What Will Become of the Historic Former Arsenal Site Once the National Geospatial-Intellegence Agency Relocates?

The battle over where the National Geospatial-Intellegence Agency (NGA) will relocate intensified recently when Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner stepped late in the game with a bid across the Mississippi River:

St. Clair County has agreed to donate land near Scott Air Force Base and MidAmerica Airport to the combined defense and intelligence agency, which provides mapping support for the U.S. military  and employs 3,000 people locally.

The agency is also considering two sites in St. Louis County and one in north St. Louis as it looks to move from its current location near the Anheuser-Busch brewery in Missouri. (KMOX)

Here’s more about the NGA:

NGA is headquartered in Springfield, Va. and has two major locations in St. Louis and Arnold, Mo. Hundreds of NGA employees serve on support teams at U.S. military, diplomatic and allied locations around the world. (NGA) 

I’ve questioned the wisdom of the city site from a design viewpoint, see St. Louis’ Low Standards Turns A Once-Proud City Into A Suburban Office Park. Keeping these jobs in the city makes sense financially, though employees who also live in the city will still pay earnings tax.

This post, however, isn’t about the new site — it’s about the current site and what will become of it once the NGA relocates.

City records don’t list any information about any of the buildings on the site — makes sense since it’s a spy agency located on Air Force property. Thankfully the St. Louis Air Force Station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in January 1975.

Within the confines of this acreage are ten buildings with erection dates from 1830 to 1906. These buildings are of Federal architecture, and are arranged in such a manner that gives an excellent example of the building prac tices and a remnant layout of a major arsenal of the early 19th Century.

Of particular interest are buildings #4 and #5, which are two of the oldest and best preserved buildings on base. Both are constructed of limestone walls over stone foundations, and their site and architectural integrity has not been altered since they were built in the l830’s. These buildings are built in the Federal style of architecture, which characterizes the majority of the other buildings except buildings 20 and 22 which are of modified Federal architecture. A further exception to this style is evident in building #25, which was constructed in 1906, and is believed to be of modified French Colonial architecture. It should also be noted that building #1 has lost its architectural integrity through extensive modification, but it was of modified Federal architecture before remodeling.

Site alterations have occurred to buildings #12 and #13. Each were originally built as three separate buildings in the form of a “Cross”, but during the early 1920’s, the middle building was removed, rebuilt, and connected in a straight line with the other two buildings. The integrity of the end sections of each building was maintained. Also, building #1 had considerable architectural alteration in January 1963. The building origin ally had three floors, but the second and third floors were rer.ovedj and the first floor was rebuilt. Site integrity was preserved. (St. Louis Air Force Station nomination)

One large multi-story building on the site was built after 1975. What will become of this property once the NGA vacates?

— Steve Patterson

St. Louis County Voters Approved Proposition A 5 years Ago Today

Five years ago today St. Louis County voters approved a tax increase to support public transit:

By a wide margin, county voters approved a half-cent increase to the transit sales tax to restore lost bus and Call-A-Ride service and, eventually, expand the reach of mass transit farther into the St. Louis suburbs. (Post-Dispatch)

This ballot victory triggered a previously-approved sales tax increase in the city. Attempts in 1997 & 2008 were rejected by St. Louis County voters.

After the fall 2008 defeat transit advocates approached the 2010 campaign differently, producing outstanding results:

The measure passed by a monstrous 24 point margin. The St. Louis Tea Party focused its energy on defeating the civic project, calling the campaign a test run for defeating Democrats in this fall’s midterm elections. So it’s a setback for them.

But it’s good news for those wanting to get around the St. Louis metro area. The “proposition A” measure will restore bus lines that had been de-funded, pay for more frequent buses, prevent future cuts, and, eventually, expand the reach of transit further into area suburbs.  (Grist)

The greatest support came from north county voters, the highest users of transit in the county.

— Steve Patterson

Sunday Poll: Which mode of public transportation do you think is the safest in St. Louis?

Today’s poll is about perceptions so it doesn’t matter if you ride public transit daily, frequently, rarely, or never. It also doesn’t matter if you think all public transit is unsafe — today’s question is: Which mode of public transportation do you think is the safest in St. Louis? So if it helps you it can also be read as Which mode of public transportation do you think is the least unsafe in St. Louis?

The poll choices are:

• Bus (MetroBus)
• Light rail (MetroLink)
• Tie/equal
• Unsure/no answer

These will be shown in random order in the poll — located in the right sidebar.

— Steve Patterson

The Steedmam Architectural Collection Exhibit at The St. Louis Library

On this day in 1902 the St. Louis Board of Aldermen approved legislation to construct a new library, a little more than a decade later the St. Louis Library opened. In 1928, sixteen years after the library opened, a wealthy St. Louis couple donated their collection of rare books on architecture. A current exhibit celebrates this collection:

The Steedman Exhibit features images selected from some of the most beautiful and influential architecture-related books in the George Fox Steedman Architectural Collection. 

Donated to St. Louis Public Library in 1928 with the express purpose of exposing local architects to the great published works on architecture and the allied arts, volumes from the Steedman Collection are rarely displayed to the general public. (The Steedman Exhibit)

Use the link above to see the online exhibit, visit the library to see the exhibit in person!

There are four related lectures this year, the first in less than two weeks:

Free and Open to the Public

SLPL Steedman Architectural Library & The Society of Architectural Historians – St. Louis Chapter Presents

Architecture Around the World

Central Library, 1301 Olive, 63103

 

On Lecture Nights:

6:00-6:30 – Steedman Architectural Library Open for Viewing

6:30-8:00 – Lecture

• “From Abbeys to Street Art: Germany and Austria along the Danube” presented by Paul Hohmann, at the St. Louis Public Library, Central Library, Carnegie Room, 1301 Olive St., St. Louis, MO 63103, Thursday, April 16, 2015, 7:00 pm.
   
• “The Works of Eero Saarinen” presented by John Guenther, FAIA, LEED AP, at the St. Louis Public Library, Central Library, Carnegie Room, 1301 Olive St., St. Louis, MO 63103, Wednesday, September 16, 2015, 7:00 pm.
   
• “The Architecture of Scotland” presented by Esley Hamilton, at the St. Louis Public Library, Central Library, Carnegie Room, 1301 Olive St., St. Louis, MO 63103, Thursday, October 22, 2015, 7:00 pm.
   
• “Josep Lluis Sert and Urban Design” presented by Eric Mumford, at the St. Louis Public Library, Central Library, Carnegie Room, 1301 Olive St., St. Louis, MO 63103, Thursday, November 19, 2015, 7:00 pm.

Hopefully you can check out this exhibit in the Grand Hall.

— Steve Patterson

Coming To Ballpark Village In Early 2017: 24/7 Neighborhood Market by Walmart

Walmart will soon be expanding in the St. Louis region with the addition of its smaller format Neighborhood Market stores:

Currently, the Neighborhood Markets are as large as 45,000 square feet. With the new strategy, they will range from 15,000 to 45,000 square feet in size. The company intends to continue testing with the “Wal-Mart On Campus” and “Wal-Mart To Go” models, and believes that the expansion of the Neighborhood Market banner will not hamper the growth of the new stores, which are still in the testing phase as of now. (Goodbye Wal-Mart Express Stores, Hello Neighborhood Markets!)

By offering grocery basics, pharmacy, and other essentials these stores compete with Walgreens/CVS, Target, etc.

From a Walmart press release:

In February 2014, Walmart U.S. increased its original fiscal 2015 projected capital investment by $600 million to a range of $6.4 to $6.9 billion due to an acceleration of approximately 150 small format openings. However, as a result of the timing of certain planned small format openings, Walmart U.S. now expects to open approximately 240 small format units in fiscal 2015, and carry over approximately 20 units into fiscal 2016. 

The company also indicated that during the testing of its Walmart Express format, the analysis showed customers rely on these stores for a variety of reasons, including grocery fill-in trips, last-minute dinner plans and picking up prescriptions. These patterns closely align with how customers also shop the Neighborhood Market format, which has become a recognizable brand that customers identify as a high quality, local grocery store. Therefore, the company will rebrand Walmart Express as Neighborhood Market and will utilize this brand for all small format stores, regardless of square footage. 

“We know that our supercenters are an important format for the stock-up trip, but we want to be thoughtful about our investment, ensuring that we align the space to evolving customer needs,” said Walmart U.S. President and CEO Greg Foran.  “To do this, we will moderate supercenter growth in fiscal 2016.  Our investment in Neighborhood Markets will go forward because they continue to show strong results across the box and they provide our customers with convenient access to grocery, pharmacy services, and other quick-trip needs.”  

Fiscal year 2016 capital investments are projected to range between $6.1 and $6.6 billion.  The forecast includes new stores, remodels, conversions, relocations, logistics, e-commerce and technology infrastructure, and reflects the additions of new units that will expand Walmart U.S.’s retail space by approximately 15 to 16 million net retail square feet. The company expects to open between 60 and 70 supercenters and 200 to 220 Neighborhood Markets.  (Walmart)

One location in our region will be at the NW corner of Ballpark Village — 8th & Walnut.

Laclede Gas will soon be moving its headquarters into the former General American building across the street.

“We’ve watched the success of Schnucks’ Culinaria store and decided we can offer more items at lower prices”, said Neighborhood Market regional manager Gregory Pope.  

The Neighborhood Market by Walmart will occupy the ground floor of a new multi-level parking garage structure.

— Steve Patterson