Olive/Lindell Becoming More Accessible

Some streets are more accessible than others, Olive Street was kinda in the middle of the pack based on my experience. But   lately the city has been working hard to replace poorly designed ADA ramps and install ramps where none existed. On a recent trip on the #10 bus I photographed some of the improvements.

North Beaumont St. was a point where no ramp existed on the west side of the street. When I used to vote at the Heritage House across Olive I had to find mid-block points to cross from east to west.  Crews have worked very fast too.

I went to the optical place in Lindell Marketplace at Lindell & Sarah recently, when I arrived equipment was ready to bust out the old. By the time I left my eye exam the old was gone, presenting a bit of s challenge  for me. A week later when I returned to get my new glasses I had a contingency plan on hoe to reach my destination but it wasn’t needed, the new ramps were finished.

– Steve Patterson

St. Louis Hosted The 1916 Democratic Convention

Ninety-six years ago candidates for president were securing delegates to get the nomination for their party. The Democratic Party held their convention in St. Louis:

The 1916 Democratic National Convention was held at the St. Louis Coliseum in St. Louis, Missouri from June 14 – June 16, 1916. It resulted in the nomination of President Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey for President and Thomas R. Marshall of Indiana for Vice-President. (Wikipedia)

St. Louis Coliseum?

The St. Louis Coliseum was an arena in St. Louis, Missouri from 1908 to 1953 at the southwest corner of Washington Boulevard and Jefferson Avenue.

When the cornerstone was laid on August 22, 1908, it was claimed the building would be the largest public building in the United States. It replaced the St. Louis Exposition and Music Hall as the city’s main indoor arena.

The building was leased for several years by Tex Rickard and was the site of boxing matches. It was also a venue for the Veiled Prophet Parade.

Kiel Auditorium which opened in 1934 effectively replaced the Coliseum, and it was condemned as unsafe by the city in 1953. (Wikipedia) 

This new Coliseum was needed because the new St. Louis Library was going to be built on the site of the St. Louis Exposition and Music Hall.

Three years after the St. Louis Coliseum was razed Jefferson Bank opened their new facility on the site, see: Jefferson Bank’s 1956 Move South of Delmar, Away From Pruitt-Igoe, & 1963 Protest. View the site today in Google Maps here.

St. Louis built numerous facilities in the early 20th century:

• 1883:  St. Louis Exposition and Music Hall, lasted 25 years
• 1908: St. Louis Coliseum
• 1929: St. Louis Arena
• 1934 Kiel Opera House, now Peabody Opera House
• 1977: Cervantes Convention Center, later expanded and now know as America’s Center

St. Louis was a finalist for the 2012 Democratic convention but Charlotte NC was selected.

– Steve Patterson

Preparing Bellefontaine Cemetery For The Next 100 Years

Who doesn’t love Bellefontaine Cemetery? Bellefontaine’s narrative, a fascinating read, begins:

The story of Bellefontaine Cemetery begins in the early 19th Century when an international movement began to transform burial practice in America. Up until that time, the dead had been buried in churchyards, on family property, or in small vacant lots. As cities flourished, however, the land set aside for the dead grew increasingly valuable. When developers claimed these urban graveyards for the growth of cities, those interred there had to be moved elsewhere.

“The first interment at Bellefontaine took place on April 27, 1850” and the new cemetery was dedicated on May 16, 1850. In those days the main entrance was on the east side, facing an unpaved Broadway.

In my 21+ years in St. Louis I’ve been to Bellefontaine many times, often taking out of town guests on a drive through the winding roads to see some of the notable structures. You’ve probably done the same thing.

At the Compton Heights Home Tour this year I happened to meet Bellefontaine’s new landscape architect, Earen L. Hummel.

Before I get into Hummel’s role I’d like to review what Bellefontaine is, and isn’t. The quotes below are from Bellefontaine’s FAQ page:

Bellefontaine does not have an owner – it is a non-profit, non-denominational cemetery. Our mission is to provide high quality service to people of all faiths; to preserve and protect the history and stories of our families; to protect and enhance the beauty of our landscape; and to ensure that the cemetery is well-cared for, far into the future.

The cemetery’s large endowment is professionally managed to ensure future financial needs are met:

Bellefontaine is very fortunate to have a large endowment that helps pay for the not insignificant costs of maintaining a 314 acre property that has many buildings and 14 miles of roads. 

While Bellefontaine contains important historical figures such as author William S. Burroughs, architect Theodore Link and brewing magnate Adolphus Busch, most of those interred are just regular folks like you and me.

Bellefontaine buries people of all faiths and walks of life – the cemetery was founded to serve all the citizens of St. Louis. In the mid-1800s, many cemeteries in St. Louis were faith based and buried only members of their congregation or others of the same faith. As the population grew exponentially, cemeteries were filled up. Others were sold to developers, eager for land in the expanding city. City leaders at the time conceived of Bellefontaine as a cemetery for everyone, large enough that it would have land available for the citizens of the city far into the future, and far enough away from the downtown that there would be no demand from developers for its land.

Note that it said “buries” in present tense — Bellefontaine is far from being full:

Bellefontaine still has over 100 acres of open land, which means that the cemetery will be available for interment for generations to come. In fact, we have so much land that we are planting some of it in prairie and woodland, which is beautiful to look at, and provides habitat for many birds and animals.

Who knew? Personal story, I knew and in the days before my stroke I called Bellefontaine to get plot information after discussing the with a friend about being buried in such a beautiful cemetery. The information came while I was comatose in intensive care.

Hummel gave me a personal tour of the cemetery, including the open spaces.

Hummel was part of a consultant team that worked for a year on the master plan for the next 100 years.  After the team finished their work Bellefontaine’s board created a new position and hired Hummel to oversee the implementation of the new plan. It’s an exciting plan too!

More green options will be offered, though they’ve always permitted a simple green burial:

those who wish to minimize their environmental impact (and often reduce their costs too), unlike many cemeteries we do not require outer burial containers, often called vaults, which surround the casket. And if you wish burial in a simple pine coffin or even a shroud, that is fine with us too. We call this “traditional” green burial: it is what our forbearers did for hundreds of years.

Want to be greener yet?

As mentioned above, at Bellefontaine you do not need to be embalmed, have an outer burial container, or even a traditional coffin. Old-fashioned pine, wicker or other bio-degradable materials are perfectly acceptable. This is better for the earth, and can also significantly reduce your costs. We will also soon be offering even “greener” options in our woodland or prairie areas, such as in-ground scattering of cremated remains or burials with simple, natural monumentation.

Within a couple of years they hope to have areas that will be free of pesticides.

I planned to include one image from the master plan but I couldn’t pick just one:

It’ll take all of 20 years to implement the master plan. I look forward to watching it happen.

– Steve Patterson

Readers: Would Send Kid To Best High School In Missouri Even Though It’s In the St. Louis Public School System

Metro Academic & Classical High School in the St. Louis Pubic School system is the top high school in the state (prior post)! It’s student body is also selected from the best in the city, not just any kid can attend. Of course, this is a major factor in producing the outstanding results.

The poll results and the comments varied widely, as one might expect:

Q: Assume You Have Kids: Would You Send Your Kid To The Top High School In The Region/Missouri If You Could? BTW: It’s Metro Academic and Classical High School

1. Sure, no problem 39 [42.39%]
2. No way, it’s part of St. Louis Public Schools 14 [15.22%]
3. Yes, that’s where they go! 13 [14.13%]
4. Maybe 12 [13.04%]
5. Other: 8 [8.7%]
6. Unsure/no opinion 6 [6.52%]

The #1 & #3 answers represent for than half those that took the poll. The “other” answers were:

1. Private
2. Yes, that’s his alma mater
3. of course, but why such success at this location and not others?always wondered?
4. They would go to the closest High School to the house
5. Loaded poll alert! Please make them more interesting in the future.
6. If I had kids they would go there.
7. Only sending kids to private schools
8. onlt if I couldn’t afford to send them to one of our great catholic schools

The purpose of the poll was to spark some discussion around education, which it did.

– Steve Patterson

Excellent Urban Infill: North Sarah Apartments By McCormack Baron Salazar

It was by chance that I discovered the North Sarah Apartments under construction on May 11, 2012.   Photographing the Hodiamont ROW for a post last month (link) I saw new construction a block north and had to check it out.

Developer McCormack Baron Salazar describes the project:

North Sarah, a multi-family, mixed-use development, consists of 120 mixed-income rental units in garden apartments, townhouses, three mixed-use buildings (approx. 7,000 SF of commercial/retail space) and a fourth mixed-use building that includes management/community space (approx. 4,900 SF). This development represents a critical component of the North Central Redevelopment Plan that was developed over several years and completed in 2000 by the City of St. Louis, community stakeholders and residents.

Located in the North Central area of North St. Louis City, North Sarah is anchored by key St. Louis neighborhood assets on its edges, including Grand Center to the east, the Central West End to the west, and nearby Saint Louis University to the south and east. In the community’s core, a number of new civic, educational, commercial and residential developments have created nodes of reinvestment. However, despite this progress and potential, a number of blocks in the North Central district, including those targeted for the North Sarah development, remain heavily disinvested, preventing the neighborhood fabric from being “knit” back together as desired under the North Central Plan. The North Sarah development is a key connector in bridging current gaps in revitalization and catalyzing further reinvestment in the area.

The architecture of North Sarah celebrates the historic character of the community while featuring modern amenities and sustainable (“green” technology) to improve both the marketability and energy efficiency of the units. Specifically, the development is designed in accordance with Enterprise Green Communities criteria.

North Sarah also benefits from a creatively structured and capitalized Human Capital Planning and Implementation Program lead by Urban Strategies in collaboration with key community stake holders. The development will staff a community liaison that will assist with the coordination of supportive services and implementation of resident activities. (McCormack Baron Salazar)

Here are some of the pictures I took that day:

The development isn’t perfect, someone thought it’d be a good idea to use the impervious concrete on some of the sidewalks on North Sarah even though it’s a rough surface. Time will tell how the project does but from a design perspective this is one of the best infill projects I’ve seen in the city. The inclusion of storefronts along North Sarah sets this apart from so many others that force residents to leave their neighborhood for goods & services.

Kudos to McCormack Baron Salazar and everyone involved for making this a reality!

– Steve Patterson