Preservation Board To Decide Fate of San Luis Today (Updated)

St. Louis’ Preservation Board will, later today, hear a request by the St. Louis Archdiocese to raze the San Luis.  Built as the DeVille Motor Hotel in the early 1960s, the Archdiocese wants parking rather than a hotel or apartments.  I’m not a fan of the building, but even vacant it is preferable to a parking lot.

The Archdiocese must demonstrate that it is not feasible to rehab the structure. Most likely they will present information to this effect.  The full criteria is in the City’s report to the Preservation Board.  Opponents of the demolition need to stick to the established criteria in the applicable ordinances.

The Preservation Board meeting is scheduled to start at 4pm today (6/22/2009) at 1015 Locust Suite 1200.  This item is the 5th on the agenda.  Those wishing to address the Preservation Board must arrive early and sign in.  I have a presentation in class tonight so I will not be able to attend.  I may stop by after class.

If I were a gambling man I’d say they vote to permit demolition.  It somewhat depends upon which members are absent from the meeting.

– Steve Patterson

Update 6/22/2009 @ 10:30pm — The Preservation Board tonight just before 10pm voted 3-2 to grant preliminary approval to the demolition and construction of a surface parking lot.  I’ve never felt any passion for the building but I do feel strongly against surface parking at this location.  In the end it came down to the fact the Archdioses refused to consider anything other than what they wanted.  I would have denied their request — eventually they would be willing to compromise — getting the parking they want in a renovated & occupuied building.

The Streets of Tehran

Like most of you I’ve been following the events unfolding in Tehran, Iran. The images of conflict are often heartbreaking to view.  But the urban planner in me can’t help but notice details unrelated to the subject of the images —- the scale of the streets, the well marked crosswalks, the architecture, etc.  A couple of pics showed an intersection along a major Boulevard.  The traffic signals had a countdown timer to show drivers how much longer the green light would be green or how much longer the red would be red.

I pulled up Tehran on Google Maps.  Wow, had no idea:

Transit lines, lots of parks.  A tight street network.  Unfortunately no Google Street View.  I never realized the scale of the city before.

My next stop was Wikipedia’s entry on Tehran:

Area
– City 686[citation needed] km2 (265 sq mi)

Population (2006)
– Density 10,327.6/km2 (26,748.3/sq mi)
– Urban 7,088,287
– Metro 20,413,348

That is one dense city!  For comparison I pulled up New York City:

Area
– City 468.9 sq mi (1,214.4 km2)

Population (July 1, 2007)
– City 8,310,212
– Density 27,264/sq mi (10,527/km2)
– Urban 18,223,567
– Metro 18,815,988

Both Tehran & New York City have over four times the population per square mile compared to the City of St. Louis. Of course we have a greater density than numerous other cities.  Still there is a minimum density required to achieve that cosmopolitan feel.  Not sure what the magic number is but I know we are below it.

With density comes active streets.  Granted,  Tehran’s streets are too active right now and in the worst possible way.  But street vendors, bustling storefronts along sidewalks rather than busy malls or big box stores.  Good mass transit becomes a necessity for a dense city to function.

I hope the people of Tehran, Iran and all the Middle East can find peace.

– Steve Patterson

Poll, How do you receive TV?

Earlier this month the U.S. completed the decade long transition to digital television. The weekly poll, located in the right sidebar, asks how you receive television.  Over the air, internet or a paid option?  From an urban perspective it doesn’t really matter.  Or does it?

At two prior residences I had satellite service.  In both cases I had the installers located the dish out of sight. But we’ve all seen places with an out of place dish.

When I moved downtown in November 2007 I didn’t move a TV.  A few months ago I purchased a small HDTV.  But rather than spend a ton on cable or satellite I stuck with free channels over the air.  I was fine with not having tons of channels except that my reception wasn’t so good.  Some channels wouldn’t come in.  With a digital signal it is either all or nothing.  On some channels I had nothing.  My old antenna just wasn’t doing the job it had done with digital.

I recently received a digital antenna from antennasdirect.com for review.  The ClearStream antenna (Cleastream 1 Convertible, $79.95) is compact and is discrete.  Once I rescanned the channels they all came in.

PBS in St. Louis has four channels – World (9.3) and Create (9.4) are awesome.  It is said over time each region can expect up to 60 free channels.    With this news I have no regrets about receiving free television rather than pay huge monthly fees.  Now if I can just get Charter Communications to stop mailing me solicitations to get cable.

– Steve Patterson

KDHX 88.1FM Considering Eliminating All 4 Hours of Weekly Talk Programming

I’ve received word the KDHX 88.1FM programming committee is scheduled to meet on Thursday June 25th at 6pm to consider eliminating all talk programs.  Talk programs on KDHX make up only 4 of the 168 hours of the week.  I’m a frequent guest on the Monday 7pm program Collateral Damage.

KDHX is member supported radio.  Their tag line is “your community, your media.”  Earthworms with host Jean Ponzi, on the air for 20 years, for example, would be cut.  Community radio should certainly have room for discussion about the community.

If you’d like to see KDHX continue to offer the 2.4% talk format mixed in with the 97.6% music please contact Co-Executive Directors Beverly Hacker (bhacker at kdhx dot org) & Nico Leone (nico at kdhx dot org) to let them know how you feel.

St. Louis’ Juneteenth Celebration in Fountain Park June 19-21

St. Louis was sympathetic to the Union but slaves were bought & sold in St. Louis in the 19th Century.  Humans being treated as property.  Beyond me how slavery ever existed in a “civilized” society.

Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States.

From its Galveston, Texas origin in 1865, the observance of June 19th as the African American Emancipation Day has spread across the United States and beyond.  (Source: juneteenth.com)

History buffs will correctly note that the Emancipation Proclamation took effect on January 1, 1863:

Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, the day Union General Gordon Granger and 2,000 federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to take possession of the state and enforce the emancipation of its slaves. (Source: Wikipedia)

So two and a half years later troops enforced the proclamation.  In St. Louis the celebration will take place in Fountain Park (map):

June 19-21, 2009 – Neighbors of Fountain Park Association – will celebrate its third annual Juneteenth Community Awareness Event As Neighbors of Fountain Park Association our mission is to empower, educate and promote healthy living by connecting the community to resources. the weekend is dedicated to making a difference in the community. The Event will host live music, guest speakers,children activities, free food, community education resources, voter registration and much more…
Location: Fountain Park St. Louis, Missouri
Dates: Friday June 19th 3:00p.m.-9:00p.m
Saturday June 20th 9:00a.m.-9:00p.m.
Sunday June 21st 10:30a.m.-8:00p.m.
Activities: games, face painting, entertainments groups, and guest speakers.

I’m going to stop by on my way to the screening of scenes from the upcoming documentary on Pruitt-Igoe (see post).

– Steve Patterson