Convention Center MetroLink Station Maintenance Neglected
Many visitors coming to St. Louis for a convention use our MetroLink light rail to get downtown from the airport. The eastbound station they’ll use to reach their hotel and America’s Center looks decent, but when they leave to return to the airport they’ll see neglected maintenance.
Overall the station looks okay but one column is highly visible and clearly in need of attention. This column has been in this sad condition for at least a few years now. I know many other stations also need attention, largely from exposure to the elements. Would it really cost that much to patch the plaster and repaint? Maybe a flash mob could so up one day and take care of the plaster when the guard is on the platform?
Big deal you say, we’ve got bigger problems. True, we do. Perception as a failed city is one. With a little effort paid to details around our city we, and our visitors, can begin to feel better about our future.
— Steve Patterson
Meh.
With the Nation’s infrastructure needs running at a rate of about ten to thirty years behind replacement or refurbishment, I don’t think we need to worry about this too much. People probably go to Lambert and see the peeling paint on the East terminal, and the decaying bridges, overpasses, viaducts, sewage systems, local/state governmental facilities (from parks to city halls, etc.) in their own towns and cities and just take it for granted that this is the way it is.
This was somewhat snarky, but it’s rather alarming and perplexing that we see certain sectors of the Federal government getting all of the money *cough*cough*the military*cough*, and everything else goes wanting. And we as Americans are perfectly fine with that, for some reason. And both wings of the National Party, Democratic and Republican, go along with the decay–in fact, they support it–and we still think that one or the other wing is a dedicated servant of and to the public needs.
So no, this little patch of decay doesn’t bother me so much as the colossal failure of this country to look after itself does. And the more we ignore the causes–political corruption, predatory capitalism as manifested in the Wall St. Ponzi scheme and the massive mortgage fraud crisis, amongst so many others–the bigger the cost to our society (and I ain’t just talkin’ pecuniary) will be when we eventually, maybe, possibly, perhaps, I mean who knows, finally get around to dealing with it.
It really is amazing how much decay there is out there.
I have to agree with you that this seemingly small problem is merely a symptom of a larger disease. It is a sad commentary and unfortunately the problem is much deeper than can be stated at Urban Review. There is no question the country is being run for the benefit of the military complex along with the oil cartels.
One can argue the details, but one thing is for sure, the high unemployment rate does not reflect all the work that needs to be done in this country.
But when you have guys like Romney that are stealing America blind and stashing his gains overseas, and yet he still has the support of many Americans, you have to wonder just what the hell people are thinking.
A few are becoming ultra wealthy, not by their skill, except skill at thievery. It is a harsh reality. Of course there is no money to maintain anything, it has all been stolen fair and square with bribes of Congress, the Presidency, down to the lowest government officials.
America is a third world country in many ways. Greece has problems because of the wealthy not paying taxes or taking their wealth elsewhere. Sound familiar?, that’s because the same story is being repeated in America.
JZ is right of course, they should fix the roof or the source of the problem first. Don’t hold your breathe though,
I will not get into a political discussion. Steve, you’re right. Degradation such as this has no place in our public areas. There are two types: vandalism such as grafitti and urinating in elevators, and decay. Really? how much effort would it be to bring in a little paint and plaster? Why does it take a citizen to point this out? Don’t any of their employees and management use Metro and notice this crap?
It isn’t like someone spray painted. Then I could cut them the slack of a few days, but stuff like this is unexcusable. What is wrong with having a main. supervisor riding the trains and inspecting the stations…at least once a month???? It’s not like we are Chicago and have untold stops.
This has nothing to do with costs either. The staff is already there, I’m willing to be they have paint and plaster ($50 at most) in a closet. They cannot possibly need to apply for some weird grant to repair stuff such as this.
And what image does this put forth to a total stranger to our town? And just because they may come from a city that has such conditions certainly does not make this any more acceptable. Period. We want people to visit and think: hey this place is clean and well maintained, they have their act together.
In short: Get your act together Metro.
In Metro’s defense, this looks to be caused by water damage. Until the leak is fixed, patching and painting won’t last very long – solve the underlying cause before you worry about cosmetics. And no, just because a lot of tourists use this station, it should not be made a priority – every station needs to be maintained, for the benefit of local riders who use them every day and actually pay for them many times over!
It might be water damage but it’s been the same for at least a few years now. It’s under the old Dillard’s, now Laurel, so perhaps any source of water has been resolved. The three other columns in that station don’t have this issue.
Yeah, the rust on the corner bead is a dead giveaway.