Fortieth Anniversary of Laclede’s Landing Redevelopment

Four decades ago today — February 19, 1975 — the Board of Aldermen took at step to save what little remained of the oldest part of the city:

A group of downtown bankers and businessmen, led by William Maritz announced the formation of a corporation to oversee development of the tiny group of remaining buildings along the riverfront levee. The Laclede’s Landing Redevelopment Corporation was approved by the Board of Aldermen, which allowed interested owners to retain and improve their properties. Through the 1960’s several proposals were put forth for the area, including one shortsighted suggestion of complete demolition. The area was listed on the National Historic Register in 1976, the first commercial district in St. Louis to do so. Laclede’s Landing has since been on a steady upward path, with several local architects contributing to its renovation. The name “Laclede’s Landing” is a relatively recent name that has been given to the site, as there were nearly 150 more blocks of a similar character that made up the St. Louis riverfront before the creation of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. (STL250 via Facebook)

The bulk of the original city had been razed 35+ years before to make room for a riverfront memorial — eventually the Arch we know today. In 1975 the Arch was open but the grounds not yet landscaped, the north garage not yet built.

In the last four decades the area hasn’t been stagnant, buildings have been renovated while others have been lost. Most recently some sidewalks were improved, made more accessible.

Despite recent progress, this summer a big employer will leave Laclede’s Landing:

Following an extensive search, the Bi-State Development Agency (BSDA) is excited to announce the relocation of its headquarters to the Metropolitan Square Building at 211 North Broadway in downtown St. Louis. The move is planned for summer 2015.

Since 1982, BSDA has occupied space at 707 North 1st Street, which currently serves as the agency’s headquarters for the Metro transit system, the Gateway Arch tram and ticket operations, St. Louis Downtown Airport, the new St. Louis Gateway Freight District, and the Gateway Arch Riverboats. The 117-year old building has approximately 100,000 square feet of floor space. (NextStopSTL)

Links:

• Laclede’s Landing
• 1976 National Register nomination (PDF)

Hopefully other businesses will take over the space that’ll be vacated by Metro! I’m grateful that decades ago some saw the value of holding on the last remnants of the old city.

— Steve Patterson

I’d Love An Eataly St. Louis

During my nearly week-long visit to Chicago I shopped at three very different grocery stores: local chain Treasure Island, national chain Whole Foods, and Italian-based global chain: Eataly.

The only other Eataly in North America is in NYC. Most are in Italy, other cities with a location include Tokyo , Dubai, and Istanbul.

The Italian businessman Oscar Farinetti opened the first Eataly in an old vermouth factory in Turin, Italy, in 2007. Twenty-six outlets later, the word Eataly has been spoken so many times from Turkey to Tokyo—and now in River North—that you may have forgotten how silly it is. An Italian superstore called Eataly! That would be like an American food bazaar called United Plates. [Chicago Magazine]

Investors such as Mario Batali are looking to expand to cities like Boston, Philadelphia, etc.

i doubt we’ll see an Eataly in St  louis, but I also didn’t expect us to get an IKEA  The best location for an Eataly in St. Louis would be Ballpark Village because it offers a high concentration of people much of the year. However, Eataly seems to prefer going into existing buildings.

— Steve Patterson

Still In Chicago To Avoid Snow In St. Louis

My husband and I had planned to return to St. Louis from Valentine’s weekend in Chicago via Amtrak late Sunday night — well technically just after midnight Monday morning. Sunday we realized the weather would make it difficult for me — arriving so late there wouldn’t be MetroBus service and getting the nearly 3/4 of a mile home on un-shoveled sidewalks in frigid temperatures wasn’t an option.

We tried to reserve a wheelchair taxicab from both companies that offer that service — but cited the coming storm as to why they couldn’t pick me up. My husband needed to be able to go to work Monday, so he left on our scheduled train but I changed my ticket to Tuesday morning — today. I’ll arrive later this afternoon.

The temperature will still be frigid and the sidewalks unusable, but I’ve arranged for a wheelchair taxicab to pick me up.

As a first, this post was started as a note on my iPhone Sunday night and finished at a Panera on my iPad Monday morning. The snow was good in that it forced me to learn to post from my iPad on the go.

— Steve Patterson

Happy Washington’s Birthday or Presidents’ Day?

So which is it: Presidents’ Day or Washington’s Birthday? What about Abraham Lincoln? The best answer I found online is from Snopes.com (recommended):

Claim:   The federal holiday observed in the United States on the third Monday of February is officially designated as “Presidents’ Day.”

FALSE

Their post is long and detailed, but the following is a good summary:

President Nixon is frequently identified as the party responsible for changing Washington’s Birthday into President’s Day and fostering the notion that it is a day for commemorating all U.S. Presidents, a feat he supposedly achieved by issuing a proclamation on 21 February 1971 which declared the third Monday in February to be a “holiday set aside to honor all presidents, even myself.” This claim stems not from fact, however, but from a newspaper spoof. Actually, presidential records indicate that Nixon merely issued an Executive Order (11582) on 11 February 1971 defining the third Monday of February as a holiday, and the announcement of that Executive Order identified the day as “Washington’s Birthday.”

Executive Order (11582) makes no mention of the title’s of the holidays:

(a) Holiday means the first day of January, the third Monday of February, the last Monday of May, the fourth day of July, the first Monday of September, the second Monday of October, the fourth Monday of October, the fourth Thursday of November, the twenty-fifth day of December, or any other calendar day designated as a holiday by Federal statute or Executive order.

Abraham Lincoln’s birthday is the 12th — my husband and I were on a Lincoln Service Amtrak train to Chicago on his birthday. Washington’s birthday s the 22nd — this coming Sunday.

— Steve Patterson

Sunday Poll: QuikTrip wants to build a typical QT at Jefferson & Chouteau, St. Louis should…

The latest controversy in St. Louis is over a proposed QuikTrip on the SW corner of Jefferson & Chouteau, you can view the site plan on Scribd.

For the poll today I’d like to see what readers think. Answers provided range for let them build it to deny it, with two levels of compromise in between. The poll is at the top of the right sidebar, it closes in 12 hours (8pm).

I’ll detail my thoughts on Wednesday when I share the results.

— Steve Patterson