Category: Events

This Just In: Bill Streeter will be screening a two-minute clip from his anticipated upcoming film Brick by Chance and Fortune this Saturday at the “Anti-Wrecking Ball: Soulard Stable Hootenanny.”

Streeter’s film will examine the history of brick in St. Louis as well as what happens to brick buildings in their lifespans.

More information about the event here.

What: Anti-Wrecking Ball: Soulard Stable Hootenanny
Where: Stahl Stable, 2412 Menard Street
When: 8:00 p.m. this Saturday, May 22
Cost: $10 benefits the Friends of the San Luis and the St. Louis Building Arts Foundation

As this year’s Historic Preservation Month winds down, it’s time to celebrate!
What: Anti-Wrecking Ball: Soulard Stable Hootenanny
Where: Stahl Stable, 2412 Menard Street
When: 8:00 p.m. this Saturday, May 22
Cost: $10 benefits the Friends of the San Luis and the St. Louis Building Arts Foundation

What’s this all about? Well, for those new to the story, the Friends of the San Luis went to court to try to stop the demolition of the mid-century San Luis Apartments on Lindell Boulevard. The effort was slapped down by a circuit court judge who ruled not only to allow demolition to proceed but that no citizen has a right to appeal a St. Louis Preservation Board decision without a direct financial interest in a property.

The Friends could have stopped right there, since they lost their beloved space-age building. Instead, they filed an appeal to challenge the basis of the judge’s ruling for the benefit of all future preservation efforts. On May 5, the Missouri Court of Appeals heard the case. During arguments that day, we received more favorable consideration than expected, so we are confident that the ruling will benefit future preservation efforts.

This effort was not free, and attorneys Jonathan Beck and Ian Simmons have shown themselves well worth our expenses. With the matter past us, it’s time to toast preservation efforts past, present and future and make a little money to pay off those legal bills. (If you cannot attend but want to help that cause, send me a note at michael@preservationresearch.com).

The St. Louis Building Arts Foundation is on the bill as well, for providing an amazing historic space for the event and for efforts to preserve our architectural heritage more enduring than the soon-to-sunset Friends of the San Luis. There is a link between the long-term visionary efforts of the Foundation and the take-action single-mission Friends of the San Luis. We need both levels of action to make historic preservation matter in St. Louis. (This is not to slight all of the other worthy organizations that compose the effort here — these two are far from the only organizations in town doing this hard work well.)

On Saturday, let’s celebrate a strong preservation effort and look toward the future!

I am pleased to be part of this event:

Built Environment / Blog Ecosystem / Media Landscape

A conversation about the opportunities and complexities of blogs and websites pertaining to architecture, urbanism, preservation, and politics in St. Louis

Wednesday, May 5th
7 PM
1310 South 18th Street (Lafayette Square)
St. Louis, MO 63104.

Speakers:

Alex Ihnen (urbanSTL)

Antonio D. French (Pub Def, 21st Ward Alderman)

Jami Schoeneweis (56 House Left)

Michael Allen (Ecology of Absence)

Rick Bonasch (STL Rising)

Toby Weiss (BELT)

(This event is part of the week-long Chautauqua Art Lab 2010. For more information, see http://infleshwebuild.blogspot.com/)

I have posted a calendar of Preservation Month events in May 2010, which the National Trust for Historic Preservation recognizes as the national month for historic preservation. Check out the wide range of events, which range from walking tours of mid-century modern buildings to a used book sale benefiting the Chatillon-DeMenil House to a historic St. Louis County farm tour to a liability-waiver tour of the James Clemens House. There are also tours of Harris Armstrong houses, an exhibit on lost riverfront architecture, a rock ‘n’ roll show later in the month and a Pecha Kucha night (head-scratchers, check the calendar).

I’m sure that I have left a few events out, so please point those out to me via email or in the comments section here.

Also, when earlier today I went to reserve my spot in Landmarks Association of St. Louis’ tour of the Beaux Arts Building on Tuesday, May 11, I received a response stating that the tour already was full and that I would be put on a wait list. The tour announcement set no attendance limit, while other Landmarks tours has specific limits. I’d recommend making reservations as soon as possible for these popular tours!