Cordish & Cardinals Failed To Plan for Pedestrians at Ballpark Village

Last month Alderman Scott Ogilvie called Ballpark Village a “total failure”:

“Taxpayers have earned a better project than they have delivered,” Ogilvie tells us. “The city of St. Louis has been a great home for the Cardinals…and this is a place downtown where we could use a great project…. It’s just maddening to see what I would call the total failure of this project. It is completely unacceptable that the citizens of St. Louis have been asked to subsidize two themed bars [and a parking lot].” (Riverfront Times)

It’s too soon to call it a total failure, large undeveloped areas used for parking is par for the course with a multi-phase development. They should’ve planned the site as a phased project from the start, they’d be further along by now. But it is what it is, we must wait to see about the success of the total project.

In the meantime, I can already say the pedestrian access & circulation is a failure. I got a sense of this back in February when the Phase 1 site plan was released:

No internal pedestrian was shown on the drawing, but I knew the final might be more detailed. Might, but it quickly became clear the released site plan was pretty accurate.  In fact, what’s built so far isn’t even as good.  Let me show you what I mean:

Looking at the above images it may not be obvious to you, but to the various city staff that I emailed in July they quickly knew Cordish would need to redo this corner of BPV. Upon site inspection, one city staffer said; “Everything they’ve done so far is questionable. Many areas are extremely tight. ”

Expect to see these mistakes busted out and corrected. If only Cordish & the Cardinals had taken pedestrian access seriously…

— Steve Patterson

St. Louis Galleria To Improve Pedestrian Access, Adding ADA Access Routes From Public Transit Stops

I’m very pleased to announce The Galleria Saint Louis & General Growth Properties, Inc. (GGP) will make substantial site modifications to better accommodate pedestrian visitors to the mall.

Thankfully GGP was very cooperative from day one, they willingly recognized the access issues I raised and quickly agreed to address them.  For the last 18+ months we’ve been working together on a mutually agreeable resolution. GGP and I share a desire to increase accessibility for persons with disabilities.

For those pedestrians arriving at The Galleria via the Richmond Heights MetroLink light rail station, a new pedestrian access route will be completed.

Additional pedestrian access routes will be constructed as well.

Again, I’m very pleased to be able to make this announcement.

— Steve Patterson

Manchester Ave More Accessible Than Expected

I highlight accessibility problems all the time, like Tuesday & Thursday, so today I’m going to talk about the pleasant surprise I discovered on Monday. I ended up at Manchester & Macklind well before the westbound MetroBus was due, so I headed west. I knew this stretch of Manchester Ave isn’t a trendy neighborhood so I wasn’t sure what to expect as I rolled along passing the time.

Pleasantly rather than find obstacles at every cross street I found new ADA ramps. Plus they are directional, meaning I could actually continue in a straight path rather than be directed out into Manchester Ave.

So at least 1.1 miles of Manchester Ave from Macklind to Dale (map) is now accessible. Because MoDOT is resurfacing Manchester they updated the accessibly, as required by federal guidelines.

As for the problem I encountered above I got this reply from Streets director Todd Waelterman: “At this particular intersection, sewers and the proximity of buildings did not allow them to install a compliant ramp. Thus we are utilizing the ramp a few feet north and will be placing signs to indicate such access.”

I was prepared to wait for the bus at Macklind, so I was very happy I could spend the wait moving in that direction.

— Steve Patterson

An Infuriatingly Avoidable Accessibility Issue

The former headquarters of the Missouri Pacific Railroad reopened on May 12, 2011 as luxury apartments called Park Pacific. The Lawrence Group was the architect as well as owner/developer, they an impressive job.

But I’ve had a few issues, such as rolling dumpsters left blocking the Pine Street sidewalk.

In the 2+ years since the building reopened a number of businesses moved in. KMOX radio moved into some commercial office space, for example. At the street-level there are a number of options: frozen yogurt, fine dinning, smoothies, and most recently, Art Saint Louis + Mississippi Mud coffeehouse.

Earlier this week I had a meeting with someone, she suggested we meet at Art Saint Louis + Mississippi Mud. When Art Saint Louis announced their plans to relocate from 555 Washington Ave to the Park Pacific I was interested, the sidewalk entrance from their Washington Ave location wasn’t wheelchair accessible, but at least they also had a 2nd entrance via the lobby.

I just assumed with the $109 million dollar building renovation the accessible entrance to their new space must be through the main lobby as well. I thought nobody would build a tenant space with a brand new non-ADA exterior-only entrance. Turns out I was wrong, The Lawrence Group designed, built, & leased a storefront with one public entrance without required wheelchair access as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act.  The architect can’t say the owner made changes without their knowledge — the owner & architect are the same entity!

The sidewalk should’ve been raised up when poured, but it wasn’t. They had two years to fix it while the space was vacant and for lease, but they didn’t. No, it wasn’t until I arrive that it became an issue to fix. The executive director of Art Saint Louis and owner of Mississippi Mud were both apologetic, they genuinely felt bad.  Two staff from the Park Pacific got involved, guiding me through the lobby to a back service corridor, to a back door to the Art Saint Louis space.

But it was worth the journey, the new space is very nice. Much better than their previous space, which had become very dated.

One person said they could grind off the step, though it would be steeper than the ADA allows. On Tuesday post some were shocked when I said I was ok with the city using asphalt to deal with a problem where a sidewalk sank, causing a bit of a lip less than this one. It was suggested I have a double standard.

Well, yes and no.

The sidewalk situation I posted about Tuesday has several parties involved, hard to determine who’s at fault for the sidewalk sinking next to a water vault lid that didn’t sink.  Here we know clearly who’s responsible — and they received tax incentives to do the project. The mayor and other elected officials were present at the ribbon cutting.  So yes, I hold this project to a higher standard, but I wouldn’t call it a double standard.

At this point I want the entrance fixed precisely conforming with the ADA — not a fraction of an inch out of compliance. I have a digital level I’ll bring to test the solution. The Lawrence Group should know better, they cannot claim ignorance. They created the problem for themselves during the renovation, they didn’t address it for the 2 years the space was vacant.

Unfortunately the very nice people at Art Saint Louis + Mississippi Mud will be inconvenienced while this is busted out and redone in compliance with the ADA. If you plan to lease space for a business please make sure it is ADA-compliant. You can’t assume just because the owner of the building is an architecture firm that they got it right, bring along an independent 3rd party to verify before you sign the lease.

I emailed Lawrence Group partner Steve Smith that same day, saying I was “angry & disappointed.” Infuriating!!

— Steve Patterson

Readers: Issue RFP on Cupples 7 Site

The top answer in the poll last week indicates readers would like Treasurer Tishaura Jones issue a RFP (Request For Proposals) regarding the soon to be vacant site occupied for decades by the Cupples 7 warehouse.

Here are the poll results:

Q: What should St. Louis Treasurer Tishaura Jones do with the site of the former Cupples 7 warehouse? (pick up to 3)

1. Issue a RFP (request for proposals) from developers 73 [32.74%]
2. Don’t raze the western half! 48 [21.52%]
3. Solicit public to get ideas 34 [15.25%]
4. Set up a design charrette 32 [14.35%]
5. Plant it for a public park 18 [8.07%]
6. Pave it for surface parking 8 [3.59%]
7. Unsure/no opinion 5 [2.25%]
8. Construct a parking garage 3 [1.35%]
9. Other: 2 [0.9%]

Here are the two “other” answers submitted by readers.

1. Sell the site for a $1 to the first worthy development w/ funding.
2. set up a public speaking dais for a press conference on it and resign.

Ouch! I agree a RFP should be issued, but only after getting ideas from the public. The RFP shouldn’t be open-ended, it should have parameters based on public input.

In the interest of transparency & change, Jones will [hopefully] seek input and put together an open process to address the disposition the site.

The south wall of the west section was nearly gone when I visited yesterday. I think the north & west walls are the most critical, even saving just the first 3 floors of these walls makes sense until we have a handle on the next steps.

— Steve Patterson