Old Post Office To Have A “Major Branch” of the St. Louis Library

A new brochure from Webster University marketing classes at the St. Louis Old Post Office is making some bold claims about future tenants:

“Along with Webster, the Old Post Office will house the 8th District Court of Appeals, the St. Louis Business Journal, a major branch of the St. Louis Public Library, a restaurant, and other offices and services.”

A major branch of the library? Did I miss something from the earlier descriptions as a “satellite” branch? As best I can find the library will be leasing 7,000sf of space in the Old Post Office — a mere five blocks East of the magnificent main library. To put this new “major” branch into perspective the fairly new Schlafly branch at Euclid and Lindell is 25,000sf as is the renovated Carpenter Branch on South Grand. One of the smaller branches is the Kingshighway branch. At 12,000sf the Kingshighway branch is more than 70% larger than the proposed Old Post Office branch.

Of course we don’t need a larger branch at the Old Post Office. Calling it a “major branch” is simply stretching the truth. Certainly not the first time we’ve seen such stretches around this project.

Some, myself included, question why we need a satellite branch of the library at all. Is the thought that young loft dwellers won’t walk to the existing library? Who is the intended user of this new branch? Will the new branch sabotage support for the main library? Does the library system have the funds to staff yet another branch? The people I’ve talked to say the library’s budgets are already stretched thin. The general consensus is the the developers needed more space leased to make the financing work and somehow the library we roped into going along with the scheme.

We should be encouraging residents, workers and visitors to walk around downtown and check out all the assets (of which we have plenty). The Old Post Office project is supposed to be the anchor of the area yet they seem to be catering to people not willing to park a block away, much less support businesses in the area.

Can someone tell me why this was worth sacrificing the Century Building and giving away millions in tax credits to wealthy developers?

The Real Link To The Downtown Gallery Walk

Last night I was looking up future St. Louis events and stumbled across a listing for the popular Downtown Gallery and Design Walk. This is one of my favorite events and if I am in town I make sure I’m downtown for all the fun.

The listing, shown at right, is from the St. Louis Convention & Visitor’s Commission website www.explorestlouis.com. What I found interesting was the website link for the event. Downtown Now!? What do they have do with it? If you go to their website you find zero information on events.

The site has links to a proposal for connecting the Arch to downtown, Loft district guidelines and a downtown development plan. The latter has a whole section on the Old Post Office District which includes the following:

Read the plan — it is a good one. But when developers come calling and want to raze a historic building facing the Old Post Office the plan is conveniently ignored. What is the point of having people develop plans to be ignored?

But, back to the issue at hand. Downtown Now! is not the organizer of the Downtown Gallery and Design Walk. I don’t think they are trying to get credit for it either. I think the CVC made a mistake on their site. At least I hope that is the case. But given how interconnected the CVC, Downtown Now! and the Downtown St. Louis Partnership are this type of mistake is inexcusable. To it’s credit the Downtown St. Louis Partnership has the correct link on their site. What I do find annoying on the Partnership site is when you click on their “events” menu. You don’t get events starting in August 2005 and later. No, you get January 2005 events and you must scroll down to find current events. OK, not a huge deal but given their budget you’d think they’d be able to make it a little more user friendly.

And to set the record straight the Downtown Gallery & Design Walk is organized and promoted by the owners of the gallery and design business on the walk. No huge budget, no big time salaries. Just business owners promoting themselves. Information can be found here: www.downtowngallerywalk.com. The next Downtown Gallery & Design walk is Friday September 2, 2005.

– Steve

Missouri: Headlamps Must Be Used With Wipers

On occasion I’ve mentioned some traffic safety tips for drivers on our streets and highways. One of my biggest pet peeves is people not using their headlights except when it is pitch black outside. Folk, your headlights are just as important for others to see you and for you to see out.

Depending upon weather conditions you are also required to use your headlights:

“When lighted lamps are required” means at any time from a half-hour after sunset to a half-hour before sunrise and at any other time when there is not sufficient light to render clearly discernible persons and vehicles on the highway at a distance of five hundred feet ahead. Lighted lamps shall also be required any time the weather conditions require usage of the motor vehicle’s windshield wipers to operate the vehicle in a careful and prudent manner as defined in section 304.012, RSMo. The provisions of this section shall be interpreted to require lighted lamps during periods of fog even if usage of the windshield wipers is not necessary to operate the vehicle in a careful and prudent manner.

The requirement of using your headlamps at times when your wipers are in use was passed in 2004. Enforcement is now the key. This is similar to an Illinois law that was passed a number of years ago.

And for those of you that have “daytime running lights” on your vehicle those are intended for daytime visibility but not conditions requiring wipers. The law requires your lights on if your wipers must be used. Also, the definition above makes note about fog as well.

Please turn on those lights so you can bee seen!

– Steve

St. Louis Urban Sustainability Bike Tour 2005

August 13th 2005, 9:00 am until 1:00pm or 2:00pm
Free and open to anyone with a bicycle.

See innovative projects in the city addressing the ecological and social sustainability of food, housing, transportation, and recreation.

Meet others interested in sustainability in the city.

Get some excercise and explore the city.

About the stops:

We will see the use of natural building materials (earthen plaster and straw bale construction) for both new construction and gut rehab, as well as visit a 1/2 acre farm that supplies 13 households and local foodbanks with fresh local organic produce. The tour begins at a community center which provides free bicycles and bike repair classes to local children and ends at a greenway along the north riverfront which serves as a wildlife and recreation area as well as serving other ecological functions.

About the ride:

The ride itself will be a non-athletic, non-competetive ride of less than 15 miles. There will be four stops and a break for a snack / lunch. The tour begins at 9:00am at the Community Arts and Media Project (CAMP), located at the corner of Cherokee and Minnesota streets in South City (map it). The final stop will be at the Mary Meachum underground railway crossing along the Confluence Greenway Riverfront Trail. We will return to CAMP along the trail and pass through downtown near several MetroLink stops.

Other information:

Please bring a snack or light lunch and plenty of water. Parking near CAMP is limited, so if you intend to drive to the first stop, please consider spreading out along Cherokee St. There will be a bike mechanic accompanying us on the ride.

For more information:
andyandy at riseup.net
or (314) 776-1721

Work Has Stopped on Downtown Parking Garage

Word on the street is that work has come to a halt on the parking garage for the Old Post Office Project. This is the site where the Century Building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was razed last year despite pleas from preservationists and downtown residents.

Developer Steve Stogel was seen this week yelling at someone on the site where work has stopped. Could the stoppage somehow be payback for the bad Karma created from tearing down a historic structure and then suing two residents that tried, legally, to question the process?

– Steve