Preservation Research OfficeThomas Crone will be reading from his book Gaslight Square: An Oral History on Thursday, March 29 at 6:00 p.m. in Gaslight Square. Well, our literary friend will be reading at one of the new houses standing where this history went down — at 4155 Olive Street, to be exact.
The event is sponsored by Metropolis St. Louis, which asks that people RSVP to policy@mstl.org.
On March 13 and 14, I was fortunate to take part in an interesting architectural education program involving students from O’Fallon High School (Illinois). The 10th grade honors geometry and art students — led by teachers Kelly Wamser and Debbie Raboin — are studying and researching historic St. Louis buildings and architecture with the aid of the St. Louis Building Arts Foundation. The program this week came about through the excellent work of Lynn Josse.
The goals of the program include research, photography, presentations and — most interesting — 3-d scale models of buildings being studied. The students toured various buildings downtown and midtown with Lynn and historian Mimi Stiritz, and studied information put together by their teachers and Foundation volunteers. At lunchtime both days, the students came to City Hall where I spoke in the Kennedy Room about my work with Landmarks Association of St. Louis and how preservationists are actually architects of the future.
Programs like this are the backbone of effective historic preservation efforts. Without public education, our ideas will never become widespread. That education must be geared toward those young people nearly at the brink of lives spent shaping the world. Notable also is the great collaboration in the effort — two architectural advocacy organizations, a Metro East school, several building owners and St. Louis city government coming together to make something happen shows that at least some people get the “big picture” and are willing to share that view.
I look forward to seeing how these efforts transfer into the students’ work, this year and beyond.
by Michael R. Allen
Today I was walking down Ninth Street when I ran into someone who was eager to tell me something about the Ninth Street Garage, the jaundiced hulk that is finally nearing completion.
“Look at that new building. I hear it’s called the Century Building,” he said
“Is that a fact? I swear that the Century Building would be marble clad. This appears to be a concrete building — perhaps they upgraded the plans,” I replied.
“And that nice archway there that leads to the Century Theater,” pointed out the guide with a case of gallows humor.
This guide was none other than Mickey McTague, a resilient wit and storyteller who is always a welcome surprise on the downtown streets. His family ran a basement restaurant — McTague’s Cafe — in the fallen Century Building, so he’s understandably upset by its demolition. Yet he’s quick to find something amusing and poignant in all of the terrible decisions he’s seen in his years watching city politics, and he’s perhaps even quicker to point that out to a friend.
I walked away from seeing with a smile when before I had a scowl as I examined the garage’s hideous interplay with the graceful Frisco Building across Olive. If I could turn that thought into a good joke, I’d have life made.
by Michael R. Allen
Once again, there is some coincidence between what I have written about this election cycle and what Sixth Ward aldermanic candidate Christian Saller has stated.
Two days ago, Saller posted this statement to his campaign blog:
I do not and have not disparaged my opponents throughout the course of this campaign. I am happy to be cordial and polite when we see each other in person and have made it my policy to avoid saying anything about them when I go door to door or otherwise interact with constituents in the 6th Ward. I have campaigned on my merits and why I think I would perform well as a full-time alderman with a strong emphasis on constituent service and economic development. In my view, the unfortunate tendency of some to attempt to “trash” opponents or to even subtly demean them in some manner diminishes the caliber of the entire campaign, so I have not and will not engage in such behavior. As candidates, we differ in style and substance, though I am willing to assume that we all have sincere and honorable intentions in our respective approaches to the job.
While it’s easy to disagree with that last sentence, overall the statement is exemplary. Hopefully it will carry some weight with voters and other candidates, at least at some point in the future.
MayorSlay.com’s latest podcast subject is my neighbor, architect John Burse. In his interview, John shares thoughts about the uniqueness of Old North St. Louis, what makes neighborhoods unique (and what makes others contrived), revitalizing the Gateway Mall and other things. Listen here.
by Michael R. Allen
I just stumbled onto an article on Gaper’s Block about last year’s visit of StoryCorps to Chicago. Following up on the amazing work of the Federal Writers’ Project of the Works Progress Administration to document oral history and folklore during the Great Depression, StoryCorps traveled the United States last year over six months to record the tales of today’s Americans:
The aim of StoryCorps is to continue that work; listening to today’s accounts and allowing for a shift in some of the particulars, you quickly realize that’s exactly what it’s doing. And, just as the WPA interviews were archived, with the permission of participants, their present-day counterparts are submitted to the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress as well.
The Chicago visit began with an interview of our friend Tim Samuelson, the city’s official cultural historina, and his wife Barbara Koenen. However, StoryCorps selected a wide range of culturally-connected participants and, perhaps most important, interviewed many volunteers of all backgrounds.
Reading this article coincided with an invitation that Claire Nowak-Boyd and I received to appear in a similar film project. The coincidence has got me thinking: Why doesn’t someone set out to document the oral histories alive in St. Louis?
While many people are doing the great work of photographing and researching places, some of the strongest and most compelling accounts of places come through stories, anecdotes and amazing recollections of this city. Many of the most astute observations about the places of this region have come to me from conversations with people who have never published a word.
Obviously, a total historical documentation effort aimed at the built environemnt of St. Louis is impossible. There have been some impressive efforts, like the mostly-forgotten Heritage/St. Louis photographic survey of the 1970s that endeavored to photgraph every historic building in the city. There is the work of Larry Giles to collect and conserve hundreds of thousands of physical artifacts related to the story of this region and its architectural life. There are numerous collections of literature, artifacts and other items in institutions ranging from the St. Louis Public Library to the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial.
However, one thing not being documented much are the statements of those who have shaped and been shaped by the architecture and unique places of St. Louis. At a moment when we still have access to the people who participated in the early rehab boom of the 1970s as well as those involved in the urban renewal era before that, we have the chance to record those stories and idea that won’t make it into print or into the form of a building. We could save the stories that we will regret losing.
StoryCorps and other efforts do great work that inexpensive media makes very possible today. St. Louisans should consider whether or not such an effort would be beneficial here. At a time of great change in the shape and form of the city, when massive rebuilding efforts are underway, an oral history project centered on the built environment seems particularly useful.
The Royale Treatment – Eddie Silva (St. Louis Magazine, February 2007)
Is this an article about Steve Smith or the cultural future of this city? Does it really matter, with prose this lovely?
Cool to be Kind – Molly Languir (Riverfront Times, January 31)
Amid depopulation and big-time real estate maneuvers, a quiet revolution is occurring on the near northside. Its leaders are the gentle Catholic Workers from the Karen House community, some of my favorite neighbors.
While some might read articles like this and think we have a fine counterculture, others could come to the conclusion that many St. Louisans have redefined the city’s cultural identity. Forget the easily replicated allure of new condos or the sports teams that other cities have. The really original things about St. Louis may pass undetected by most people, but they are providing desperately needed cultural continuity. Some people seem to truly think that St. Louis is a great city, and they translate these thoughts into actions.
In fact, so many interesting people live here one could easily stop thinking about the old guard forever, if only they stopped stealing houses, leveling neighborhoods and pulling the city further into decline.
In “Late and Unlamented” (Built St. Louis blog, January 29), Rob Powers examines his changing appreciation of the now-demolished Kohler Building at St. Louis State Hospital, a mid-century building that blocked the front elevation of the landmark “Old Main” building.
Meanwhile, Paul Hohmann laments the demolition of the iconic gasometer in Forest Park Southeast (“Laclede Gasometer – Newstead & Chouteau,” Vanishing STL, January 23).
by Michael R. Allen
While I have wide cultural interests, I try to keep this blog focused on architecture, urbanism and place.
Whether or not a link to the new video for “Recent Linear Landscapes” by local band Finn’s Motel qualifies as germane to this blog is debatable. However, beyond the song title and the band name’s reference to a place (a building, no less), the video features some amazing architectural backdrops including what may be the most interesting scene featuring an astronaut riding MetroLink yet.
Take three minutes away from land speculation, election-time race-baiting and other heady concerns and enter an odd and beautiful world. For those who want to keep it a bit pertinent, the video features acting by local architecture critic and photographer Toby Weiss in addition to the man playing that astronaut, Thomas Crone.
Monday night Michael Allen will be joining Randall Roberts of the Riverfront Times and hosts Thomas Crone and Amanda Doyle on The Wire. The show runs from 7:30 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. on KDHX, FM 88.1.
While Randall is the main guest, Allen will join him in discussion of a certain large-scale development project on the near north side.