New Construction Should Have Urban Form, Not Have A Forced Historic Style

The issue of form & style is a hard one to address, but this is exactly where I think St. Louis has failed over the years. The form of buildings, how they relate to the street/sidewalk, has been totally ignored.

Here’s how it often plays out in St. Louis: One story building set back surrounded by parking on a block with 2-4 story buildings built up to the property line. No problem, just be sure to wrap it in red brick with some stone elements so it fits in. Frustrating!

The other view taken in some neighborhoods is the new infill building, in the above scenario, should be detailed from the period of the neighbors on either side so the untrained eye wouldn’t know it was built 100 years later.  Also frustrating, they wouldn’t have done this 75 years ago…or 64 years ago.

If the Wellston Loop in 1949 had a design code based on the one used by many St. Louis neighborhoods this structure, which I love, wouldn’t have been permitted. That is the problem I have with how we tend to define “fits in.”  Granted, this would be shocking to see on Park Ave in the commercial area east of Lafayette Park. Was it shocking to Wellston Loop shoppers in 1949? Very likely, but freezing an area in whatever period can be the opposite — boring or even offensive.

I don’t have the answers, I just think we need to give more attention to form and less to particulars of style.

Here are the results from the poll last week:

Q: New construction should…

1. …have an urban form in whatever style the owner desires 34 [41.98%]
2. …replicate period of surrounding buildings in some historic districts 24 [29.63%]
3. …look like older buildings, so a lay person might think it is an old building 7 [8.64%]
4. …NOT be a replica of an older style 7 [8.64%]
5. Other: 6 [7.41%]
6. …have any form (urban/suburban) in any style the owner desires 3 [3.7%]
7. Unsure/no opinion 0 [0%]

And the six “other” answers provided by readers:

1. New construction should entice people/business to want to be in and/or around itAdd as a poll answer
2. This guestion isnt a very good one for a poll steve-o
3. Needs to be complementary to existing architecture.
4. modern and fit/funtion well on its site
5. The owner should decide what his new building will look like. MONEY TALKS!
6. not as simple as the other choices – more dtls req’d

Thoughts?

— Steve Patterson

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Potential Development Sites Along Proposed Streetcar Line, Part 6: Compton to Vandeventer

As I’ve done for the last month, this is another post on potential development sites along the proposed initial route of the St. Louis Streetcar.  The sections already reviewed are as follows:

1. Olive 15th-16th
2. Olive 16th-18th
3. 14th & Olive To North Florissant & St. Louis Ave.
4. Olive 18th to Jefferson
5. Jefferson to Compton
   

This post will cover the section from Olive & Compton to Lindell & Vandeventer (map). For those unfamiliar with the area, Olive splits off to the north but to motorists Olive becomes Lindell (pronounced Lindle). The entire south side of this stretch of Olive/Lindell is the campus of Saint Louis University (SLU). The north is a mix of SLU, private, and institutional properties.

We’ll start at Compton and head west.

The buildings & land on the other side of Lindell from SLU’s Compton Garage are ripe for development, I’m just lacking images of them.

The corner of Lindell & Grand should get major new buildings. There are already substantial buildings in the area, especially to the north & west. These two corners were land banked by SLU so the streetcar is the perfect time to withdraw them and put them to good use activating the intersection.

An interesting paragraph from the 1978 midtown nomination:

Unfortunately, Midtown is still perceived by many as a dangerous area riddled with street crime and all manner of urban ills, the most prominent of which is the current “black sploitation” fare served at the Fabulous Fox. In spite of this onus, a 1977 walking tour sponsored by the St. Louis Chapter of the American Institute of Architects and New Town/St. Louis, Inc. drew hundreds of curious and concerned

St. Louisans to Midtown. The solution for the revitalization of existing structures and the continuing education of the general public will not be easy, but to abandon Midtown is to dismiss one of the strongest concentrations of architecturally significant buildings in St. Louis.

There is more developable area north of Lindell and  west of Spring, both vacant buildings and vacant land.

— Steve Patterson

Non-Profit Carr Square Tenant Corporation Has Massive Annual Deficits

Tenant management of public housing projects was a new thing forty years ago:

In 1971, brought together by frustration with poor management and maintenance, the residents of the Bromley-Heath public housing development In Boston formally Incorporated the nation’s first resident management corporation That same year, St. Louis’ public housing residents waged a rent strike against their housing authority to protest poor maintenance and rising rents In the wake of the strike settlement, the authority eventually delegated control over a number of management functions to newly-formed resident organizations at several Sites, Including Carr Square and Cochran Gardens. These events marked the beginning of the resident management movement, which today is viewed by resident advocates and policy makers as a potential solution to many of the problems facing America’s public housing stock and the people who live In it. (HUD – Evaluation of Resident Management in Public Housing – 1992)

The St. Louis Rent Strike actually took place in 1969, it took a few years to get to tenant management.  The Carr Square Tenant Corporation was incorporated as a non-profit on September 27, 1972, before Cochran Gardens. Initially tenant management corporations had limited roles but over the years this has expanded greatly, especially at Carr Square. Rodney Hubbard Sr. is the Executive Director of the Carr Square Tenant Corporation.

Cochran Gardens leader Bertha Gilkey became a high-profile face of tenant management with a May 3 1991 visit by President George H.W. Bush to Cochran Gardens (read speech) and was honored by Oprah Winfrey in 1992. In 1998 the Post-Dispatch discovered Gilkey had charged thousands of dollars on Cochran credit cards for personal use.  The Housing Authority demanded the return of the credit cards and questioned expenses at Carr Square:

The new leaders of the St. Louis Housing Authority are questioning hundreds of thousands of dollars of expenditures at the Carr Square housing complex.

The biggest expense in question: a contract for at least $ 616,000 for telephone work at the development.

Meanwhile, Thomas P. Costello, interim executive director of the Housing Authority, said he also wants top officials of another public-housing development, Cochran Gardens, to return their credit cards. That demand followed publication Sunday of a Post-Dispatch investigation that showed that Cochran board chairwoman Bertha Gilkey made thousands of dollars of purchases for herself and her consulting firm on her Cochran- issued credit card. (St. Louis Post-Disptach 1/14/1998)

What’s this about deficit spending? Take a look:

I obtained the 990s (non-profit tax return) for 2008-2010, the 2008 return also includes figures for the prior year, 2007. I’ve uploaded these to Scribd for review:

• 2008
• 2009
• 2010

In the four years covered above they had revenue of $4,530,275 and expenses of $7,864,725, for a cumulative deficit of -$3,334,450. I’m not an accountant, but I know you want revenue to be higher than expenses. Much of their revenue is from HUD and other government agencies. I don’t understand how this continues.

The St. Louis Comptroller’s Office has reviewed compliance for an annual daycare contract of less than $40,000. In December 2001, May 2009, and November 201o the results were the same: “Conclusion: The Agency did not fully comply with federal, state, and local CDA requirements.”

Maybe everything here is on the up and up, I just see red flags that don’t make sense to me. I’m notifying the HUD Office of Inspector General and the St. Louis Circuit Attorney, hopefully they’ll look into this.

— Steve Patterson

Poll: Your Thoughts on Ald Bosley’s Solicitation For Tuition Money?

Last week we learned Ald. Freeman Bosley Sr. (D-03) sent a letter asking help covering $14,276 of a $38,890 bill to the private Xavier College in Chicago.

So the longtime city politician sent an unusual letter to friends and supporters, asking them to provide $14,274 he says is the outstanding balance of his daughter’s upcoming bill at St. Xavier University in Chicago.

“Although the help from scholarships and grants has paid for nearly twenty-five thousand dollars, the remaining balance is still a challenge,” Bosley wrote in the undated letter obtained this week by the Post-Dispatch. (stltoday)

You can view the letter here. Freeman Bosley Sr. is 78, his son, former mayor Freeman Bosley Jr. will turn 59 next month. Just how old is this daughter? Forty-five?

Bosley tells us that his daughter, Kenya Young-Bosley, who is turning eighteen next month, will attend St. Xavier University in Chicago this fall and eventually wants to go to law school. He says that she has maintained a 4.0 GPA and is in the top 2 percent of her class. (Riverfront Times)

Many bright young people attend public colleges, but Bosley seems to have a different view:

But it is a comment made to News Channel Five that continues to ruffle feathers. Bosley,Sr said, “Why would I want to send a child that can do that (get 97%) over four years over to a public university when her intent is to become a lawyer?

“It doesn’t make sense to send her out to Forest Park, now would it.” (KSDK)

“Forest Park” is a reference to St. Louis Community College at Forest Park. Most of us know there are numerous public colleges in Missouri such as University of Missouri, University of Missouri – St. Louis, and Harris-Stowe State University. Heck, at Harris Stowe she should feel right at home.

Bosley Jr. attended Saint Louis University, a private school, for undergraduate & law school. As mayor he helped Harris Stowe take over part of the land that was once LaClede Town, part of the urban renewal project that razed the area known as Mill Creek Valley.

Back to Bosly Sr.; apparently officials from the Missouri Ethics Commission say he didn’t violate any laws. Not surprising, Jefferson City isn’t keen on regulation of industry or politicians.

When questioned by numerous news outlets, Ald. Bosley indicated he would return any checks if he receives any.

Which brings me to the poll question for this week:  Ald Bosley sent a letter to supporters asking for help paying the remaining $14,276 private college tuition for his daughter he couldn’t cover. Reaction?

Has the media blown this out of scale? Is this a major violation of public trust? Vote in the poll in the right sidebar then add your comments below.

— Steve Patterson

The 21st Century Plane: Solar Impulse

The 1947 St. Louis Comprehensive Plan called for 35 airports in the metropolitan area by 1970. Yes, 35!

It is reasonable to assume that the developments in air transportation during the next few decades will parallel that of automobile transportation, which really started about three decades ago. St. Louis must be prepared to accept and make the most of conditions that will arise. Provision of the several types of airfields required must be on a metropolitan basis. The recently prepared Metropolitan Airport Plan proposes thirty-five airfields. (see plan)

This was two decades after Charles Lindbergh completed his historic flight over the Atlantic in the Spirit of St. Louis, aircraft had changed substantially:

“The Spirit of St. Louis” was designed with one thought in mind: to get to Paris. Extra fuels tanks were added and the wing span increased to accommodate the additional weight. The plane would have a maximum range of 4,000 miles, more than enough to reach Paris. One of the more innovative design decisions involved placing the main fuel tank in front of, rather than behind, the pilot’s seat. Lindbergh didn’t want to be caught between the tank and the engine if the plane was forced to land. This configuration also meant that Lindbergh would not be able to see directly ahead as he flew. It didn’t seem to trouble him much. “There’s not much need to see ahead in normal flight,” Lindbergh told Donald Hall. “I won’t be following any airways. When I’m near a flying field, I can watch the sky ahead by making shallow banks. All I need is a window on each side to see through…” If needed, Lindbergh would use a periscope attached to the plane’s left side to see what was in front of him. In his efforts to pare down the plane’s weight, Lindbergh considered every detail. Any item considered too heavy or unnecessary was left behind. These included a radio, parachute, gas gauges, and navigation lights. Lindbergh designed for himself special lightweight boots for the flight, and went so far as to cut his maps down to include only those reference points he would need. Every ounce mattered. Instead of a heavy leather pilot’s seat, Lindbergh would be perched in a far lighter wicker chair. (CharlesLindbergh.com)

In October 1947 a plane traveled faster than the speed of sound for the very first time (source).  By 1977, the Concorde could fly from New York City to Paris in just 3.5 hours (source), less than the usual 8, and much less than Lindbergh’s flight half a century earlier.

In the 21st Century the challenge is how to operate aircraft on less fuel, or even no fuel. Enter the Solar Impulse:

Solar Impulse has started to fulfill the good-citizenship role for which it was designed. The solar airplane provokes discussions amongst the highest political and economic authorities about technological solutions currently available to help them achieve the world’s agreed CO2 reduction targets. And it also allows them to tackle the problem of resistance to change, which risks locking us for too long into the dangerous and costly consequences of old habits. It is with the aim of promoting such processes of change that Europe is using Solar Impulse, to give an example of what clean technology is capable of achieving. Hence the patronage of the Presidents of the European Parliament and the Council of Europe, as well as the European Commission. (Solar Impulse)

I got to see the Solar Impulse yesterday.

When will we be able to book a flight on a commercial solar airplane? No clue, but this effort will push development of solar technology forward. Who knows, in 20 years much more of our lives may be powered by the sun.

— Steve Patterson