St. Aloysius, You Will Be Missed

Silhouette of steeple as seen on Wednesday April, 12, 2006.

Why Did Blairmont Associates Contribute to the 25th Ward?

So who is Blairmont you ask? Michael and Claire over at Ecology of Absence certainly know. They first commented on Blairmont as the owners of the historic but crumbling Clemmens Mansion in July 2005:

It’s distressing to know that Blairmont Associates LC is causing yet another annoyance to a rehabber; Blairmont owns many properties on the Near North Side of St. Louis and is notoriously hard to reach. No one can find out anything about Blairmont except that a man named Harry Noble supposedly owns the company — but even that isn’t verified. A search through the Missouri Secretary of State’s corporation registry reveals that the “CT Corporation System” registered the name “Blairmont Associates LC” on behalf of an anonymous party or parties.

Many of Blairmont’s properties seem to be vacant lots in Old North St. Louis, St. Louis Place and other neighborhoods, although the company recently purchased a vacant St. Louis Public Schools property at 2333 Benton.

Other people report needing to make agreements with Blairmont to repair shared utilities or utilities that run through Blairmonnt properties, and having difficulty finding a phone number.

Nice folks huh? Interestingly enough, it turns out Blairmont Associates gave $750 to the 25th Ward Democratic Club during the aldermanic race last year in which I was a candidate. You see, contributions directly to candidate campaigns were limited to $300 per election but contributions to ward committees don’t seem to have limits.

The really funny thing is the timing of the contribution — the day after the 25th Ward committee endorsed my opponent, the former committeewoman of 20 years, by a vote of 26-4. Wow, how convenient was that. Also the day after the committee vote they also received $1,800 from a Clayton law firm called Stone, Leyton, Gershman which has ties to Blairmont and other front companies buying up St. Louis. Add another $2,500 from Anheuser-Busch and you’ve got a nice sum of money to get around the $300 campaign contribution limit. 25th Ward reports show thousands of dollars were used for printing and phone calls during primary election above and beyond the over $13K+ spent by the Kirner campaign. Of course, it is perfectly legal. Just not necessarily above board.

I just can’t help but wonder why this mysterious Blairmont Associates, who is buying up North St. Louis under many various names, is so interested in the 25th Ward. Could it be they wanted to make sure someone didn’t get elected to the Board of Aldermen that wouldn’t look the other way when they decide to unveil whatever devious plot they have for North St. Louis? However, I seriously doubt these lawyers and investors even had a clue about our race. More than likely Kirner’s hired gun Lou Hamilton knew his client was weak & vulnerable and told the monied folks I would be trouble to them if elected. That kind of threat to their way of life got the money rolling in.

– Steve

Rumor: St. Aloysius Demolition to Start This Week

Sadly, it sounds like demolition of the lovely St. Aloysius Gonzaga will begin later this week. I don’t have any details but I’ve heard rumors that someone was in talks to buy the property as-is from the current developer but a deal never materialized. I have been unable to confirm this information.

This unique setting is to be replaced by 25 ordinary homes as part of a development called Magnolia Square.

Just how spectacular will the view from Magnolia be next week? From all over the neighborhood one can see great views of the steeple. I have a feeling that many of the people that didn’t think this would be a big loss will wake up one day and realize they’ve lost a great view.

… Continue Reading

Dates Set for Protest & Appeal on McDonald’s Drive-Thru

Citizens opposed to the proposed Suburban McDonald’s will meet on the sidewalk at 3708 S. Grand at 12:30pm on Saturday April 15, 2006. The media is expected around 1pm. Organizers will have signs but feel free to make your own. A petition will most likely be available as well.

The protest is a lead-in to the appeal of the conditional use variance for the drive-thru. The appeal of the variance will be heard at 1:30pm on Wednesday April 19, 2006 in Room 208 of City Hall.

It is important to have a large crowd at both events. We need to send a strong message to Ald. Florida, Pyramid Construction, McDonald’s, Ald. President Shrewsbury, and Mayor Slay that we will not tolerate prior redevelopment ordinances being trampled by a few with enough cash to get what they want.

On a side note, Ald. Florida’s measure to restrict efforts to recall Aldermen failed at the polls on Tuesday. If I were her I’d be worried, very worried.

Mark your calendars: Saturday 4/15 @ 12:30pm and Wednesday 4/19 @ 1:30pm.

– Steve

A Tale of Two Cities (aka Wards)

While discussing plans for a hotel in the red hot east Loop area a friend asked why Alderwoman Jennifer Florida couldn’t be more like Alderwoman Lyda Krewson. Good question. If you’ve read my prior posts on Florida you know I’m not a fan but I came to her defense. Lyda Krewson is working with Loop visionary & developer Joe Edwards. Or more correctly, Krewson is assisting Edwards create a vibrant urban street, Delmar.

Florida, given a Joe Edwards-type visionary, might just come off looking as good as Krewson does. Sadly, Florida is stuck with John Steffen’s Pyramid Companies. So instead of getting hip bowling alleys or boutique hotels like the Delmar Loop, Grand gets a relocated McDonald’s drive through surrounded by a sea of parking.

The mistake Florida made is to accept what they offer and assume that is the best we can get. Pyramid’s best just flat out isn’t good enough. It a company doesn’t get what an urban street in a city should look like then they shouldn’t be operating in the area. I’m sure some municipality in St. Charles County would love to have this McDonald’s.

Pyramid’s developers must look at this section of Grand and just see parcels of land. An Edward’s type developer that understands the urban model can look at the same part of Grand and see how many residential streets feed into the area, how it intersects with Gravois and Chippewa, that the region’s most popular bus line serves the area. This type developer can see the benefit of a good long-range plan to build up the street to an urban model, the way it was before the city let just anything be built.

It is make or break time. Florida is pushing hard for her lack of vision developer Pyramid. If they prevail it will be a sad day for St. Louis. It will mean we are not willing to become a strong urban city but one that will accept anything and everything just to say we’ve had so much development in our ward & city.

Pyramid’s proposal sickens me. Reminds me of the in-fill housing they built in the city with front facing garages a number of years ago (Delmar west of Vandeventer).

People won’t literally move away because of the McDonald’s but I think we will continue to lose urbanists to other cities if we keep following this path. Similarly, we will not attract the population that seeks an urban city. Cities that are following a more urban model such as Portland and Madison, WI will continue to gain while we are stagnant.

– Steve