The Sound of a Suitcase Being Dragged

While I was waiting at 16th & Olive for the #10 bus the other day, I heard someone dragging something in the street behind me. Eventually a man passes by me and then makes his way up onto the sidewalk. The suitcase had no wheels, the bottom was in shreds.

My assumption is he is homeless. I say it that way because he may not be, but if not, he is probably close. Most likely everything he owns is in that ragged suitcase.

This post has no point, the sound of that suitcase on the asphalt stuck with me.

– Steve Patterson

Midtown’s Sun Theater is So Appealing

Few vacant buildings in St. Louis are as captivating to me as midtown’s Sun Theater. Why is that? The massing & detailing is pleasant but not extraordinary. The materials used compliment each other nicely. But what if the neon sign were gone? See a nighttime photo of the sign at Cinema Treasures.

Michael Allen successfully argues the appeal is not the sign, but the facade:

The Sun’s main attraction is its gorgeous neoclassical front elevation, articulated by glazed cream terra cotta, a projecting cornice and striking framed brick panels. The terra cotta includes theatrical grotesques over the arched windows at center and in the cornice’s upper garland course. These grotesques and other pieces are accented with a brilliant blue glaze. Two fluted pilasters with ionic capitals at the center bay over the entrance project a sense of gravitas contrasting with the more Baroque sensibilities of the rest of ornament.

Landmark’s Association placed the Sun on their Most Endangered List in 2007:

Putting the *Sun Theater at 3627-31 Grandel Square on our endangered list is merely an early warning. The pedestrian-friendly Renaissance Revival theater, built by the German Theater Society in 1913 from plans by Widmann & Walsh, is graced by an elaborately decorated front elevation complete with grotesque theatrical masks and heavy garlands. Inside, the $120,000 playhouse originally featured an 1800-seat, first-floor theater for German-speaking stock companies; a lecture hall was located on the second floor. The 1915 City Directory documents the two original names in use at the same time: The Victoria Theatre and The German Theatre.

With World War I came a national backlash against Germans and the theatre closed. Reopened after the war under new management as The Liberty, the building (with seating reduced to 1000) has since housed movies, vaudeville, burlesque, a night club and an evangelical church. (Later name changes included the World, the Sun and the Lyn.) LANDMARKS’ Midtown National Register nomination from 1978 described the remains of the interior as follows: “Bits of maroon, red and gold are faintly visible through the gloom of an interior picked by scavengers.” Vacant since 1981 and now owned by the city’s Land Reutilization Authority (LRA), the exterior (sporting volunteer trees and a cheerful “Sun” sign installed and maintained by Grand Center) is starting to show alarming signs of deferred maintenance. Recent hopeful rumors suggest that a media-related reuse is under consideration.

Apparently the Grand Center Arts Academy plans to renovate the building as an expansion of their newly renovated space next door, to the east. Let’s hope they, or anyone, renovates and occupies the structure soon.

– Steve Patterson

Readers: Find Another Way to Stop Meth

In the poll last week readers made it clear they don’t want to need a prescription to buy common cold & allergy medication:

Q: Should St. Louis County & City Require Prescriptions for Cold & Allergy Medicines to Stop the Production of Meth?

1. No, don’t punish innocents in an effort to stop the illegal activities of a few 52 [48.6%]
2. Yes, meth is a regional problem 26 [24.3%]
3. Only if the other four counties agree to fund homeless services in the city 12 [11.21%]
4. No, rural counties don’t care about our problems, why should we help them? 8 [7.48%]
5. Other answer… 7 [6.54%]
6. Unsure/no opinion 2 [1.87%]

So much for regional cooperation. Here are the seven other answers:

1. no, current laws are strict enough (and just shifting production to Mexico)
2. Put it behind the counter
3. These choices are ridicules. Yes, by prescription, to protect the innocent.
4. Why isn’t the electronic tracking system, in place now, doing the job?
5. Could write the law to expire in a few years?
6. What do homeless services have to do with cold
7. No. This will drive up the cost of the medicine by forcing everyone to see docs

The answer with the most votes was not originally one I provided.  The poll software allows me to convert a reader submitted answer into an official poll answer, which I did early on the first day of this poll.

– Steve Patterson

New Hyde Park Homes Never Occupied

I shouldn’t have been surprised when I made the connection: tacky faux-historic new house in ruins with numerous ties to realtor & developer Mary “One” Johnson.

St. Louis is littered with half-finished developments started by one of Johnson’s numerous companies.  Johnson is also the vice chair of St. Louis’ Preservation Board.

Hopefully the economy has stopped the proliferation of these sad little boxes. We have enough nice buildings that are vacant & boarded, we don’t need these adding to the problem.

– Steve Patterson

Can St. Louis Learn From Newark NJ & Cory Booker?

I’ve seen Cory Booker  on TV and in the news. Booker is the young mayor of Newark NJ. To some of you, 42 may not be young, but anything younger than me (44) is young in my book.

I’ve been to Newark once.  More accurately, I saw the highway exit as I was driving to Rhode Island in January 2008. I wanted to stop and visit, but my schedule didn’t permit.

Troubled cities are attractive to me for some reason, perhaps the challenge of reversing negative trends? Newark, like Detroit and St. Louis, has serious issues.  I knew in 2008 that Newark had this new mayor, 37 when he was elected mayor. Booker’s lost to 4-term incumbent Sharpe James in 2002 but when James didn’t seek a 6th term in 2006 Booker won the non-partisan election.

As I watched Street Fight, the documentary of the 2002 race, I couldn’t help think of parallels to St. Louis:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8jtAASYdLw

Old urban city with a large African-American population, poor performing public schools, poverty & high crime, entrenched machine politics and the dirty tricks that go along with that to discourage challengers.

Famed urban engineer Harland Bartholomew worked for Newark before coming to St. Louis.  We’d have been better off had he stayed there.

Newark does have some differences from St. Louis. Their elections are non-partisan, their municipal council has only 9 members – five from wards and four at-large. Corruption in Newark is so bad “where every mayor since 1962 (except the current one, Cory Booker) has been indicted for crimes committed while in office.” (Newsweek)

I plan to learn more about Newark’s efforts to reduce violent crime, improve schools and attract jobs. I’ve started watching episodes of Sundance Channel’s Brick City series.

– Steve Patterson