Pop-Up Retail Different Than Food Trucks?

Downtown and city leadership have long opposed food carts/trucks, citing the need to support brick & mortar restaurants over temporary operations with little overhead.  Retail, however, is viewed differently. “Pop-up retail”  gets the blessing of the Partnership  for Downtown St. Louis.

Don’t get me wrong, I like pop-up retail and pop-up/drive-up restaurants. They seem the same to me, a business in a temporary location for a brief period. I’m in the camp that thinks more street vending would make downtown more vibrant, attracting more people. More people means more customers for brick & mortar retail & restaurants.

Conversely, dead sidewalks are a disincentive to walk and window shop.   A decade ago leaders wanted to make the Old Post Office District a 24/7 area, but they haven’t done much of anything to get there.  Culinaria initially stayed open until 10pm but now closes at 9pm.

Can anyone tell me why pop-up retail is OK but pop-up restaurants aren’t?

Metropolitan Square Time Capsule Opened, Refilled For 2038

In August I posted about the 25-year time capsule at Metropolitan Square  that was placed in 1988. On November 20, 2013 the time capsule was opened.

The time capsule box was to be refilled and placed back into the front planter for opening in 2038. If I’m still alive then I’d like to attend. January 20, 2014 marks the 25th anniversary of the opening of the building.

— Steve Patterson

Fifth Anniversary of the Gateway Transportation Center 2008, Future High-Speed Rail to Chicago’s O’Hare Airport

During the last five years Amtrak has seen a steady increase in ridership.

The timing was perfect, although Amtrak’s FY 2009 showed a dip in ridership from 2008, it was still above 2007 levels.

I’ve taken trains out of this station five times now: Kansas City (x2), Jefferson City, Bloomington-Normal, Dallas. Bloomington-Normal was Memorial weekend 2012, our station was way too small for all the rail & bus passengers that weekend. The trip to Dallas was in July 2012, I continued to Fort Worth & Oklahoma City on Amtrak, returning to St. Louis via Greyhound bus.

Thinking about this post I was curious how our station compared to others in Missouri, Illinois, and nationally. Turns out St. Louis had more than double the traffic as the #2 station in Missouri, Kansas City.

Amtrak serves 46 of the 48 continental United States, no service to Wyoming or South Dakota. Of the 46 states served, and the District of Columbia, Missouri ranked 18th in FY13, Illinois 4th.

Clearly, our proximity to Chicago doesn’t hurt. Plus, Missouri and Illinois have both been making track upgrades which have resulted in reduced travel time. Amtrak spokesperson Marc Magliari told me the usage at the St. Louis station “has exceeded expectations.”

The Lincoln Service between Chicago and St Louis saw a 10 percent jump in passenger count, for the largest increase for any route in Illinois. It also saw a 22 percent jump in revenue. (Source)

The St. Louis station took years to be planned, funded, and opened. Now we need to plan a facility to handle high-speed rail traffic. How will a high-speed train cross the Mississippi River, a new rail bridge? Could it serve the region from a location on the Illinois side, or must it cross into Missouri? You think I’m dreaming, but I’m not:

The study concluded that a 220-mph HSR service from O’Hare Airport through downtown Chicago to Champaign-Urbana and on to St. Louis and/or Indianapolis is feasible and would be likely to cover its operating costs without subsidies. Express high-speed trains would travel from downtown Chicago to Champaign in approximately 45 minutes, to Springfield in approximately one hour and twenty minutes and to St. Louis or Indianapolis in approximately 2 hours. The study assumed that trains would run every half-hour during peak times and hourly at other times. The economic analysis of the HSR system showed potential substantial benefits to Illinois, including the creation of 409,000 to 792,000 job-years during five years of construction and creation of 10,890 to 13,820 jobs per year during the first 10 years of operation. In addition, analyses of several different cost and revenue scenarios indicated that the HSR system is expected to be operationally profitable. However, as with many large public transportation projects, the initial cost to build it is substantial and would require public and/or private sector funding to cover the initial capital cost.

Various public-private partnerships (PPP) have been successfully used to finance HSR overseas and the viability of adapting these to the US environment should be explored. An incremental or blended approach completed over a longer time period would reduce initial capital costs and provide other nearer-term transportation benefits, while simultaneously improving intercity transportation quality and travel times. This is similar to the approach commonly used internationally and should be studied further. (UIUC w/links to study)

Two hours to Chicago? Count me in!

— Steve Patterson

Historic Art Deco Storefronts Removed From Board of Education Building

The former St. Louis Board of Education Building was built in 1893, but in the late 1930s the storefront spaces on the ground floor were replaced with new Art Deco fronts. The National Register Nomination lists the period of significance for the building as 1893-1953, so these storefronts are considered historic even though they’re not original.  The building is now loft apartments.

The quotes in the post are from the nomination linked above:

Overall, most of the building retains a high degree of historic integrity. The primary elevations have seen few changes and most of the exterior storefront modifications took place during the period of significance. The only other major exterior change is the loss of the pressed metal cornice, removed in 1942 during the historic period.

In March I was worried when I saw the plywood up at the entrance to the main Art Deco storefront. But perhaps it was just to protect the vitrolite and curved glass…

Here’s more detail on the exterior:

The remaining openings on the first floor (901-909 Locust and 401-409 North Ninth Street) are either display windows or entrances into the businesses that once occupied the first floor of this building. The original configuration of first floor openings generally alternated between display windows and recessed storefront entrances with display windows on one or both sides. Minor changes to these storefronts were noted in school board records as early as 1910. Major renovations in the 1930s transformed the original wood-framed first floor storefront entrances and display windows into distinctive examples of the Art Deco style with new Vitrolite storefronts and aluminum transom windows along the east elevation and in two bays (901, 903 Locust) on the south elevation. Art Deco modifications were completed on the 905 and 907 storefronts in 1937. An Art Deco entry, storefront and lobby was installed at 911 Locust in 1935, including a revolving door, but the revolving door was replaced in 1948 with paired glass doors within the revolving door enclosure. Additionally a single storefront was created at 905-907 Locust by removing the lower portion of the load-bearing pilaster and replacing it with a half-round, steel column. Modernization of the storefronts again took place in the 1960s, removing some of the Art Deco period features, mostly by replacing some of the doors and display window framing along Locust with the aluminum framed units seen today. The second floor windows of these bays are triple window units with fixed transoms.

The city’s Cultural Resources office attempted to get the owner to retain the storefronts but ultimately had no authority to prevent their removal.  While I loved the design of these Art Deco storefronts I also knew they were an obstacle to getting tenants in the spaces. It’ll be interesting to see new storefronts in this building.

Will they be wood like the 19th Century originals or a modern design? I’d favor a modern storefront system at this point, with busy retail stores or restaurants behind them.

— Steve Patterson

Please Shut Down NLEC

Tomorrow the city’s Board of Public Service will continue hearing testimony in response to a petition calling for New Life Evangelistic Center’s hotel license to be revoked. Both sides have been presenting their arguments for weeks now.

Six years ago I bought a loft exactly two blocks to the west of NLEC. I was aware of the complaints about NLEC at the time but I also believed we can’t let one problem property owner ruin an entire neighborhood.Over the last six years I’ve become more familiar with NLEC, the homeless, and other homeless service providers. Those entities that provide needed services are not created equal.

Larry Rice has convinced many that he’s the only game in town. NLEC is, in fact, a very last resort for many — they’d rather sleep outside than on one of his cots. When NLEC kicks everyone to the curb at 6am the others begin providing meals, counseling, computers, showers, etc.

From my balcony I can see the building that houses another homeless agency one block south of me. The Bridge is a day shelter and provider of meals, they have a professional security staff that monitors activity inside and out. They work with their neighbors to improve the safety for everyone. NLEC says they’re not responsible for anything that happens outside their facility.

To the west of me is the Horizon Club:

Horizon Club is a 24-hour drop in center for individuals without homes, operated by DD Resources. It is also funded by Housing and Urban Development through the St. Louis City Department of Human Services. The City of St. Louis Department of Human Services and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, both seek to end homelessness.

Horizon Club offers membership and guest services to people without homes, especially those with disabilities. The Horizon Club features computer games, internet access, and satellite television as well as showers and lockers. This center is a safe place to spend time relaxing in a quiet recreation.

These other agencies are all trying to get the homeless off the streets, to improve their lives. NLEC, I believe, wants to keep the homeless on the streets — that helps them look needed and get donations. I think they’re fooling themselves to think they’ll end homelessness, though. Every time you get someone off the streets someone else will become homeless. I accept that I’ll always have homeless around my loft building.

Shutting down NLEC is the right thing to do for everyone except Larry Rice and his staff. The other homeless service providers can come out from behind NLEC’s shadow, the homeless will get more than a baloney sandwich, a bible, and a cot without a pillow or blanket.

Those wishing to let the Board of Public Service know how they feel about NLEC should email the board secretary, Cherise Thomas.

— Steve Patterson