The Architectural Legacy of Henry Shaw

Many people have had a positive impact on St. Louis, but few can compare to that of Henry Shaw (July 24, 1800-August 25, 1889). Shaw was born in England but arrived in St. Louis via New Orleans on May 3, 1819. St. Louis had been founded 50+ years before his arrival but the population by 1810 was only 1,600.

Shaw’s marker on the St. Louis Walk of Fame sums up his contribution:

Henry Shaw, only 18 when he came to St. Louis, was one of the city’s largest landowners by age 40. Working with leading botanists, he planned, funded and built the Missouri Botanical Garden, which opened in 1859. Shaw donated the land for Tower Grove Park and helped with its construction. He wrote botanical tracts, endowed Washington University’s School of Botany, helped found the Missouri Historical Society, and gave the city a school and land for a hospital. Of Shaw’s gifts, the Botanical Garden is best-known. Said as early as 1868 to have “no equal in the United States, and, indeed, few anywhere in the world,” it epitomizes the legacy of Henry Shaw. 

In addition to the Missouri Botanical Gardens institution, Tower Grove Park, and numerous trees, Shaw left a great architectural legacy of buildings he commissioned, here are a few:

Here’s more detail on the city townhouse:

This tall three-story townhouse was originally built for Henry Shaw in 1850 at the southwest corner of Seventh and Locust Streets. Shaw, who had made his fortune in mercantile pursuits and real estate, had retired by that time and had completed his new country home at Tower Grove the previous year. For his city home, Shaw chose a design by architect George 1. Barnett that was inspired by a Florentine palace. After Shaw´s death in 1889, and according to a provision of his will, the house was razed and relocated on the grounds of his Missouri Botanical Garden, where it now houses offices and related activities of the Garden. The house´s downtown site became the location of the Mercantile Club, later Compton Building, in 1893. (source)

Today the site has been a surface parking lot for decades, the Mercantile Club was razed before 1958.

All of these buildings were designed by George I. Barnett, a fellow Englishman 15 years younger than Shaw.

Barnett designed hundreds of buildings in St. Louis, many in Greek Revival, Italianate, and Gothic design. Barnett did not deviate from classical designs, and his portfolio was largely responsible for establishing Classicism as St. Louis’ dominate architectural influence. His works included houses, churches, commercial, and civic structures. Among his best known structures are renovations to the Old Courthouse, the Missouri Governor’s mansion, the structures of the Missouri Botanical Garden, Tower Grove Park, and the Southern Hotel.

Obviously Shaw liked Barnett’s work, most likely Barnett liked having a steady stream of commissions from a prominent & wealthy member of the community.

— Steve Patterson

Lindell Update: 3949 Apartments, CVS, AAA

A year ago the 3949 Lindell Apartments were a burt out mess, but now they’re nearly rebuilt.

Looks like the same basic design, with some details being different. Notably, the large windows are now have black frames rather than white.

CVS tried to raze the former offices of the St. Louis Housing Authority a half a block to the west and later they wanted to raze the round AAA building, they were rebuffed at both sites. They wanted a store in this area so they were forced to adapt. AAA has also announced they will renovate their building since they were denied a demolition permit.

Once all three are finished I’ll visit to see how they connect to the sidewalks on Lindell and McPherson, as well as to each other.

Reflections on the Great Flood of 1993

Twenty years ago today we saw record flooding in the St. Louis region:

The Mississippi River at St. Louis crested at 49.6 feet on August 1, nearly 20 feet above flood stage and had a peak flow rate of 1.08 Million cubic feet per second. At this rate, a bowl the size of Busch Stadium would be filled to the brim in 69 seconds. (source) 

Here’s a more detailed look at flooding that year leading up to August 1st:

At St. Louis, the first spring flooding on the Mississippi River was recorded April 8, cresting at .2 feet above flood stage and lasting only that day. The Mississippi rose above flood stage again on April 11 and stayed above flood stage until May 24. The city got a respite as the Mississippi stayed below flood stage May 24 to June 26. On June 27, the Mississippi again went above flood stage and didn’t drop below flood stage for the year until October 7—a total of 146 days above flood stage. The Mississippi River was above the old record flood stage for more than three weeks at St. Louis from mid July to mid August. Prior to 1993, the historic flood of record on the Mississippi River at St. Louis had been 43.2 feet, recorded April 28, 1973. That record was broken July 21, 1993, with a level of 46.9 feet and broken again 11 days later with a record stage of 49.58 feet on Aug. 1. St. Louis is located near the confluence of the Missouri, Illinois and Mississippi rivers, all of which were in flood at the same time. (source) 

In the  two decades since, Chesterfield’s Monarch Levee was rebuilt and substantial commercial development has happened within the Chesterfield  valley. For example. THF’s Chesterfield Commons:

And now we have two competing outlet malls opening very close to each other on land flooded 20 years ago. In the market for a new Bentley, Maserati, or Aston Martin? Head to STL Motorcars showroom in the floodplain, at 1 Arnage Blvd.  Not even close to St. Louis, but it sounds better than Gumbo Flats Motors on Floodplain Ave.

— Steve Patterson 

Lack of Land-Use Controls Among Reasons Why So Little Transit-Oriented Development At MetroLink Stations After Two Decades

Today is the 20th anniversary of the opening of our original MetroLink light rail line. Since then we’ve added a line in Illinois and one in St. Louis County.

One thing we haven’t really seen much of is transit-oriernted development (TOD). We’ve had a few projects that are, at best, transit-adjacent development (TAD).

TAD is TOD gone bad, development that is adjacent to transit but breaks all the rules that make TOD work, like making public spaces the focus of building orientation and neighborhood activity; creating pedestrian-friendly street networks that directly connect local destinations; and providing a mix of housing types, densities and costs. (TOD’s Evil Twin: Transit-Adjacent Development)

In the poll last week I asked about the lack of TOD in the last two decades:

Q: Why do you think our MetroLink light rail stations haven’t seen much transit-oriented development in the last 20 years? (Pick up to 3)

1. Lack of proper land-use controls, like form-based zoning 42 [13.21%]
2. Nobody pushed for TOD 37 [11.64%]
3. Regional fragmentation of leadership 37 [11.64%]
4. Regional job & population growth have been stagnant 37 [11.64%]
5. The station designs aren’t conducive for infill development 31 [9.75%]
6. Located in bad locations. 29 [9.12%]
7. The alignment isn’t convenient to many 27 [8.49%]
8. No demand for transit-oriented development 23 [7.23%]
9. We naively thought if we built it they’d come 17 [5.35%]
10. Used mainly for games, events, to reach Lambert airport 15 [4.72%]
11. Another reason not listed 10 [3.14%]
12. Our laissez-faire love of the free market 8 [2.52%]
13. Naysayers muted initial enthusiasm, halting TOD potential 4 [1.26%]
14. Park & ride lots are the best use of the land at the stations 1 [0.31%]
15. Unsure/no answer 0 [0%]

All of the above (except #14) are valid reasons, I think they ended up in about the right order too. A form-based code at the Wellston station would’ve required St. Louis County Economic Council building to acknowledge the presence of light rail.

When the county government doesn’t do set a good example, how can we expect others to do better on their own?

In the last couple of years there has been a TOD push. Better late than never or too little, too late?

— Steve Patterson

VA Hospital Should Expand East To Grand Boulevard

Yesterday I explained that John Cochran Veterans Hospital Wants To Expand South Into Grand Center, Raze Historic Palladium Music Hall. This would involve taking an active union hall, a popular restaurant that just rebuilt its building, and the historic Palladium. It would also require the city to vacate a public street: Enright.

It would also leave John Cochran Hospital set far back from Grand, in stark contrast to urban buildings to the north and south along Grand Blvd. My solution then, is to look at expanding the hospital out toward Grand Blvd, rather than to the South.

Of course, after the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, the front would need to be a blast-resitant design. They’d need less room for surface parking and valet service if they actually embraced public transit.

Directions to the hospital takes you to the driving directions page.  If you look for it you’ll see the on public transportation page which says:

Public transportation is available at both divisions. The Grand Boulevard bus will take you to the John Cochran Divsion [sic]. The Jefferson Barracks Division may be reached by using either the Broadway or Lindbergh bus. For more information on public transportation for the bus lines or for Metrolink rail service please contact Metro St. Louis at (314) 231-2345 or visit their web site at *Metro St. Louis.

* Link will take you outside of the Department of Veterans Affairs Website. VA does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of the linked websites. The link will open in a new window.

The above should be written as something like:

Both divisions can be reached via public transportation. The John Cochran Division is served by the the following routes:

• #70 Grand*
• #97 Delmar* (1 block south)
• #94 Page* (3 blocks north)
• #10 Gravois-Lindell* (5 blocks south)
• MetroLink light rail (Exit Grand Station, transfer to the northbound #70 Grand MetroBus)

The Jefferson Barracks Division may be reached by using either the #40 Broadway or #48 Lindbergh MetroBus routes.

For more information on public transportation for the bus lines or for Metrolink rail service please contact Metro St. Louis at (314) 231-2345 or visit their web site at *Metro St. Louis.

* Link will take you outside of the Department of Veterans Affairs Website. VA does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of the linked websites. The link will open in a new window.

That little bit of extra information might convince someone to use transit rather than drive.veer

Back to expansion, there might be legitimate reasons why adding to the south makes a lot of sense in terms of internal flow, but it is also possible they never considered adding out front rather than to the side.

— Steve Patterson