Lumiere Link is Nice, Route to Tunnel Needs Attention
Earlier in the week a new tunnel under I-70 connecting Baer Plaza (East of the Edward Jones Dome) and Lumiere Place casino in Laclede’s Landing opened to the public. St Louis Development Co. head Rodney Crim suggested the city wants convention goers, “when not in session and looking for things to do” to take the tunnel to the casino and Laclede’s Landing. Never mind conventioneers taking a stroll down Washington Ave or other streets downtown where retailers are struggling to have enough customers. See Crim on KSDK here.
So much was made about this great new privately funded $8 million dollar connection I just had to see for myself.
I started by heading East on Washington Ave, passing by the main entrance to the convention center, aka America’s Center. Of course the taxi stand on the sidewalk gets more space than us pedestrians. I can tell you that being in a wheelchair heading straight on toward a taxi that is moving toward me is not a comforting feeling. Oh the driver saw me as he repeatedly tapped his horn as he drove off. Behind the cabs was a St Louis police car that was so far to the right I had to go to the left to get around it. Welcome to St Louis.
When I got to 7th I turned left as I figured conventioneers might use the courtyard/plaza doors as their starting point for their walk to the casino. Above is looking back South from the plaza entry at 7th & Convention Plaza. As a side note Convention Plaza used to be Delmar but it was renamed when it ran in front of the original convention center. Later in the early 1990s when the center was expanded to the current configuration the street go cut off by the building. So now we have this short section of Convention Plaza on both the East & West sides of the center. It should have reverted back to the name Delmar.
Leaving the circle drive area at 7th & Convention Plaza we see surface parking lot and the back of the Drury Inn.
Heading East toward Baer Plaza & Lumiere Link we are along the side of the Edward Jones Dome. I’m not sure why street trees were not part of the plan when this was built but thet are sorely needed. The Jersey barriers were likely added after the Oklahoma City bombing or after 9/11.
Almost to Broadway now and we see a nice collection of Jersey barriers, seemingly blocking our path across the street.
Above, I want to cross Broadway which is to my left but I can’t get my wheelchair close enough to the pedestrian signal button (it is the one on the right on the light pole).
Above is the same pole and signal button from another angle. The ramp to cross Broadway is to the left of all the Jersey barriers you see. Current ADA guidelines require signal buttons to be closer to where they are needed.
Finally we make it. I can’t believe that Rodney Crim wants visitors to make that walk — it has to be among the worst in the city. I’d hope conventioneers would never see this side of the dome — instead making their way down Washington Ave to see sidewalk dining and increasingly active sidewalks.
So we are now at the entry to Lumiere Link. We are at Baer Plaza. Who?
Robert J. Baer was the first chairman of the St Louis Regional Convention and Sports Complex Authority. Baer was also the former head of Bi-State Development and he took over the position again at Metro after Larry Salci had a very public crash & burn. From the plaque:
“Preservation of land for this park reflects Mr Baer’s recognition for ‘green space’ as an attractive front yard for the Stadium/Convention Center.”
With the trees now mature this has the potential for a decent public space. Sadly it has no natural users as the area is pretty desolate. Although now we have people coming and going to the casino and maybe a few to Laclede’s Landing beyond the casino. So how attractive is this front yard? Above you can see the weeds popping up between the seams in the concrete, not a good start.
All around the edges is debris from the trees.
There is even part of a dumpster lid. The whole plaza looks and feels rather abandoned. This is not St Louis putting it’s best foot forward. You’d think someone from the Visitor Commission or whomever has responsibility for this space might had tidied up a bit before the opening of the new tunnel.
Visitors to the tunnel have three choices for the decent — stairs, an escalator or an elevator. At the other end of the tunnel you end up right smack in the middle of the complex. You are not on the casino floor of course because you must show ID and such to enter the gaming area. Still you can see the games and certainly the restaurants.
The interior was more posh than I expected. Pity they had to go and ruin it with all the gaming machines. I also have to wonder how of the $8 million for the tunnel was in video screens. Despite the richness of the whole place I couldn’t wait to get out. I may use the link again so that I can check out the exterior of the casino & hotel as it looms over what little remains of Laclede’s Landing.
Overall I think the link is a good thing — the more connections across I-70 the better. If only the route to get to the tunnel wasn’t so pathetic.
Great user perspective, Steve. It seems so obvious, but if only the public servants responsible for managing these spaces would go out and experience them as real-world users (eg taxpayers, pedestrians, tourists), they would see the major issues that need to be dealt with.
It is appalling that the taxi drivers still rule in front of the convention center. I truly fear it will take a tragedy (and the major plaintiff’s award against the city that will follow) to convince civic “leaders” of the foolishness of mixing pedestrians and cab drivers in this location.
Car culture teams up with casino culture. Both are designed to screw the majority while a few prosper…perfect bed mates. Obviously MOdot gave their permission too.
I’m seeing two separate issues here, a rehashing of the problems around America’s Center/the city not respecting (or enforcing) accessibilty requirements and the new tunnel. I agree that the existing problems haven’t been fixed and do nothing to enhance downtown’s viability – got it! I’m also a bit surprised that you’re somewhat down on the casino making a private investment to improve accessibilty to their facility. Sure, a casino may not be as warm and fuzzy as a new coffee shop or grocery store to serve downtown, but it IS a significant new investment in downtown and a bet, pardon the pun, on downtown’s future. Like you, I’ve only been to Lumiere Place once, and don’t have any burning desire to return. But, unlike BPV, actions here speak louder than words, and getting more investment, especially privately-funded, in the core area is a good thing and necessary to viability of the city as a whole. Finally, I don’t quite get your observation, “Pity they had to go and ruin it with all the gaming machines.” They’re a casino, Steve, what do you expect? That’s how they make their money and pay for this investment. It’s kinda like going to the zoo being disappointed that animals are on display!
This is a rather proximate solution to the problem of the depressed section and highway running through the City of St. Louis. The entire Casino and tunnel might be privately funded, thus causing little reason for concern to most, however if we really want our Downtown to be successful then we must remove the highway, connect Lacledes Landing to the City, and redesign the grounds around the Arch.
While I have no objection to the investment, I also realize the reality of the situation is that gambling is a parasite, and has attached itself to society. The problem isn’t only messing up elegant interiors, but the conduct of the whole damn society.
I mean I could care less about gambling, but if it is good enough for the filthy rich why isn’t it allowed in bars in North St. Louis? I know, I know it is hard to control blah, blah, blah. All the excuses in the world to disallow the little guy to participate in lucrative capitalism.
The fact is it is another corporate rip off of society that we all accept as okay. (another Paul McKee law) Yes, lets do another non competitive business model (screw capitalism) and allow a select few to control all of gambling.
Americans are being walked over, stepped on, screwed like nobodies business.
But hey we St. Louisians should be happy with the scraps we are thrown. Gee, we got a walk through so we can blow money at the casino. What a deal, and they supply jobs too, so it must be good. The media tells us it is so, so it must be so.
The fact that it is shitty urban planning also should be no surprise, the government doesn’t give a damn about the welfare of the citizens, just the profits of the few.
Look at Paul McKee and the Northside for the latest large scale example of the manipulation of the state and local government for private gain. It’s endless, and our energy is diverted to mind numbing details while they steal us blind.
We live in a fantasy land is how I see it.
I agree, a tunnel does remove people from the sidewalks . . . if there were a viable connection between the dome and the casino to start with – there wasn’t. Getting between the dome and the Landing involves crossing multiple lanes of fast-moving traffic, with many of the lanes serving as freeway ramps. As Doug correctly points out (and you confirm), the real problem is I-70 creating a barrier between downtown and the riverfront.
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As for the economic and social merits of gambling, I doubt we’ll ever reach consensus on how good or bad it is for society, nor how it should be regulated. What Lumiere Place does do is add something new and viable to attract more conventions to the city. The two biggest convention cities in the country (Orlando and Las Vegas) are also huge tourist destinations, with a large and growing inventory of hotel rooms AND something other than the convention to “amuse” both the person attending the convention and their spouse, significant other and/or kids (leverage the convention costs [many times paid for by someone else] into a vacation). Ballpark Village has the potential to do the same thing here, as both Laclede’s Landing and Union Station already do with limited (and diminishing) success.
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I’m neither a gambler nor a big believer in betting on conventions as a growing or significant “industry” for the city to be chasing, but IF we’re going to chase the big “national” conventions, we need to do more to differentiate ourselves from both our regional (Memphis, KC, Indianapolis, Louisville, Omaha, etc.) competitors and from some of the larger competitors, like Chicago or Denver. America’s Center is pretty boring (compared to many of its competitors), but it is what we have to work with, at least until the Rams latest attempt to extort the taxpayers plays out. That leaves the other amenities and attractions that may entice someone or some group to decide to spend some time, and by extension, their money, here. The alternative is to get out of the game, focus only on local and smaller regional conventions and shows, and we can continue to do little or nothing to make St. Louis more attractive to tourists . . .
GMichaud is right.
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The macro economics of legal gambling in our society is “one step forward – two steps back” (though I’m unconvinced of the “forward” part).
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Lumiere Place is a net loss. Very sad.
If “Lumiere Place is a net loss”, what would be a net gain? And more importantly, what do we need to do to actually make it happen?! Bigger picture, where do we want to focus our efforts to grow our economy? Manufacturing, that thing that made St. Louis great in the first half of the twentieth century, continues to leave the city (and the country). Tourism (and the convention business) is one “industry” that more and more cities are focusing on, by default, to attract new dollars – is that our priority? Should it be? Talk has been made recently of refocusing on transportation and distribution – our central location and historic assets make that a logical path to follow, even if it’s neither glamorous nor particularily friendly to existing neighborhoods (one potential scenario for Blairmont). Healthcare and education are playing a greater role as other industries have faded – what can we do to enhance and grow these institutions? I agree, Lumiere Place is not the best answer in a world of unlimited options. But we live in a city with relatively few options, so we should be celebrating these small successes, not dissing them . . .
while on the subject of Lumiere Place-I recently drove down 70 and observed their new giant plasma screen marketing machine. The tunnel i like, the 50 ft television over looking the highway, not so much. It’s distracting and makes our downtown look tacky. Who approves this stuff anyways?
Moscow, St Pete and Kiev all have fairly vast number of tunnels connecting each side of their wide streets. Of course, street vendors are abundant as well. However, I’d imagine that 95% of the folks I saw on the street did not have personal vehicles either.
Interestingly enough, the tunnels became somewhat of a destination too. Quite a few vendors at the entrances to the tunnels as well as throughout the tunnel too.
Strangely enough, all three cities had indviduals in the tunnels with bathroom scales and selling a chance for pedestrians to weigh themselves. This was in late 1990’s. I could never find out for certain if there was a shortage of bathroom scales or that they might have been expensive.
It was interesting to note that the vast majority of the pedestrians using the scales were women, often in groups of two or more and the ensuing conversation was a lively banter of losing/gaining weight!
I guess as the only admitted gambler here, I might want to weigh in. I too had noticed the despicable care paid that plaza. I am unsure who is responsible for its care, but I would think the casino would be interested in it now. Seeing that it precedes their front door.
The casino has been very aggressive in its marketing, a good thing for St. Louis City, I think. Heck, I visited once on opening night and since that time have recieved several offers to stay 2 nights free of charge in the new Lumiere Place Hotel, the old embassy suites. Taking them up on it once recently, and having a nice time by visiting with my East Side relatives on Memorial day in the cavernous lobby of this hotel, I must say I was impressed with the volume of activity in and around the hotel.
In fact from the 7th floor hotel room they had comped, looking south towards the Arch, I, in one frame was able to capture in a moment, when a coal train passes across the riverfront, vehicluar traffic on the Eads bridge, vehicluar traffic on the MLK bridge, MetroLink going across Eads, barely discernible traffic across the PSB, barges in the water, although not moving at the time of the shot, Horse Carriages strolling the brick lined streets and loads of people milling about and a plane overhead, that didn’t make it into the shot unfortunately either. I was so struck by this moment, I vowed to capture it with better images in a future event to come. I am going to plan that shot. With all of the elements of human transport in St. Louis seen from one window on St. Louis.
I stood there at my window of a comped room from Lumiere Place and was glad I had taken them up on that offer of 2 free nights, just for that 10 minute span of watching a moment in transportation. Yes I am a freak to have enjoyed that so much. No dollars and no cents, (sense to some), I was granted a free room on Lacledes Landing with an Arch view.
Sure I understand a casino is viewed by some as a parasite on the economy both local and national. However there are many troubling items about the economy as a whole that are far more disconserting than affording a place to wager a bet. So those on the pulpit of moral turpitude espousing your ideas of goodness beware, the future and the present for that matter, is a bleak place indeed for your romantic notions of an upstanding corporate citizen. The casino is more honest andtransparent in its take. Called “winnings” as reported monthly to the State.
So many businesses have the “gotcha” policy on its customers. As just one example, Banks with the inordinate fees on its poorest customers. Unauthorized overdraft charges, are big business. Billions of dollars a year. Late fees, Interest rates so high it would make a loanshark blush, overdraft fees that average $34 per transaction. In most times for every dollar covered, $2 is given to the bank in fees. Even higher when looking at its most vulnerable customers, youth.
Banking is just one example of many of this new face of corporate capitalism, so save your breath on the moral and or sociatal injustices of casinos. I am much more bothered by those that pretend to be one thing, yet in fact rely heavily on duping you into paying something other than the price tag.
The Lumiere Link at the Dome is well designed. I especially liked the beautiful wood and glass entrance doors to the casino tunnel. Does anyone know who designed or constructed these doors?
I stayed at the Hotelumeire at the Lumiere Place Hotel & Casino during my stay in STL for the Shaklee National Conference. The LumiereLink was great because it was easy to get from the hotel to the Edward Jones Dome for the general sessions and workshops. Also, Downtown St. Louis was the most accessible downtown that I have ever been in when visiting a city. I will stay at Hotelumiere again or the Four Seasons Hotel when I visit STL again. Thank you so much.
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