Thoughts on Cupples #7

A week ago the St. Louis Preservation Board unanimously upheld the staff denial of a demolition permit for the Cupples 7 building. Had Mary “One” Johnson still been on the board there would have been one vote in favor of demolition.  But enough about her…

Demolition was a moot point, owners Kevin McGowan & Nat Walsh couldn’t afford to demolish the building even if they were given the permit to do so. This was about liability, specifically the transfer of liability. Should the building collapse, damaging adjacent properties, they can say they tried to remove the hazard but were denied the right to do so. A clever move to absolve themselves of responsibility.

Well, at least an attempt to absolve responsibility. However, I’m not quick to forgive and forget. How did we get to this point? In 2000 when Bank of America owned several of the Cupples buildings a tank collapsed causing a hole in the roof of #7. The hole was known five years later when McGowan & Walsh bought three of the warehouses, including #7. They attempted to tarp over the roof, right?

Wrong, they did nothing! Water poured in a small hole in the roof for five years prior to their ownership causing structural damage to get to the point where it is today — which is mostly in the basement. They’ve been irresponsible owners for years and now they are maneuvering to blame the city if this historic structure collapses.

The city certainly has failed, I’ve had to resolve issues like peeling paint or end up in court! Where has the city been? They condemned the structure in 2008 and that then did…nothing. Everyone has been covering their own ass, but nobody has been trying to stabilize the building.

Can we all work together to find a way to support the exterior walls for future use? Not you Kevin and Nat, stay out of the picture — let Montgomery Bank foreclose on the mortgage or the city for back taxes.

– Steve Patterson

Poll: Do You Support St. Louis Selling Bonds To Fund Park Improvements?

St. Louis will be selling bonds to fund improvements to the city’s park system. From STLtoday.com on Friday:

St. Louis aldermen today overwhelmingly approved a plan to issue $64 million in bonds for city parks, with about $30 million to be spent on improvements at Forest Park.

What’s not to like about better parks?

Comptroller Darlene Green isn’t happy about the city taking on more debt:

On Thursday, Green was outvoted when two related bills authorizing the funding plan passed the city’s three-person Board of Estimate and Apportionment, which also includes Mayor Francis Slay and Aldermanic President Lewis Reed. Aldermen today approved the bills by wide margins. (article)

So St. Louis will take on more debt. In a November 30th letter to the Board of Aldermen, Comptroller Green explained her concerns about paying off the debt.

This seems like a perfect subject for a weekly poll question: Do you support St. Louis selling bonds to fund park improvements? The poll is in the right sidebar, results will be posted Wednesday December 14th.

– Steve Patterson

Filling in Midtown

In April 2011 ground was broken on a new building in midtown:

St. Louis broke ground April 15 for a new $12 million building project that will feature the studios and offices of St. Louis Public Radio | 90.7 KWMU and classrooms for the rapidly expanding field of new media. (Source)

The building at 3651 Olive Street was taking shape last month when I passed by.

The building site was a parking lot for many years.

It has been a slow process of filling in the holes in the urban fabric along Olive between Grand & Spring. The opposite side of Olive is unfortunately dominated by a parking garage. Surface parking lots at both ends are opportunities to build bookends to the garage. If we view parking lots as building sites rather than a permanent fixture we can slowly convert our streets to pleasant places.

– Steve Patterson

The Homeless Don’t Drink Bottled Samuel Adams

Last month I noticed two beer bottles on a window sill (Ely Walker bldg) on 16th between Washington Ave & St. Charles Street. It was a Saturday so I figure someone had a nice Friday night.  But who?

Often it is the homeless that are accused of public drinking, and no doubt some do. But they aren’t drinking Samuel Adams Latitude 48 IPA:

Samuel Adams® Latitude 48 IPA is a unique IPA brewed with a select blend of hops from top German, English, and American growing regions all located close to the 48th latitude within the “hop belt” of the Northern Hemisphere. The combination of hops in this beer creates a distinctive but not overpowering hop character. The beer is dry hopped with Ahtanum, Simcoe®*, and East Kent Goldings hops for a powerful citrus and earthy aroma. The hop character is balanced by a slight sweetness and full body from the malt blend.

I’ve not tried this beer or any of the others in their Brewmaster’s Collection, though I’m sure it’s a fine beer. Please don’t blame everything on those without homes.

– Steve Patterson

OKC’s Devon Tower Taller Than St. Louis’ Arch

The tallest building in St. Louis is Metropolitan Square at 593 feet, just under the 630 foot Arch. The Devon Tower under construction in downtown Oklahoma City reaches a height of 850 feet! Wait, what?

Yes, Oklahoma City is getting a massive new tower added to it’s skyline. More like dwarfing the rest of the skyline. Tuesday I posted about how Chesapeake Energy is redeveloping retail shopping adjacent to it’s campus and today the story of another OKC corporate giant, Devon, changing Oklahoma City. Cost estimates are $750 million.

The 2nd tallest building in OKC is the 1971 Chase Tower at 500 feet. The 3rd is the 493 foot First National Center built in 1931. Forty year gaps between these buildings, though I doubt in 2051 a building will top the Devon Tower.  I won’t be around anyway…

Devon’s employees are already downtown, just in various buildings. Consolidating into one facility makes sense but the scale is enormous. I look forward to seeing the completed building and how well it connects to the streets.

Meanwhile in St. Louis we don’t seem to have any companies even considering a new building.  We certainly have plenty of available land.

– Steve Patterson