June 18, 2015Featured, Metro East, ParksComments Off on Malcolm W. Martin Memorial Park Dedicated 10 Years Ago Today
Today is the 10th anniversary of one of my favorite parks in the region:
On June 7th, 2005, Gateway Center of Metropolitan St. Louis transferred title of the Gateway Geyser and the 34.1 acres of grounds, known as the Malcolm W. Martin Memorial Park, to Metro East Park and Recreation District (MEPRD). The Gateway Center had worked tirelessly for 40 years to protect the property from commercial development and with the transfer, was entrusting MEPRD with the task of bringing to life the dream of their founder and benefactor, Malcolm W. Martin, to transform the property into a true memorial park complementing the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial and Gateway Arch directly across the Mississippi River. On June 18th, 2005, the park was officially dedicated as the Malcolm W. Martin Memorial Park, in honor of the man whose passion, dedication and generosity made the project possible. (Metro East Parks & Recreation District)
The Gateway Geyser began operating a decade earlier, on May 27, 1995.
One of my best photos at Malcolm W. Martin Memorial Park was taken at 12:51pm on December 10, 2010. The overlook, left, gives you great views across the Mississippi River.Malcolm W. Martin at the top of the overlook.esl gateway geyserHundreds gathered at Malcolm Martin Memorial Park in East St. Louis IL to watch the St. Louis fireworks on July 4th, 2011I introduced David to this park while we were engaged, We held our wedding here on Sunday June 8th 2014, officiated by our friend Chris Reimer.
If you’ve never experienced this park I highly recommend a visit. Driving there isn’t the easiest, but there is parking once you arrive. The better way from downtown St. Louis wold be to walk or bike across the Eads Bridge. From Missouri or Illinois take MetroLink to the East Riverfront station then go south of the grain elevator.
April 15th through October 15th Daily eruptions (each 10-minutes) at noon, 3PM, and 6PM Each eruption is dependent on current wind and weather conditions.
Less than 5 years until the 25th anniversary of the geyser!
Not only are readers not having guns at the St. Louis Zoo, they really don’t like guns, concealed or openly carried, in public. Period.
Because the Zoo obtained a temporary restraining order, Jeffrey Smith, of Ohio, held his protest outside the Zoo.
He says that since the zoo is taxpayer funded he should have the right to carry his firearm on zoo property. But, the zoo says its ban is within Missouri law because it qualifies as a child care facility and educational institution. The zoo has a child care facility on site and hosts educational camps and field trips throughout the year.
Saturday, the group ‘Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America’ showed up to support the zoo’s firearm ban.
“This is no place for firearms. There are other places where I can understand they would be necessary. But in the zoo, for such a family friendly part of our community, it’s just really not necessary,” said Becky Morgan of Moms Demand Action. (KSDK)
Q: Yesterday a Ohio man wanted to enter the St. Louis Zoo openly carrying his gun, thoughts?
I’m opposed to open carry & concealed carry in public — including at the STL Zoo 27 [55.1%]
I’m opposed to open carry, but support concealed carry — but not at the STL Zoo 9 [18.37%]
I’m opposed to open carry, but support concealed carry — including at the STL Zoo 5 [10.2%]
I support concealed & open carry — including at the STL Zoo 3 [6.12%]
Other: 2 [4.08%]
I’m opposed to the ownership of guns at all by loony right-wing fascists
what is everyone so scared of?
TIE 1 [2.04%]
I’m opposed to concealed carry, but support open carry — but not at the STL Zoo
I support concealed & open carry — but not at the STL Zoo
Unsure/ no answer
I’m opposed to concealed carry, but support open carry — including at the STL Zoo 0 [0%]
More than half those who support concealed &/or open carry do not support it at the zoo.
Not sure about the 2nd “other” Who is that reader thinking is scared? Could apply to those who think they need to carry a gun into a zoo patronized largely by families or could apply to those of us who fear the possibility of the presence of a gun(s) presenting a very real danger. The latter is very real considering the event on the day of the poll: Five injured after gun fires accidentally during wedding at Waldorf Astoria.
As work continues on the “lid” over the highway, now called I-44, that divides downtown St. Louis from the Arch grounds I thought we should take a look at another recent park-over-highway project — Dallas’ Klyde Warren Park:
Klyde Warren Park creates an urban green space constructed over a section of the below-grade Woodall Rodgers Freeway, for 3 blocks between Pearl Street and St. Paul Street. It provides connectivity to the city’s flourishing Arts District from other neighborhoods, brings together cultural events and experiences, and serves as a central public gathering space for Dallas residents and visitors to enjoy.
Designed by landscape architecture firm, The Office of James Burnett, the park features flexible, pedestrian-oriented design, offering a mix of active and passive spaces, which include a children’s park, reading room, great lawn, restaurant, performance pavilion, fountain plaza, games area, urban dog park, and botanical garden around a sweeping pedestrian promenade.. A 6,000-square-foot (560 m2) restaurant and performance stage, designed by Thomas Phifer and Partners, is in the center of the park. In addition it provides jogging trails, a dog park, a children’s playground, and an area for games. (Wikipedia)
The idea of building a park over the recessed highway had been discussed since the highway was built in the 1960s. As an architecture student in the late 80s I visited I.M. Pei’s then-new Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in 1989, thinking the location, next to this wide ditch, was awful. Though I’d been to Dallas since then, I hadn’t seen the Meyerson again until last month.
26 years after seeing the new building, I passed by Dallas’ symphony hall on their free D-Link bus. Click image for map link.
The new trees are now mature, but unfortunately I didn’t have enough juice in my wheelchair to get closer. Besides, I was about to cross over the highway and in a block be at my destination.
Looking right I saw the highway that had long been a divider, the other direction was the new Klyde Warren Park. View from Pearl StNormally the D-Lkink bus would’ve crossed through the park on Olive but they close it during busiest times — otherwise it’s open.Vehicles & the D-Link bus are rerouted when Olive is closed, but their M-Line vintage trolley gets to cut through for obvious reasons. Click image for more information on this line.This is like he ‘hallway’ our Gateway Mall is supposed to have, right now we only have 2 blocks in CitygardenLike Citygarden, this park has a botanical side. It’s also city-owned but managed by a foundation.It’s nearly 80% bigger the Citygarden, has more diverse areas as a result.The upscale restaurant was packed the Saturday night I was there,Here you see people at the upscale restaurant (left) and regular park patrons sitting at movable tables & chairs located throughout the park (right).The Congress for the New Urbanism/CNU23 closing party was at the self-serve end of the building‘Retrofitting Suburbia’ author Ellen Dunham Jones invited me to join her to chat, we finally met the day before. We’d communicated via email for years. Selfie without a selfie stick… Click image to view her 2010 TED Talk.The restaurant building has restrooms accessed from the outside, but the capacity isn’t enough &/or isn’t visible enough. — so porta-potties are added in a few parking spots.Like St. Louis, they didn’t think about how wheelchair users would reach the disabled john. #curbThe South block has a big open area where people can kick balls around, etcThe big open play fieldAn area on the edge for parking, left, is used by many food trucks during events.By planning ahead, the food tricks lined up here for hours can all plug into outlets rather than run noisy polluting generators. I was able to plug in my chair, grab a bite, and people watch.
Of course, a 5.2 acre park built over a highway didn’t come cheap:
The $110 million project was funded through a public-private partnership. Public support included $20 million in bond funds from the City of Dallas, $20 million in highway funds from the state and $16.7 million in stimulus funds. The balance of funding is through individual donors directly to the Woodall Rodgers Park Foundation.
Klyde Warren Park is owned by the City of Dallas and privately operated and managed by the private Woodall Rodgers Park Foundation. The Foundation studied great public parks across the country and plans to bring best practices to the park’s operations, programming and maintenance.
I’d say it’s worth every penny! Over the coming 25 years it’ll help mend areas long-separated because of the highway. I love that the foundation must also program the space, wish the Gateway Foundation had to do the same at Citygarden, and that 9th Street would remain open except for during events/weekends.
Currently there are a couple of interesting zoning issues in the affluent St. Louis suburb of Frontenac. First, some background:
Frontenac is a wealthy inner-ring suburb of St. Louis, located in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The signature landmark is Plaza Frontenac, a high-end mall featuring many prominent retailers such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, and Tiffany & Co., among others. The population was 3,482 at the 2010 census.
The community name is inspired by the Château Frontenac of Quebec City. Benjamin and Lora Wood, who laid out the community’s core called Frontenac Estates, that consisted of 26 two-acre estates, had made frequent trips to Quebec. The community was incorporated as 217 acres (88 ha) in 1947 and annexed another 967 acres (391 ha) in 1948. The community still consists mostly of houses on one-acre lots. French architecture is encouraged in design. (Wikipedia)
From the same Wikipedia page:
The median income for a household in the city was $119,508, and the median income for a family was $136,972. Males had a median income of $100,000 versus $47,344 for females. The per capita income for the city was $64,532. About 0.8% of families and 1.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 0.6% of those under age 18 and 1.0% of those age 65 or over.
The majority of residences in Frontenac are large single-family detached homes on at least a one-acre lot. At Lindbergh & Conway there are a few blocks of smaller homes on small lots. The biggest exception to the single-family one acre norm is off the I-64 service road West of Spoede — the Daniel Boone Trailer Park. But this 1.31 acre site at 11130 S. Forty Dr isn’t involved in the two zoning issues.
The vacant school has 420 feet of frontage on Clayton RdCloser view of existing buildingSome in Frontenac oppose a developer’s plan to build a senior residence & villas on the site
Though zoned for one acre lots, this site and a few others West to Spoede Rd. are shown as “Single Family Residential – Planned (Overlay) ” on their future land use map. From page 8 of their 2006 Comprehensive Plan:
“Single Family Residential–Planned” is proposed as an overlay land use category. The intention of this is to recognize that the demand for housing options in the area is dynamic and to allow a degree of flexibility for the City of Frontenac to meet this demand. This district identifies areas within Frontenac where the type of residential development described below could easily fit into the fabric of the community. As an overlay, this district is only intended to be an acceptable alternative to the existing land use or the Future Land Use Plan. In addition to the specific areas identified on the map, land adjacent to and fronting on North Outer Forty Drive and South Outer Forty Drive has also been identified as appropriate for Single Family Residential– Planned.
Defined on the following page as:
Single family detached homes or 2-unit attached villas, clustered to maximize open space and allow for flexible home siting and property maintenance arrangements. Requires the creation of a new Planned Residential District as an Overlay District within the City’s Land Use Code of Ordinances.
When the Shriner’s moved their hospital to Frontenac in the early 1960s much of the small town was still undeveloped. Since then, McMansions on one acre lots have closed in on the 14.87 acre site with more than 600 feet of frontage on Lindbergh Blvd.
In 1962 the Shriner’s built a new hospital on a large site in Frontenac
With the new hospital open the old site can now be sold for redevelopment. From last month.
John Gloss, hospital administrator, said the property in Frontenac attracted 17 offers, which were then narrowed down to four and now one.
The buyer and the hospital are in a “due diligence” period with the buyer, which Gloss declined to identify, citing a confidentiality agreement.
Robert Shelton, Frontenac’s city administrator, however, told the Post-Dispatch Wednesday “the buyer is DESCO.” (Post-Dispatch)
DESCO is the development company of Schnucks Markets, behind developments like Loughborough Commons and the 9th Street Garage — after razing the historic Century Building. My assumption is they’d like to build a new Schnucks to replace the old/small location at the NE corner of Lindbergh & Clayton in the City of Ladue.
Schnucks at 10275 Clayton Rd. in the Ladue West Shopping Center was built in 1959. The shopping center site is only 5.44 acres. Click image for map.
Like the former school on Clayton Rd, the nearly 15 acre former hospital site is zoned one acre residential. However, Frontenac’s future land use plan shows it as Regional Commercial, the same as abutting Plaza Frontenac. Their 2006 Comprehensive Plan defines this as:
Retail, office, and/or other commercial uses at a scale of regional service.
I’ll be interested to see DESCO’s proposal for this site.
Yesterst Please vote in the poll, located in the right sidebar
Last week a Cincinnati Ohio man announced he planned to visit the St. Louis Zoo openly carrying a gun:
An Ohio man is planning to walk into the St. Louis Zoo with a gun Saturday.
Even though there are signs posted around the zoo stating that weapons are not allowed, Jeff Smith is planning to walk into the zoo with a gun visible to others, most likely in a holster or belt on his hip. Smith said he will demand to know what Missouri State Law he has violated if he is stopped from entering. (KMOV)
Local officials, including the police chief, looked for ways to prevent Smith’s plan:
St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson says Missouri has some of the most liberal gun laws in the country, and it may allow an open-carry protest to happen inside the zoo.
Amendment 5, was passed in August 2014, establishes the “unalienable right of citizens to keep and bear arms, ammunition and accessories associated with the normal functioning of such arms, for the purpose of defense of one’s person, family, home and property.”
Dotson says attorneys are looking to see if the amendment can allow police to keep the protest outside of the zoo. (KMOX)
Friday morning the St. Louis Zoo filed for a temporary restraining order, which was granted a few hours later:
A judge has barred a gun rights advocate from entering the St. Louis Zoo with a gun. (Post-Dispatch)
The poll today seeks to find out how regular readers feel about open carry of guns at the St. Louis Zoo. The poll answers might be a bit confusing, but they should cover all the various views. They’re presented in random oder. If you don’t like an answer you can provide your own. You can also share your thoughts in the comments below. The poll closes at 8pm — sooner if corrupted.
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