since it opened a few months ago, but I’ve admired their sign each time I pass by. My admiration of their sign began last October.

Blade (projecting) signs were once common throughout cities, but in the 1970s a national movement to remove “clutter” began that killed off unique signs, especially those that projected from the building facade.  Thankfully those decades old attitudes are slowly dying off.

Note to self, have lunch at Rosalita’s Cantina again soon.

– Steve Patterson