December 31, 2014Featured, STL RegionComments Off on Twenty-Fourteen In 63 Pictures
The end of another year…so for the last post of 2014 I’ve selected 63 images from the 800+ I uploaded throughout the year. Enjoy, please be patient as they load.
JANUARY
Fields Foods opened at 1500 Lafayette Ave without pedestrian access, this was soon corrected after my post14th St @ Washington Ave.: Stones pavers & concrete removed so a new bus shelter can be built.At MLK & Taylor I noticed this new storefront because it stood out from how it looked for yearsPipes burst in the upper floors of the YMCA/Centenary Tower buildingWork was still wrapping up on the Tucker projectThe Treasurer’s office began testing different parking meters
FEBRUARY
The Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge opened, thus was seconds after Illinois Gov Quinn & Missouri Gov Nixon cut the ribbonThe St. Louis flag turned 50 as the city turned 250The wrap on the new low-floor downtown trolley buses looks like the original
MARCH
IDOT officials held an open house at the Jackie Joyner Kersee Center in East St. Louis to get input into speeding up Amtrak from Alton to St. LouisSome members of the First Presbyterian in Edwardsville IL opposed the sale of the property to the school district, the church would be leveled for parking. The congregation has worshipped on the same site since the early 19th centuryNew bike lane & pedestrian zone on Chippewa, looking west toward Morgan FordThe Castle Ballroom in midtown was damaged in a storm, later razed.The property to the north had a gate that blocked the public sidewalk, it was later removedIt was announced a park was planned for the north side of the Eads Bridge, to the right of the trucks parked in the alley,To prep for a new Civic Center bus transfer facility, all the trees were cut downFields Foods pedestrian access problem correctedMetro showed of the first of 15 articulated buses they would receive in 2014, mostly for use on the #70 Grand routeCity police had out of town journalists park on the sidewalk during a basketball tournament because…homeland security6th ward residents checked out the Participatory Budgeting project expo
APRIL
On April Fool’s Day I got many people with the announcement of a Trader Joe’s in a new mixed-use building at Grand & OliveInside the “Live” area of Ballpark Village the day before the home openerI proposed returning 9th & 10th north of Washington or Cole into two-way streetsSchnucks closed their North Grand locationAfter two years of not having a car, my then-fiancé and I bought a used car together.The east facade of the Lewis & Clark branch of the St. Louis County Library which was planned to be demolished after a new library was built.On April 29th major equipment was ripping out the unloved center planters on 13th Street between St. Charles St & Washington Ave
MAY
I took at look at the dire economic disinvestment in the north county area at Chambers & Lewis & ClarkI convinced Culinaria to stop filling the entire sidewalk in front of their 9th Street grocery store with cafe tablesPlans for the new Civic Center MetroBus transfer facility were made available.
JUNE
David and I exchanging our vows on Sunday June 8th at the Malcolm Martin Memorial park in East St. Louis, officiated by our friend Chris Reimer.Our reception was brunch at Bevo Mill, Lydia S. drove us in her Tesla.The Melvin Price Locks & Dam celebrated 20 yearsI took a look at the unincorporated area of North County known as Spanish Lake, the Belle Parke Plaza strip mall shown hereFive years since Citygarden opened in 2009
A week ago today the city’s Board of Adjustment ruled the New Life Evangelistic Center homeless shelter must 1) limit beds to the licensed 32 beds 2) seek a new license that would allow more emergency beds or 3) close. Larry Rice, however, wants to continue as he has been — stuffing far more people into a rundown facility after coercing them to do lots of free labor.
NLEC last week, just hours before the decision. The building was originally a YWCA.
Q: Thoughts on the city calling Larry Rice’s NLEC a “nuisance”? (pick up to two)
TIE:
Limiting the licensed occupancy to 32 beds is fair, considering the conditions. 28 [25.69%]
There are other/better alternatives to NLEC available. 28 [25.69%]
Rice’s TV televangelism empire depends on a large visible homeless population 18 [16.51%]
NLEC was there before the condos & apartments 15 [13.76%]
Where will the homeless sleep if NLEC is limited to 32 beds? 10 [9.17%]
NLEC should be able to sleep 300, or more, if they want 3 [2.75%]
Other: 3 [2.75%]
If NLEC had better job training and mental service, open all day Add as a poll answer
it’s high time for NLEC to cease and desist. It’s not a church but a flop house
It and he are nuisances.
NLEC is a religious facility, no government license should be required. 2 [1.83%]
The #2 answer is closest to the truth — Rice desperately needs to maintain the exterior appearance of lots of homeless. Without a visible homeless population he doesn’t have a hook to get donations.
In 2009, court documents estimated New Life has assets between $40 million and $50 million, including radio and television stations. In 2008, the center reported receiving more than $1.8 million in cash contributions. (stltoday.com)
I can assure you other non-profits do more for the homeless with a fraction of the total assets, social workers & researchers are now realizing there is a much more effective & humane way to help the homeless than how Rice has operated NLEC for nearly 40 years:
Permanent housing, not a hard cot in a room crowded with hundreds of men
Hot meals prepared by a trained chef in an inspected kitchen, not sandwiches out of a trunk on the street
Social workers & occupational therapists to find & resolve problems, not free labor & religion
Secure places to store belongings, not encouraged to carry bags to increase visibility
Daytime space & activities, not being out on the street for 12 hours.
Security inside & outside during operations, not ignoring everything that happens just outside.
In these examples the former is how other agencies in St. Louis are trying to end/reduce homelessness, the latter is how Rice maintains the visible problem that keeps millions in coming in. I don’t expect this to be over in May, Rice will fight to maintain his status quo. He misses the old days of vacant warehouses, lack of restaurants, jobs and any sort of measurable economic activity downtown.
December 29, 2014Featured, Real EstateComments Off on Followup: Gotham Apartments Completed
In late 2012 I posted about an upcoming project. Now, 2+ years later, I finally stopped to see the end result. The Gotham Apt project involved the renovation of an old building and the construction of a new mixed-use building consisting of apartments over storefronts.
October 2012: 5900 Enright built in 1926December 2014: after new windows with dark frames — a big improvement over white framesgfcf AZ
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Original rendering of the new construction to face Delmar BlvdOct 2012: Framing just going upApril 2013: taking shapeDecember 2014: The finished building at Delmar & Hamilton, click for mapThe NVme Boutique occupies the corner storefront space. click for website.The entrance for the upstairs apartments ids located on the West end of the building.
Once the Loop Trolley project is built we should see more urban infill like this.
Please vote in the poll, located in the right sidebar
Tuesday afternoon the city’s Board of Adjustment, after of 12+ months of hearings on a citizen petition, concluded Larry Rice’s New Life Evangelistic Center (NLEC) was a nuisance:
A city board ruled Tuesday that Rev. Larry Rice’s homeless shelter downtown is a nuisance and will be closed effective May 12, 2015, unless he complies with city terms.
Rice’s occupancy permit allows him to have a maximum of 32 beds. Many nights, Rice allows upwards of 300 people to stay in the shelter. (stltoday.com)
A perfect subject for the final poll of 2014: Thoughts on the city calling Larry Rice’s NLEC a “nuisance”? The poll is in the right sidebar, vote until 8pm.
I have thoughts on this, but I’ll save my views for Tuesday when I post the results.
I like to end each week with a positive post and nothing is more positive than a favorite building, long written off, getting rehabbed. A large house on Delmar, with unique dormers, has been in disrepair for years. A few months ago a friend posted on Facebook that work was starting on the building. Earlier this month I took the #97 MetroBus to photograph the progress.
Work was still ongoing on my December 12th visit.Diagonally across Delmar & Pendleton, click image for mapThis March 2014 photo from GEO St. Louis shows the old fire escape from when the house was divided into multiple units.
City records indicate 4270 Delmar Blvd was built in 1893 and contains 5,687 sq ft. This property is just a couple of blocks West of another favorite building, that also recently got rehabbed, now known as Freedom Place. Fingers crossed someone will take on the building at the East end of Fountain Park.
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Built St. Louis
historic architecture of St. Louis, Missouri – mourning the losses, celebrating the survivors.
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a guide to geospatial data about the City of St. Louis