Saint Louis University places event parking sign within bike lane

Bike lanes in St. Louis just are not respected.  I’ve written before about valet signs being placed in them (Valets at Lush Block Bike Lane w/Sign) and about them getting re-striped to the point where it is useless (World’s Narrowest Bike Lane Located in St. Louis).  Now we have a major university joining others in ignoring the point of bike lanes: safety.

I spotted the sign after leaving a campus meeting last week. Two fellow students had biked to campus.

We need everyone to realize bike lanes are not wasted space you are free to block.  They are used. Placing a sign in the lane presents a challenge to the cyclist.  The sign is off center so one might go to the street side to go around.  However, this places the cyclist close to passing vehicles. Going around the other direction is more off center but safer.  Cyclists often face last minute decisions about obstacles, but our institutions shouldn’t add to the list.

– Steve Patterson

1975: Automobile Club of Missouri Headquarters destroyed by fire

Most of us are familiar with the curvy building on Lindell that is home to offices of the Automobile Club of Missouri. Modern architecture fan Toby Weiss wrote the following about the building:

3917 Lindell – Automobile Club of Missouri
One of two round white buildings on Lindell, it looks like the curvy female answer to the boys-will-be-boys clubhouse across the street. But this building was erected in 1977! As early as 1942 the Automobile Club was listed in this same spot, and they certainly waited a long time to join in the CWE urban renewal.

Maybe the delay was so that they could get exactly the perfect building. It’s a truly iconic piece on Lindell – everyone knows and admires this building, and Triple A takes exceptional care of it. They must stock pile drums of white paint for constant touch ups in between new coats. A view through the endless ribbon of windows reveal many original fixtures still in place, and the whole thing has a distinct 1960s Jetsons feel. Were the original plans drawn up in the 60s and they sat on them for a bit, or did they purposely try to evoke a by-gone era, even though it wasn’t all that by-gone? Again, it feels like a sly wink to the club across the street.  (Belt STL)

1977 was late for modern new construction in this section of town.  The new building was constructed to replace the old headquarters that were destroyed by fire on March 14, 1975.  So that answers the question about why the current building was built in 1977 but it doesn’t help me understand what was destroyed. My first place to look is the Sanborn Fire Insurance map from 1909.

– Steve Patterson

Non-profit runs out of money, boards building

I recently received an email from a reader asking if I knew why the Pillar Place Apartment building was now boarded.   I didn’t know the name but once I looked up the address provided to me (3407 Lafayette) I knew the building.  In August 1990, when I first moved to St. Louis, the building was vacant, just waiting to be reused.  By February 1993 I was delighted the building was renovated into apartments.

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch February 27, 1993:

“On Wednesday, they [the Brown family] became one of the first six families to move into Pillar Place, a newly renovated apartment building for 19 low-income families at 3407 Lafayette Avenue, St. Louis.
“This is one of the happiest days of my life since I moved to St. Louis,” said Brown, 29, who came here from Mississippi 11 years ago.
The 19 Roman Catholic religious orders and a nonprofit corporation that came together to make Pillar Place will celebrate with a grand opening there at 1 p.m. Sunday.
They have taken a four-story building listed on the National Register of Historic Places and converted it into two- , three- and four-bedroom apartments for people “stuck in the funnel” of temporary housing.
“We realized the real need is for permanent, affordable housing,” said Sister Mary Louise Denny, a Sister of Loretto and a board member of the Intercommunity Housing Association, which helped start the project. “This will be a drop in the bucket – we could have found 10 times the number of people who need this. But it’s a start.”
The building opened in 1907 as the Loretto Academy, a posh school for girls and a residence for the Sisters of Loretto. The school moved to Nerinx Hall in Webster Groves in the 1950s, and the retired nuns who then made the building their home moved to the suburbs in 1988.
About that time, the St. Louis Equity Fund was started. Through the fund, area companies invest in partnerships that provide low-income housing. In return, the companies can earn tax credits. The Intercommunity Housing Association – made up of 13 religious organizations – joined with the Equity Fund and six other religious groups to raise the $1.5 million needed for renovation and organization of Pillar Place.”

From the  Intercommunity Housing Association website:

“Formerly Loretto Academy high school for girls converted into 19 two, three and four bedroom apartments. Pillar Place serves about 22 adults and approximately 70 children. The complex has a large parking lot, two playground areas, a picnic area, and vegetable gardens for the tenants to use.”

Also from their website is an overview of who they are and what they do — uh, did:

“IHA is a not-for-profit organization with 501(c)3 tax exempt status.

Our support services are paid for through generous donations of individuals, families, churches and religious groups, civic organizations, corporations, foundations, and special events.

The operating expenses of our buildings including mortgage, insurance, maintenance, and repairs are partially paid for out of tenant rents which are subsidized by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Tenants at Pillar Place and Compton Place pay rent based on their income. They also pay their own utilities. The apartments at both locations offer ample space, providing residents with feelings of comfort, dignity and self-worth they may not have experienced before.

The families of IHA have come from various backgrounds. Some come from shelters, often a family may live in one room at a shelter while they wait for an opening. Some have lived in another family member’s basement, some have lived in hallways of buildings, some have lived in their car. Some of our families are immigrants who have fled oppression and abuse. Others are referred from agencies and organizations in the area. All must meet our guidelines for admission, including police checks and credit checks. A home visit prior to their admission is required for all tenants before acceptance.

Intercommunity Housing Association’s staff, board members and volunteers are constantly working to provide for the 33 families and over 100 children in need. However, they cannot do this alone. Individual and corporate donations are the driving force behind our success. The programs offered make a significant impact on their lives by bringing security and stability. This is accomplished by moving beyond the fundamental needs of a roof over their heads. IHA supplies our residents with the tools necessary to help improve their life circumstances and move them to independence.

History of IHA and What we offer

IHA was created through the collaboration of 19 religious congregations of women who saw the need to provide more than affordable housing for the poor of St. Louis. They saw the need to help the families that came to live at the two apartment complexes to become independent through social, economic and educational supports. Our families are primarily African American, single parent families with an average of 4 children. For the past sixteen years, IHA has provided life skills training, after school tutoring, summer children’s programs, camps for the children, bridges to work and financial assistance with furthering their education.”

Many had to find new homes.  Attempts to reach someone from the IHA were unsuccessful.  I contacted 19th ward alderman Marlene Davis who indicated the non-profit ran out of money for their operations and needed building improvements.  The future of the building is uncertain.  Hopefully someone can take over the property.

I was concerned about the other properties the IHA owns, a row of six buildings near Bates at 5300 – 5328 South Compton:

“Four-family flats converted into fourteen one-bedroom and three-bedroom townhouse style apartments to provide permanent housing. The complex has a playground area, picnic area and fenced yard. Each townhome has its own parking pad in the rear. Compton Place serves about 16 adults and approximately 30 children.”

IHA has worked with their investors to ensure these occupied buildings remain occupied.

– Steve Patterson

Highway 40 once fed into Market St

I-64 it didn’t always slice through the edge of downtown St. Louis.  Well, I-64 did but the original Highway 40 did not.  Motorists heading Eastbound on Highway 40 ended up on Market Street.

The highway just became Market Street.  No off ramp. The highway didn’t end, the pavement just continued and you were on a city street.  I had long suspected this based on the excessive width of Market Street but when looking at a 1958 aerial photograph of St. Louis.  To see the image go to historicaerials.com:  Enter 3200 Market in 63103 as the address, pan to the left and select 1958 from the available aerials.

Why does this matter?

Myself and others have advocated removing a mile of highway between downtown and the Mississippi River after the new river bridge opens in 2014.  I-70 will be routed across the new bridge leaving a stretch of the existing highway from Cass to the Poplar St Bridge unmarked.  The end point of I-44 is going to be extended so the mile stretch has a number. Highway officials know that without an assigned number it is hard to justify keeping the road. We have argued in favor of a grade-level boulevard to connect the mile stretch.

The point here is that a highway becoming a street is not unheard of in St. Louis. It is not uncommon elsewhere either.  I’ve been to Vancouver twice, both times by car from Seattle.  My first visit I was as a passenger, the second time I was driving.  Motorists leaving Seattle take I-5 to the Canadian border.  Once past customs you are on their 99.  Looks much the same except for speed limits and distances in metric.  As you approach the city you cross a river and the highway feeds into Oak Street (streetview).   Just like that.

Back in St. Louis, between 1958 and 1971 the stretch of Highway 40 (I-64) was built between Compton and the Poplar Street Bridge. The PSB opened in 1967 so that is likely when Highway 40 ceased being dumped into Market Street. We can do this again for the mile stretch downtown.  We must do this to reconnect our city to the river.

– Steve Patterson

Urban Alchemy/Gordon Matta-Clark at the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts

The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts has been open for several years now but I never visited until last week.  I went to see the “Urban Alchemy/Gordon Matta-Clark” exhibit which runs through June 30, 2010.  The exhibit was more interesting than I first thought it would be – a pleasant surprise.  The building is much bigger and more interesting than I expected based on the stark street elevation.

The Pulitzer and the Contemporary next door to the West break all my normal conventions about good urban buildings.  Both present large blank walls to the pedestrian on the sidewalk.  The Pulitzer is set back from the sidewalk and the front door is hidden from street view.  But both structures work as quasi-civic buildings which often break traditional sidewalk relationships.  Blocks and blocks of the beautiful concrete walls would get old quickly but in small doses they make a nice contrast to the older buildings in midtown.

The Pulitzer is open Wednesdays noon to 5pm and Saturdays 10am – 5pm. Admission is free.

– Steve Patterson