Municipal Auditorium to Kiel Auditorium to Peabody Opera House

In my post yesterday I mentioned seeing the interior of the Peabody Opera House earlier in the week, my first time ever in the building.

It closed less then a year after I moved to St. Louis in August 1990 and I never got to see it before the recent $79 million dollar renovation. Apparently they did a great job keeping water out during two decades of being closed.

What amazes me is this building was built during the Great Depression, the cornerstone was set on November 2, 1932. At the opening performance on April 21, 1934 it was known as the Municipal Auditorium.  Nine years later on March 26, 1943 the Municipal Auditorium became the Kiel Auditorium, after former 3-term mayor Henry Kiel (February 21, 1871 – November 26, 1942). But the last show was in 1991.

Very impressive for 1934 and 2011.

– Steve Patterson

Taste of St. Louis Today Through Sunday, Tours of Peabody Opera

The annual Taste of St. Louis kicks off today and runs through Sunday, from their press release:

The Taste of St. Louis is a celebration of food, art, music, and the culture of the great city of St. Louis. The 2011 Taste will feature celebrity chefs, 45 of St. Louis’ best restaurants along Sauce Magazine’s Restaurant Row, the Chef Battle Royale on the Lumiere Place and River City Casino Culinary stage, The Kids’ Kitchen, free music concerts on the Main Stage, and the Art & Wine Walk.

This year is a bit different because the main stage will be west of 14th — in front of the new Peabody Opera House. I attended the Taste of St. Louis press conference a few days ago at the Peabody. Wow, unbelievably impressive. Hats off to the generations before us that built such a magnificent structure during the Great Depression. It’s amazing what $79 million can do for a building that has been vacant for more than 20 years.

The official opening performance at the new Peabody isn’t until October 1st but this weekend you can see inside for free as part of the Taste of St. Louis weekend.

Last year Taste introduced EGS – Event Greening Services:

With a current attendance of more than 300,000, the Taste was the first event in the region to pioneer aggressive, eco-friendly practices in multiple areas of our operations. We’ve received a lot of media attention for our greening efforts, and, with the help of our community, plan to continue to build on these efforts each year.

I thought it worked well last year, even more waste should be recycled this year.

The event is held in the Gateway Mall’s “Civic Room” (aka Soldiers Memorial) at Chestnut & 13th. Thankfully their site doesn’t give driving directions but suggests using Metro. Unfortunately, they only mention MetroLink, not MetroBus.  Everyday in St. Louis more people are transported via MetroBus than MetroLink but everyone acts like it doesn’t matter.  If you live in the region you have public transit options to get downtown for this great event. They might include MetroBus, MetroLink or both. North, south, east or west of downtown there is public transit that will get you to the event.

Some MetroBus options:

• From North city: 4, 30, 32, 41, 70, 74, 94, 97
• From North county to downtown: 74; to Hanley MetroLink : 35, 44, 47, 61, 75
• From West city: 10, 32
• From West county to MetroLink: 56, 57, 58, 91
• From South city: 8, 10, 11, 40, 70, 73, 80
• From South county to downtown: 73 to MetroLink: 17, 21, 46

Many options! For everyone, except those in Madison County, can use Google Maps or Metro’s Trip Planner to determine your route options. Those in Madison county see Madison County Transit for various bus routes to 5th & Missouri MetroLink. Note that some bus lines use Market and/or 14th, they will be rerouted slightly due to Taste, but you will still get closer than if you drove.

Got bike? Bike parking will be at Tucker & Chestnut.

Have a great weekend — see you at the Taste of St. Louis!

– Steve Patterson

1949: Old White Water Tower Lights Turned Back On

Sixty-two years ago the city lit up the old white water tower on Grand.

From St. Louis Day By Day by Frances Hurd Stadler:

September 22, 1949
The lights went on again at the old water tower on North Grand Boulevard as thousands watched and a band played the national anthem. The tall, white Corinthian column, which had been dark through all World War II, was illuminated when Mayor Joseph M. Darst threw a switch. Designed by architect George I. Barnett and completed in 1871, the tower furnished water for the north St. Louis area until 1912, when it was abandoned for newer technology.

I need to visit some evening to get night photos — assuming the lights at the base are in working order. If only I could sit at a sidewalk cafe to wait for just the right moment to take the pictures.

– Steve Patterson

A Voice for All Transit Riders in St. Louis

Today, on the 62nd anniversary of the formation of the Bi-State Development Agency, we are pleased to announce the formation of the Transit Riders Union of St. Louis (TRUSTL) which will fight for the public transit needs of the citizens of the St. Louis Metropolitan Area riding MetroBus, MetroLink, Call-A-Ride or Madison County Transit.

Members of the TRUSTL steering committee began meeting a few months ago to address a growing need for a unified voice for all transit riders in the St. Louis region. As riders, we have all complained to Metro about one thing or another sometimes getting positive results, other times as if our needs were falling on deaf ears. We decided the time to organize as transit riders was now to insure the needs of all riders are heard and respected.

We want to have a way to hear what other transit riders have to say about the quality of the service and insure Metro listens and responds appropriately to our needs.

TRUSTL’s purpose is to promote and defend public transit in order to:

• restore urban vitality
• ensure transportation equality
• improve overall quality of life

TRUSTL has established a Transit Riders’ Bill of Rights which we will use as a guide to our actions. We believe all transit riders in the St. Louis Metro Area have the right to:

• Equitably reliable, affordable and efficient transit for all riders
• Cooperation between all transit agencies in the region to allow for fluidity and simplicity of travel
• Transparent and easily used lines of communication between transit agencies and riders with mechanisms in place to address and respond to rider concerns
• Helpful, courteous service from employees of all regional transit agencies
• Safe, clean and regularly maintained transit facilities throughout the entire Metro region
• Accurate signage and up to date transit information made available aboard all buses, trains, transit stations and connecting bus stops
• Current schedules, routes and ridership data available online

Members of the TRUSTL Steering Committee include:

• Justin Chick (Transit Turning Point)
• Herbie Markwort (Gateway Streets & Next STL)
• Steve Patterson (Urban Review STL)
• Charles Purnell (STL Legend)
• Eddie Williams (Formally of MATRA-STL)

See you in transit!

-Justin, Herbie, Steve, Charles & Eddie

We Should Restore “Twain’s” Original Lighting Scheme (1982 Video)

After my recent post on the ‘Twain’ sculpture by Richard Serra, friend and reader Matt Bauer said he was there the day of the dedication on May 1, 1982. He was just a kid then but his dad, Merrill Bauer, had a video camera. As luck would have it, Merrill Bauer already had those home movies digitized. Using Dropbox Matt was able to give me access to the 16 minute 450mb file to edit and post.  I got it down to 4:08.

Then U.S. Senator Thomas F. Eagleton (September 4, 1929 – March 4, 2007) was on hand that day. In the video you will see the original lighting that flooded the exterior of the piece as well as each opening on the interior.

I’d long wondered about lighting the piece, but wasn’t sure if the artist would approve. Thanks to this footage, that question is now answered. You will also notice the absence of current buildings to the north of the site and the presence of buildings to the east — all since razed.

Here are some still images taken from the video:

My guess is the lighting became difficult to maintain and was removed. I think by the time I arrived 8 years later the lighting was gone. Imagine Citygarden without lighting.

Thirty years later, modern lighting technology would allow us to wash ‘Twain’ with light. Thanks to Matt & Merrill Bauer for getting me their video to post!

– Steve Patterson