The Lewis & Clark Tower and Vicinity

In my post last week on the Lewis and Clark Library one person voiced an objection to the line, “This part of St. Louis County has few structures on which residents can take pride.” In the objection the Lewis and Clark Tower, just north of the library, was specifically mentioned. To clarify my original point, there are too few public buildings in North County to be proud of.  There are great private buildings throughout the region, including North County, but few you can spend time in. The Lewis and Clark Tower is one of those buildings, it is private condos. The restaurant at the top has been closed for years, and it isn’t in great condition. In January the building was condemned:

The St. Louis County Department of Public Works posted violation notices last week on the elevators, and the city condemned the building. The city also had ordered residents to vacate the premises within 48 hours, citing dangers, especially to children and people in wheelchairs. The mayor on Monday said that the city wasn’t strictly enforcing the evacuation and that the order was meant to draw attention to urgent dangers. (stltoday.com — Agreement reached to repair condemned Lewis & Clark Tower)

The 96-unit tower is owned by 36 condo owners, the commercial wing is owned separately.

Few have written more about North County than my friend Toby Weiss, from October 2007:

In 1966, the place was 100% jumping with at least 7 floors of wedge-shaped residential apartments (now condominiums,) each with two sliding doors out to the continuous balcony, with its own swimming pool and gym in the basement. Businesses on the first two floors of the Tower included Alpha Interior Designer, Donton & Sons Tile Co., Figure Trim Reducing, King’s Tower Pharmacy and a Missouri State License office. (Top of the Towers)

In October 2011 she showed us the vacant interior of the former restaurant at the top, then in November 2012 renderings of the original concept with twin towers as well as images of the restaurant in it heyday.

The thing I observed is the commercial arterials in this part of North St. Louis County are pretty depressed, but the adjacent residential streets are still nice.  However, I can’t see the neighborhoods remaining nice forever with such awful commercial property surrounding them. How do you attract a commercial developer to the area when the condo owners are struggling to keep the tower habitable? In the early 20th Century planners in St. Louis viewed the poor condition of tenements much the same way — a blight that’ll continue to spread. Their solution was Urban Renewal — demolition and start over, an expensive flop.  So what then?

Before the residential neighborhoods deteriorate I think the “retrofitting suburbia” way of thinking should be applied to the commercial areas. This starts with public planning to attract & guide private development, likely subsidized to some degree. The costs of not doing anything at all will be much higher.

— Steve Patterson

Institutions & Businesses That Might Help Plan Rejuvenation of North Grand Blvd

In a post last week called Rethinking the North Grand Corridor for Jobs, Economic Opportunity I introduced the idea of a collaborative effort to do a corridor study of North Grand from Delmar to I-70, roughly 2.5 miles.

Today I’ll continue this line of thought by identifying institutions/businesses/amenities on or near Grand that might be helpful in this process.

Here is the list, starting from  Delmar (lower left):

1. Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis
2. Grand Center
3. Cochran VA Hospital
4. Clyde Miller Career Academy (SLPS)
5. Justine Petersen
6. St. Alphonsus Church
7. Chronicle Coffee
8. S. Louis Housing Authority
9. PNC Bank (Page)
10. Save-A-Lot
11. Vashon High School (SLPS)
12. CHIPS Health and Wellness Center
13. Lindell Bank
14. Herbert Hoover Boys & Girls Club
15. ALDI
16. Fairground Park (St. Louis Parks Dept)
17. Beaumont Career & Technical High School (SLPS)
18. St. Louis Public Library, Divoll Branch
19. PNC Bank (Grand @ N. Florissant)
20. Grace Hill Settlement
21. Grace Hill Water Tower Health Center
22. North Grand Water Tower (coronation column)
23. Bissell Water Tower
24. Bissell Mansion

There are likely many more places that can serve as anchors. Grand from Natural Bridge to I-70 is the The Grand Boulevard Vending District, so perhaps this can become an area where retail activity is organized, concentrated, & marketed. Maybe the 2.5 mile length is branded as one district or maybe it it broken up into segments.

It passes through four city neighborhoods:

1. College Hill
2. Fairground
3. JeffVanderLou
4. Grand Center

It primarily passes through two wards: 3 & 19. Two more wards have a few blocks each: 2 & 4. And a few more wards are very close to North Grand: 5, 18, & 21.

Metro is a big part too with eight MetroBus lines in the area:

• 70 (Grand)
• 4 (Natural Bridge)
• 30 (Soulard)
• 32 (ML King-Chouteau)
• 41 (Lee)
• 74 (Florissant)
• 94 (Page)
• 97 (Delmar)

So I’ve identified most of the players that could be involved in coming together to closely examine North Grand, developing a master plan, a marketing plan, etc.

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An Urbanist Look at the Lewis & Clark Branch Library

For quite a while now I’ve seen the posts about saving St. Louis County’s  1963 Lewis & Clark Branch, located at 9909 Lewis & Clark Blvd.

Here are some examples of the posts:

• October 2013
  • 6 Reasons Why to Save the Lewis & Clark Library
• February 2014
  • Why save the Lewis and Clark Branch Library?
  • Take a Second to Support Lewis and Clark Library Patrons By Signing This Petition
• March 2014
  • Support Grows to Save Lewis & Clark Library
  • Controversy Brews Over Plans To Change Lewis & Clark Library Branch

I hadn’t written about this subject before because I’d never been to the Lewis & Clark branch, but that changed Friday. I took the #40 (Broadway) MetroBus to the Riverview Transit Center, then the #27 (No County Shuttle) directly to the library. I spent some time inside both levels, and outside.

Here is an incomplete list of arguments for both sides:

Arguments in support of replacement:

• Over 50 years old, old plumbing & electrical. etc.
• Poor relationship to neighborhood, main street
• Windows are inefficient
• Doesn’t meet ADA guidelines
•  Can remain open while new building is built

Arguments in support of renovating/adding on

• Only branch in St. Louis County considered architecturally significant
• Designed by Frederick Dunn
• Design still looks good, fresh
• Reusing the existing structure more sustainable than dumping it into a landfill
• This part of St. Louis County has few structures on which residents can take pride.

Based on my observations, the library is too small by today’s standards. It seemed busy during my morning visit, much more space is needed.  ModernSTL proposed a pretty predictable addition, which copies the original design. Good additions to historic buildings don’t mimic or repeat the original. That said, the idea is right. New entry connecting old & new wings.

I do like the idea of turning the entry toward Lewis & Clark Blvd(367), and getting St. Louis County/MoDOT to put a public sidewalk along the west side of 367 from Chambers Rd to Berwyn Dr, roughly 3/10 of a mile. This would connect users of the #61 MetroBus route on Chambers Rd to the library site. Currently only a shoulder exists.  Better pedestrian connection in the area should be considered and planned for regardless if a new building is built or the existing structure gets a needed addition.

I don’t think the St. Louis County Library board has given any thought toward renovating this historic structure, which is a real pity.  We need leadership that considers retention of historic structures, especially when it is their only one!

— Steve Patterson

A Roadside Stand on Gravois

A little roadside stand occupies the NE corner of Gravois Rd & Mackenzie Rd (map). St. Louis County property records indicate the building only occupies 702 sq ft.

These buildings all date from the early age of the automobile, when a family might have one car. Parking was just off the roadway, not the gigantic parking lots of today. By today’s standards these buildings are urban, too close to the street. Yet the relationship is poor in terms of road/sidewalk/building. The idea of how to retrofit this intersection to be more walkable is an appealing challenge.

— Steve Patterson

Rain Gardens Are Great, Except When Blocked By Excessive Mulch

Rain gardens are an environmentally-friendly way to handle water runoff, rain water runs into an area where it gets absorbed into the soil. Well, assuming the water doesn’t get blocked.

The newly rebuilt North Tucker Boulevard has numerous rain gardens, but unfortunately many are like the one shown above — not able to function as designed because too much mulch blocks the water.

— Steve Patterson