Category: Media

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Architecture Events Green Media

Greening the Heartland Documented

The 2008 Greening the Heartland conference is over. Yesterday marked the end of the three-day conference on sustainable practices in Midwestern architecture and urban design, held at America’s Center in St. Louis.

Yet the conference still exists, at least online. A crack team of local bloggers documented the conference experience through videos, interviews with conference organizers, photographs of events, posts about green success stories and so forth. Thanks to their efforts, those who couldn’t fly across the country or pay the registration fee can immerse themselves in the conference online. (No gasoline for travel or paper for printing required!)

Read the blog here.

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Media North St. Louis Northside Regeneration Planning

City Hall Meeting Opens Dialogue Between Near North Residents and Officials

by Michael R. Allen

On Wednesday’s near north side group Neighbors for Social Justice met at City Hall with Mayoral Chief of Staff Jeff Rainford, Building Commissioner Frank Oswald, City Counselor Nuisance Property Attorney Matt Moak and Urban Solution President Marvin Steele. (McEagle Properties hired Urban Solution to implement a maintenance program for its over 700 properties in north St. Louis.) The long-sought meeting was productive if only the start of dialogue with city officials on how to shape the McKee project.

The meeting has spurred media coverage, where details can be found (my commentary can be found in the Pub Def videos):

North side residents continue to question McKee plan (KWMU)

Developer Paul McKee Topic of City Hall Meeting (KMOX)

Is Paul McKee dropping his plans for Old North? (Pub Def)

More Accounts of Blairmont Meeting (Pub Def)

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JeffVanderLou Media North St. Louis Northside Regeneration Old North St. Louis Place

Near North Bus Tour Responses

by Michael R. Allen

On Wednesday, I led a bus tour of Old North, St. Louis Place and JeffVanderLou for listeners of Charlie Brennan’s show on KMOX. Yesterday, Charlie took calls from those who took the tour. Listen to their responses here.

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Media North St. Louis Northside Regeneration

McKee Refused to Assure Residents That Their Homes Were Safe

by Michael R. Allen

A KMOX radio story that aired yesterday, “Developer Paul McKee — Target of City Hall Protest”, dropped a pretty big bomb: developer Paul J. McKee, Jr. met with some residents of his north city project area last year and refused to assure them that their homes could remain.

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James Clemens House Media North St. Louis Northside Regeneration

McEagle Spokesman: Clemens Chapel Safe, Sale Still On

by Michael R. Allen

According to an article in Sunday’s St. Louis Post-Dispatch, McEagle Properties indicates that the chapel at the James Clemens House is safe from imminent destruction:

Dan Brungard, a spokesman for McEagle, a development company from O’Fallon, Mo., said a St. Louis inspector said the damage was weather-related. Brungard said that the property is under contract and that the damage would likely not affect that contract.

“We will do whatever repairs are necessary,” he vowed.

Again, McEagle mentions a sales contract. Who is the mystery party?

Speaking of McEagle getting serious about maintenance, Kathleen McLaughlin’s article from last week’s Riverfront Times, “Mow Your Lawn, Mister?”, reveals that a federally-funded job program will be used for grass cutting at the “Blairmont” properties this summer.

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Events Historic Preservation Media

Your Community’s History, Your Community’s Future: Free Workshops

Lynn Josse, Andrew Hurley, Esley Hamilton, Andrew Weil, Kris Zapalac and Michael Allen will be presenters at two upcoming free neighborhood history workshops described below.

This morning, St. Louis on the Air featured a discussion about neighborhood history with host Don Marsh, Lynn Josse, Andrew Weil and myself. Listen to that show here.

Your Community’s History, Your Community’s Future

Join your neighbors to learn about tools to explore the history of your neighborhood, and how to use that history to strengthen your community. Local experts will share their experiences in using neighborhood history to promote involvement and investment in St. Louis communities. The workshop will include a discussion of successful history projects developed by St. Louis area communities, resources available to research your neighborhood’s history, and government programs and incentives to encourage preservation. Neighborhood history workshops will be offered on two dates, with slightly different information targeted towards residents of St. Louis City and St. Louis County. These workshops are free and open to the public. For more information, call (314) 516-4748 or e-mail lubischerk@umsl.edu

To download a flyer visit this page.

St. Louis City
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
6:30-9:00 p.m.
St. Louis Public Library Carpenter Branch (3309 S. Grand Ave.)

St. Louis County
Thursday, May 8, 2008
6:30-9:00p.m.
126 J.C. Penney Conference Center, University of Missouri–St. Louis (One
University Blvd.)

Neighborhood History Workshops are sponsored by the Community Partnership Project of UM–St. Louis, working in cooperation with University of Missouri Extension, and by Landmarks Association of St. Louis Inc. This project is funded, in part, by the Urban Extension Program, a joint project of the University of Missouri Extension and the University of Missouri–St. Louis.

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Media

Interviewed by Smith

by Michael R. Allen

Recently Steven Fitzpatrick Smith interviewed me for his MTV blog. (Steve is part of MTV’s “Street Team” covering the 2008 election in every state.) Read the interview here here.

Categories
Architecture Central West End DeVille Motor Hotel Historic Preservation Media

DeVille Still Shines

by Michael R. Allen

My latest commentary for radio station KWMU aired this morning and is available in transcript form on the station website: DeVille Still Shines

Categories
Media North St. Louis Northside Regeneration

Two Important Articles on North St. Louis

by Michael R. Allen

Two important articles on north St. Louis went to press this week:

Once again the Riverfront Times‘ Kathleen McLaughlin is a football field ahead of other reporters. In “More North St. Louis Smoke Signals from Paul McKee and McEagle Properties” she not only gets quotes from a McEagle spokesman, she gets this one: “I don’t think there’ve been any decisions made on whether there’s even a project.” This is pivotal information, and unfortunately the RFT buried this story on its blog rather than publish it as a front-pager. Please read it.

In the St. Louis American, Team Four principal William Albinson has a commentary clearing up a lot of the myths surrounding the “Team Four Plan.” Albinson’s conclusion — that the myth is a convenient and polarizing excuse — should resonate with a lot of readers here. Hopefully his words will also provoke readers of the American to rethink the narrative of development in north St. Louis.

Categories
Media North St. Louis

Congressional Field Hearing Examines North St. Louis

by Michael R. Allen

I covered Saturday’s congressional field hearing for the St. Louis American.

The story is in today’s edition: Congressional hearing spotlights moving from‘Team Four’ to North Side development