LED Street Lighting Is Impressive

Thursday evening I was waiting for the #4 MetroBus at Natural Bridge and Newstead (map) when I looked up and noticed the streetlights were LEDs.

ABOVE: Looking west on Natural Bridge from Newstead

I don’t know anything about the fixtures themselves or when they were installed but I like the coloring of the light — not yellow like the one old fixture still in front of the Julia Davis Library. Apparently these are part of a test program.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xqm9wfX1wjc

Per the above story a ”fixture and bulb for LED lighting can cost more than $600 or five times as much as the city spend on a street light right now” but potentially cut our electric bill in half.

- Steve Patterson

Four Decades Since First Demolition At Pruitt-Igoe

Forty years ago today the first of Pruitt-Igoe’s 33 high rise towers was leveled by implosion. Today most of the site remains vacant and overgrown.

ABOVE: The steeples of St. Stanislaus Kostka are visible through the overgrowth on the former Pruitt-Igoe site.

I first walked the site over 20 years ago, it was easier to traverse in 1991. Amazing the site can sit vacant for a longer period than the buildings did.

Here are a couple of short videos you might find interesting:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYrMUcT1jP4

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVpN6Wl7Qm0

- Steve Patterson

The Bottle Undistrict

The soft drink 7-Up was once marketed as the uncola. For years now people have been trying to market the vacant land and a vacant warehouse north of the Edwards Jones Dome as The Bottle District. The first post where I mentioned The Bottle District was in August 2005 (Thoughts on St. Louis’ Proposed Riverfront Makeover, Lid Over I-70 and Mississippi River Bridge).

The Bottle District is a six-block area north of Downtown St. Louis, Missouri that is being redeveloped as a mixed-use entertainment and residential district. The area is located north of the city’s convention center and west of Laclede’s Landing.

The district is located in what was once known as the Kerry Patch neighborhood of the city, which was home to thousands of Irish immigrants in the 19th Century. The neighborhood gradually became more industrial in nature. In the 1920s this area was famous for animal stockyards and bottling companies.

McGuire Moving and Storage Company, a longtime business located in the area, announced plans for redeveloping the district as an entertainment destination in 2004. Noted architect Daniel Libeskind was hired to design the district. The Ghazi Company of Charlotte, North Carolina is the co-developer of the Bottle District.

The first phase of the redevelopment is scheduled to open in 2007. A groundbreaking ceremony was held on September 27, 2005. The first phase will include a Rawlings Sports museum, a Grand Prix Speedways kart-racing center, a boutique bowling alley, 250 residential units, and several restaurants. The first phase of the development is anticipated to cost $290 million and is being funded in part by $51.3 million in tax increment financing.

Several explanations for the origin of the name of the Bottle District have been given. It has been suggested that the name honors the longstanding connection between St. Louis and the brewing and bottling industries. Others have suggested that the name comes from bottles found buried on the property, or the many broken bottles found in the neighborhood. Finally, the site is noted for a decades old, 34-foot-tall (10 m) advertisement for Vess Soda, shaped like a bottle, which the developers intend to restore during the redevelopment. (Wikipedia)

Here we are years later and this district remains anything but a district. To me it’s The Bottle Undistrict.

ABOVE: The neon-covered Vess bottle for which the area is named, Vessville didn't have a good ring

ABOVE: The bottle itself isn't looking so refreshing

ABOVE: The bottle with the Arch in the background, both familiar shapes

The problem here is this has been developer-driven planning. Big picture urban planning would have looked at how to develop this land and connect it to the west, the former Cochran public housing project, now the nice mixed-income Cambridge Heights neighborhood and renovated Neighborhood Gardens apartment development from 1935. Developers rarely think beyond the borders of their property, that takes municipal planning to knit together private parcels into a cohesive city.

We should be planning now for when the new I-70 bridge opens to the north, allowing the replacement of the highway lanes with a high volume boulevard instead. This district could then front onto the boulevard and more easily connect to the east. But our leadership doesn’t get it, to them the 1970 way is just fine.

- Steve Patterson

Positive Signs Along St. Louis’ Dr. Martin Luther King Drive, Room For More

This is my eighth annual look at St. Louis’ Dr. Martin Luther King Drive on the holiday that celebrates the civil rights leader. Let’s begin at Tucker and head west.

ABOVE: Looking east toward Tucker Blvd that's closed for rebuilding

ABOVE: Just west of 14th a warehouse is getting a large expansion. Hopefully some jobs will be added.

ABOVE: At the end of 2011 a new downtown community garden was built. Click image for more info.

ABOVE: 3047 Dr. ML King was condemned in May 2011. The building was built in 1880. Click for Google Maps

ABOVE: The gas station & convenience store at 1300-1310 N Grand @ Page & @ Dr. ML King built a new building but didn't address pedestrian access

ABOVE: Same property as seen from Page.

ABOVE: Wheelchair user heading eastbound on Dr. ML King sidewalk just east of N Sarah. Click image to view area in Google Maps and see lots of empty land.

ABOVE: This beautiful building at 4635-37 Dr ML King was close to being razed a few years ago and was under rehab last year. It has 3,375sf and was built in 1899.

ABOVE: And just a few doors to the west at Dr. King & Marcus Ave this 1894 building was in sad shape. Both are part of the Dick Gregory Place Apartments project (click for info)

ABOVE: New construction as part of the Arlington Grove project at Dr. ML King Dr & Burd Ave. Click image for project info

ABOVE: More of Arlington Grove at Dr. ML King Dr & Clara Ave. Click image to see Google Maps

ABOVE: The historic Arlington school was the only structure retained on the block. Click for history.

ABOVE: I used this photo of 5955 Dr ML King a year ago, this building was razed in September & October 2011. Click to read last year's post.

ABOVE: In the Wellston Loop area a building is getting some needed maintenance and new streetlights can be seen.

So some progress is being made but so much work remains to be done. The potential exists but I don’t know that we have the ability to realize it.

- Steve Patterson

Fire Station 5 at 81

I’m a sucker for buff brick buildings and Fire Station 5 is among the finest in the city, in this blogger’s opinion.

ABOVE: South-facing facade of Fire Station 5 at N. Market and Rauschenbsach Ave was built in 1930

Located  in the St. Louis Place neighborhood, address is  2410 N. 22nd St.

ABOVE: Facade facing St. Louis Place Park

According to city records (GEO St. Louis) the building was built in 1930. The surrounding buildings are all from the 19th century so I wondered what was on the site prior to 1930.

ABOVE: Oct 1909 Sanborn map of Engine Co No 5 at the same location. Click image to view source of Sanborn map.

In 1909 the site had a city horse hospital, hook & ladder co. no. 2 and engine co. no. 5.  These faced west toward N. 22nd Street, the 1930 building has most doors facing south with one facing east.

I recently heard a rumor that #5 was going to close. Charles Bryson, Director of Public Safety, says no decisions have been made to close any fire stations.

- Steve Patterson

1949: Old White Water Tower Lights Turned Back On

Sixty-two years ago the city lit up the old white water tower on Grand.

ABOVE: The Old White Water Tower, looking south on 20th Street

From St. Louis Day By Day by Frances Hurd Stadler:

September 22, 1949
The lights went on again at the old water tower on North Grand Boulevard as thousands watched and a band played the national anthem. The tall, white Corinthian column, which had been dark through all World War II, was illuminated when Mayor Joseph M. Darst threw a switch. Designed by architect George I. Barnett and completed in 1871, the tower furnished water for the north St. Louis area until 1912, when it was abandoned for newer technology.

I need to visit some evening to get night photos — assuming the lights at the base are in working order. If only I could sit at a sidewalk cafe to wait for just the right moment to take the pictures.

- Steve Patterson

Readers Split on Naming Commercial District

ABOVE: View looking east on Grand Ave toward the old white water tower

When last week’spoll (Name the future commercial district along Grand at the Old White Water Tower) started I thought the number of responses was going to be quite low, but it ended about typical (104).  But unlike most weeks, the results ended up being tied at four levels.

#1 (tie)

• Grand Water Tower District 20 [19.23%]
• Doesn’t matter, will never become a commercial district again 20 [19.23%]
• College Hill 20 [19.23%]

I knew there would be many that would take the negative answer, just glad to see it didn’t get more votes than any other. I voted for College Hill, the name of the neighborhood,  but then I started thinking the commercial district and adjacent neighborhood should have their own identities.

ABOVE: The remaining intact buildings from the original commercial district.

#2 (tie)

• Bissell Point 8 [7.69%]
• The Column 8 [7.69%]
• The Corinthian 8 [7.69%]
• Other: 8 [7.69%]

I like Bissell Point as that was the name of the water plant that required both water towers in College Hill.

#3 (tie)

• 20 Grand 5 [4.81%]
• Grand College Hill 5 [4.81%]

#4 (tie)

• Old White 1 [0.96%]
• unsure/no opinion 1 [0.96%]

The eight other answers were:

1. who cares?
2. the pits
3. The towers
4. Do master plan first, then you will know what the name is.
5. Grand Column
6. tower point
7. Ask local residents for their preferred name.
8. The Intersection of Crack and Guns

For several of the above, may I direct you to STLtoday.com.

ABOVE: "Prayer Time Now" sign at community garden at Strodtman Pl & Bissell

I would have asked local residents but I don’t want their religion forced upon me just to talk, as I found out when I tried to set up a casual meeting. Hopefully I can find residents outside the official group that I can meet with in a place other than a church and without a prayer at the start and end of the meeting. More residents and businesses are needed, a closed religious group will not accomplish that goal.

The marketing of the neighborhood and district clearly needs significant help, the type of help not gained through prayer. You know things like consistent marketing of the name, website, Twitter & Facebook, etc. Neighborhood organizations should be inclusive and secular.

As I said above I think the neighborhood and commercial district need their own branding and campaigns. For the commercial district I’m partial to Bissell Point at College Hill. We would just call it Bissell Point for short, but the “at College Hill” would help market the neighborhood as well.

I suggest the following for the commercial district:

• Set up a design charrette to plan where new buildings should be constructed, along with their massing & form. Adopt a form-based code based on the outcome.
• Set up marketing for the neighborhood  & commercial district; a blog, Twitter account & a Facebook page for each.
• Concentrate businesses on the circle and to the west, residential to the east of the circle.
• Consider a Community Improvement District (CID) to help fund public improvements in the district.
• Plan for restaurants around the circle with outdoor seating facing the water tower.
• Work with Metro to promote arrival by MetroBus to minimize the need for large parking lots.

Many more things must be done, of course, but this is a start.

ABOVE: Looking east from Strodtman Pl

The potential is there, but will it be realized?

- Steve Patterson

A Quick Look at the Walnut Park East & Mark Twain Neighborhoods

A reader from Brooklyn NY emailed me recently asking about the Walnut Park neighborhood.  She grew up in Walnut Park and was curious about the current condition. I knew the name but not the location of the neighborhood.

San Francisco Multiplex Assembly in Walnut Park East

The city has two Walnut Park neighborhoods – an east and a west. These are between I-70 and West Florissant from Union to the city limits.  Riverview is the line between the east & west Walnut Park neighborhoods.  The park known as Walnut Park is in Walnut Park East. With the  exception of the large San Francisco Assembly, Walnut Park East didn’t stand out in my mind.  The streets are lined with tidy brick bungalows like you’d see in much of south St. Louis.

ABOVE: Two tidy homes in Walnut Park East

Two did stand out by being more tidy than the rest. Cross Kingshighway into the Mark Twain neighborhood, however, and the felling is different.

ABOVE: The beauty of this frame home had me stop the car immediately.

The houses are smaller, originally less expensive than those in Walnut Park. Some are well maintained but others are vacant.

ABOVE: burned shell in Mark Twain neighborhood

Unlike Walnut Park East, Mark Twain has many vacant lots and more than enough burned out shells.

Like the rest of the city, things can change quickly in just a matter of blocks. North St. Louis is not uniform. There are good blocks, great blocks and yes, bad blocks.

- Steve Patterson

Poll: Name the future commercial district along Grand at the Old White Water Tower

My post last Monday was about the commercial district along Grand Ave around the Old White Water Tower (Grand Ave Water Tower Commercial Area Had Such Potential, Still Does). Although all the original buildings on the circle have been razed, I still see potential for the area.

ABOVE: The Old White Water Tower, looking south on 20th Street

Every good commercial district needs an identity (See The Loop, Grand South Grand, Cherokee, etc) so I figured why not see what we could collectively come up with for the stretch of East Grand Ave centered at the Old White Water Tower at North 20th Street.

ABOVE: Commercial buildings around North Grand Water Tower, winter 1990

The area is entirely in the College Hill neighborhood:

The name College Hill was given to this area because it was the location of the St. Louis University College Farm. This area, bounded generally by Warne (O’Fallon Park, I-70, Grand Blvd. and West Florrisant was acquired by the University for garden and recreation purposes in 1836, it was subdivided in the early 1870′s. The Bissell Mansion, the Old Water Tower at 20th Street and East Grand Avenue, and the Red Water Tower at Bissell Street and Blair Avenue are mainstays in this old Northside neighborhood and are testimony of a rich historical heritage. The housing of this neighborhood dates back between 1880 and 1920. Town and four family flats predominate the neighborhood, with a mixture of single family brick dwellings. The houses have large yards and are ideal for landscaping. The homes located near the crest of the hillside bluff enjoy a view of the river and its valleys. Nearly half of the housing dwellings are owner-occupied. Historically the area’s commercial center has been concentrated along East Grand around the Old Water Tower with a strip along West Florissant.

The neighborhood map looks like this:

The poll this week asks you to name the commercial district. I’ve provided the following answers:

• 20 Grand
• Bissell Point
• College Hill
• Grand College Hill
• Grand Water Tower District
• Old White
• The Column
• The Corinthian
• unsure/no opinion
• Doesn’t matter, will never become a commercial district again

You can also provide your own answer if you don’t like any of those provided.

- Steve Patterson

Grand Ave Water Tower Commercial Area Had Such Potential, Still Does

ABOVE: Commercial buildings around North Grand Water Tower, winter 1990

When I first spotted the “old white” water tower in the middle of Grand Avenue (Satellite image) I was blown away by the commercial buildings that surrounded the iconic white column. First, information on the tower:

Described as “the only perfect Corinthian column of its size in the world,” the Grand (“Old White”) Water Tower on 20th Street and Grand Avenue was built during the waterworks expansion led by Thomas Whitman (brother of poet Walt Whitman) following the Civil War. The 154-foot tower, designed by architect George I. Barnett, was completed in 1871 at a cost of $45,000. The tower is constructed of a brick shaft resting on a Chicago stone base and octagonal stone platform, topped with an iron capital cast in a leaf design. It was retired from service in 1912. In the 1920s and 30s, beacons placed atop the tower served as navigational aids to pilots seeking Lambert International Airport. Legend has it that Charles Lindbergh once used the lights to find his way home when he was lost in a Mississippi River fog. In 1933, after citizens objected to a recommendation that the monument be torn down, Mayor Bernard Dickmann came to the tower’s defense. “To wreck this tower would, to my mind, verge closely on an act of sacrilege,” the Mayor declared. (St. Louis Water Division)

The tower was safe, but the context wasn’t. It screamed potential. Even boarded, the buildings had such great massing, materials and proportions.Where else does such exist in the country? Nowhere I know of. In 1988, two years before I arrived, Freeman Bosley Sr. was elected to office as 3rd ward alderman.  The potential would be razed, rather than realized.

ABOVE: today few of those buildings remain

ABOVE: the opposite side of Grand was totally cleared, new sidewalks but nowhere to walk to

In 1990 South Grand was nothing, the Delmar Loop was just getting started, and the few customers on Cherokee St were looking for prostitutes. None of these three districts had  visionary elected officials but at least they didn’t see them as something to actively level.

Some of the land surrounding the tower is owned by the city agency, the Land Reutilization Authority (LRA). The rest of the land is owned by the Citizens for Community Improvement, Inc.

Citizens For Community Improvement Inc in Saint Louis, MO is a private company categorized under Career and Vocational Counseling. Our records show it was established in 1971 and incorporated in Missouri. Current estimates show this company has an annual revenue of $400,000 and employs a staff of approximately 9. Companies like Citizens For Community Improvement Inc usually offer: Greenleaf Job Training Services, Jobs And Training Services, Job Training Services. (source)

So what do we do today?

• Begin a planning process for a series of concentric circles around the tower, the smallest circle would be the most detailed. Planning area would be more an oval, along Grand and include I-70 and Florissant.
• Develop a catchy name for the commercial district, begin marketing to build an identity.
• Develop form-based standards for new construction,  buildings should be 2-4 stories high.

I see street-level retail with residential units above.  There may be some demand for office space in addition to retail.  No, Plaza Frontenac doesn’t have to worry about high-end retailers  leaving the upscale mall for this area. But where you have people there is a need for services.

Of course, this planning should have started 20+ years ago.

- Steve Patterson