Category: South St. Louis

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Bohemian Hill City Hospital Flounder House South St. Louis

Bohemian Hill and City Hospital

Here is a view east toward City Hospital from just south of Picker Street in Bohemian Hill, taken by me in 2002. Here we see visual density and variety giving way to the relatively monotonous architectural mass of the City Hospital. The distinct individual buildings mitigate the impact of the hospital complex, which otherwise might be overbearing. The relationship also makes full use of that human-scaled unit with which we build towers and flounder houses alike: the brick.

While each building is the sum of its parts — here those parts are largely brick — each urban vista also is the sum of a multitude of elements. Limiting the complexity by reducing the number of and small disparities between each element diminishes the view as well as the pedestrian experience.

Five years later, this view does not exist — but we have the chance to remake it. However, we should keep in mind that the view seen here was over 100 years in the making, and just as the brick or the building becomes an element that composes a larger view, so is each year during which the view emerges. While it is easy for a person to manipulate space and material, it is impossible to manipulate time.

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Bohemian Hill Media North St. Louis South St. Louis

A Word from the Cave

by Michael R. Allen

The developers’ shills are now accusing critics of being “anti everything.” Once again, when given an opportunity to learn from people with ideas we see the apparatchiks dust off the old “obstructionist” and “zealot” hatchets. Yawn!

Obviously, they are counting on a city whose culture is stunted and whose citizens are eager to be commanded how to think. Unfortunately, the old St. Louis they wish to lord over forever has passed them by.

Nowadays, citizens are better-informed about development projects than ever. If that is inconvenient to developers, so be it. These are the lives affected by the developers’ projects — the flip side of the debate.

Complacency, submission and acceptance of whitewash campaigns are outdated. Try openness, dialogue and civic debate about issues. More innovative minds have already realized that the most effective development projects are those in which the most vocal critics eventually become stakeholders. Check the dreaded blogs and one will find praise for developers like Restoration St. Louis, Loftworks and others despite minor disagreements. These developers are those who don’t try to suppress discussion and dissent, but assume that is part of a healthy civic culture.

Honestly, finding someone who opposes redevelopment of Bohemian Hill or the near north side is downright impossible. To call smart suggestions for better development “obstruction” is to ignore the fact that there are more discussions of the built environment in St. Louis than in any other city. That actually helps development because it creates an intellectual culture interested in change and growth. (How many Milwaukee or Philadelphia built environment blogs are there? They would love to have some of ours!) After all, the odds in this state and this country are so tilted against a city like St. Louis, it’s a wonder there are so many motivated people working on all sides of development. With a scarcity of quality old media outlets, and an abundance of vacant land and buildings, there seems plenty of room for consensus in St. Louis.

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Bohemian Hill South St. Louis

Bohemian Hill Plans Starting a Great Debate

by Michael R. Allen

I have little to add to the debate on the Bohemian Hill project, which has gotten off to a fiery start. I am especially encouraged at the number of young people taking a serious interest in shaping the outcome of the project. If only we can become a city worth their sustained commitment, energy and passion…

Built St. Louis’ Bohemian Hill page is probably the best starting point for the issue. The second stop would be the embedded information in a recent post by Toby Weiss on Built Environment in Layman’s Terms. Then immerse yourself in the discussion thread at Urban St. Louis.

Until a real site plan surfaces, and the eminent domain threat is addressed, the debate will be in somewhat of a holding pattern for hard facts. That’s not stopping the critics, though — a good thing. I expect a lengthy and passionate process that will make this one of the year’s biggest development issues. (In other words, the issue “Blairmont” could be if the masses truly cared about the northside.)

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Forest Park Southeast People South St. Louis

What Other People Are Writing

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).

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Demolition South St. Louis Southampton

Avalon Demolition Threat?

Gregali: Tear down the Avalon – Shawn Clubb (Southwest City Journal, January 10)

Tear It Down (Brick City, January 10)

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Brecht Butcher Buildings Central West End Collapse Lafayette Square North St. Louis Northside Regeneration Old North South St. Louis

Examples of Buildings Stabilized After Collapse

Other industrial buildings in St. Louis and elsewhere have been stabilized and rehabilitated after sustaining damage as sever or worse that that sustained by the 1897 addition to the Brecht Butcher Supply Company building. These photos here show conditions at buildings brought back from ruins. Thanks to architect Paul Hohmann for providing these images.

LISTER BUILDING (Central West End, St. Louis)

The Lister Building at the southwest corner of Taylor and Olive was in ruins before its historic-tax-credit rehab. Read more here.

M LOFTS (Formerly part of the International Shoe Company Factory, Lafayette Square, St. Louis)

The “M Lofts” building in Lafayette Square was in a very similar state to the Brecht addition before developer Craig Heller purchased it in 2001 for an ambitious rehab. The former International Shoe Company manufacturing building was a mill-method building like the Brecht, with extensive structural collapse. Heller’s LoftWorks company rebuilt much of the building and converted it into residential space. Read more here

WIREWORKS (formerly the Western Wire Products Company Factory, Lafeyette Square, St. Louis)

A significant portion of the Western Wire Products Company buildings burned after rehab started in 2000. The developers chose to stabilize the affected section and create an inviting enclosed courtyard. Read more here on Landmarks Association’s 2002 Most Enhanced Building Awards page (the building was among the winners).

MILL CITY MUSEUM (Minneapolis)

From the museum website: “Built within the ruins of a National Historic Landmark — the Washburn A Mill — the museum provides a multi-sensory, interactive journey. The story of flour milling — and its impact on Minneapolis, the nation and the world — comes to life through the eight-story Flour Tower and other hands-on exhibits.”

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Downtown Infrastructure South St. Louis Streets

Median Planters

by Michael R. Allen

Before the new Downtown Economic Stimulus Authority rushes to order new median planters for Tucker Boulevard downtown, its members should make an inspection of the results south on Tucker between Chouteau and Lafayette. There, the new median planters do more than serve the needed purpose of slowing traffic. The planters are too tall, blocking the view across the street and reinforcing the divide between the King Louis Square development and LaSalle Park. Being made of concrete, they are starting to get scuffed by cars — and even without scuffing are bland.

And, while I am sure that downtown plantings would get more care, the median plantings on 14th Street nearby — more sensibly planted on lower, curb-style medians — are decidedly shabby and overgrown. It’s amazing that in three short years the “beautification” plantings on 14th Street would already be so carelessly untended and the pattern of neglect that plagued the Darst-Webbe project would begin to return. Alas, one cause may be that 14th Street has been narrowed and traffic has been shunted west to the barren Truman Parkway. While broad thoroughfares like Tucker are generally disruptive, narrowed streets with obstacles like 14th Street often become dead spaces due to a lack of traffic. That seems to be what has happened to 14th Street, although it does not excuse the lack of maintenance.

A better idea for both the medians on Tucker and the plantings on 14th Street might be fewer exotic plantings and more native plants, and less elaborate plantings in general. Streets need beautification, but their primary purpose is the movement of people and vehicles. Contrary to city-in-a-garden musings, the street is no landscape. Why not focus instead on the quality of pedestrian experience?

Hopefully improvements on Tucker will be sensitive to the needs of street and sidewalk users, and not showy disruptions.

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Abandonment South St. Louis

Fallout

Photograph taken at the Carondelet Coke Plant by Claire Nowak-Boyd (September 3, 2006).

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Downtown Midtown South St. Louis St. Aloysius Gonzaga

Random Notes

by Michael R. Allen

A few random notes:

  • Thomas Crone has found much of the material salvaged from St. Aloysius Gonzaga Church — in a new bar on Manchester Avenue fittingly called “The Church Key.” Read his review of that new establishment here.
  • Some readers may have noticed that the Syndicate Trust Building is undergoing both removal of its older coats of paint and repainting. Apparently, the cost of total restoration is prohibitive because the old paint damaged the original buff brick quite badly. The new paint is similar in color to the old paint, and returns the monochrome look to the building.
  • Long-needed rehabs of the Metropolitan and Woolworth’s buildings in Midtown are on hold. Meanwhile, with the completion of the new building on Live just west of the Continental Building’s parking garage at a similar height to that garage and the Scottish Rite garage across the street has an ill effect. While before vacant land took away from the visual quality of the block, now bland architecture and a lack of variety in form and height give the block the feel of a wind tunnel. The new building is a modest contemporary structure that is the least offender compared to the two dreadful parking garages, neither of which has any street-level retail. Add to the mix that the Continental Building’s storefront remains empty four years after the building re-opened — wasn’t that supposed to be space for an “upscale restaurant”? — and Olive Street just west of Grand is a very poor place to be a pedestrian these days. Once upon a time, this was the busiest intersection in the city and observers thought Midtown would be the “second downtown.”
    • Categories
    Ordinances South St. Louis

    Proposed McKinley Heights Historic District Riles Some Residents

    by Michael R. Allen

    In the Riverfront Times blog, Kristin Hinman recently reported on a neighborhood meeting last Saturday in McKinley Heights that went awry. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the proposal to make much of the neighborhood a local historic district, a move that would protect its architectural character through an enforceable code governing exterior alterations to historic buildings as well as new construction. Most of the neighborhood already enjoys status as a National Register of Historic Places district, which makes state historic rehab tax credits available there. The local district seems the logical next step to protect the quality of the neighborhood amid a rehab boom. After all, many areas where tax-credit rehabs abound also attract very bad rehabilitation work. One can look at Benton Park and Old North St. Louis and see many inappropriate and downright ugly jobs side-by-side with wonderful and respectful rehabs.

    As it turns out, many in McKinley Heights oppose taking the step to preserve their character. As Hinman reports, both Alderwoman Phyllis Young (D-7th), who will introduce the enabling ordinance for the district, and Kate Shea, director of the Cultural Resources Office that would enforce the code, were hazed by irate residents at the meeting. It’s hard to say whether the naysayers are the majority. After all, the McKinley Heights Housing Corporation supports the local district ordinance, and public meetings inevitably attract more people who think something is wrong than people who think something is right.

    Some of the objections Hinman mentions are that the ordinance will spawn gentrification and raise housing prices. I don’t have statistics showing otherwise, but can offer the fact that such forces rarely are spurred on by local historic district codes — in fact, many developers are distrustful of those codes. Local districts are often sought by residents of neighborhoods that have seen massive investment, and who may very well want to use the codes to prevent bad designs that lower property values. That’s far from gentrification — that’s the simple desire to enjoy a good life and prevent the reversal of good changes.

    Besides, every local district code — including the one proposed for McKinley Heights — contains clauses that protect owners from incurring “financial hardship” in compliance. Truly deserving homeowners won’t have to buy windows that they can’t afford as long as they apply for a permit and deal with the Cultural Resources Office, which can grant waivers. The cases people read about that head to the Preservation Board mostly involve situations where owners made alterations prohibited by the code without taking out building permits. Most people who deal directly with Cultural Resources never have such problems.

    Another fact working against the complaints of the people at the meeting is that much of the distressed Hyde Park neighborhood remains a local historic district with a strict code. No one can argue that the code has brought gentrification there or stopped widespread demolition.

    In the end, the local district codes fall short of being total protection of a neighborhood’s buildings. That’s probably a good thing, because the codes are thus very democratic with the allowance of situational exceptions. The general protection that the codes provide does make a difference, though, because most of the people who seek to erode the architectural character of a neighborhood are not long-time residents but outside developers who can afford to do better. The local code really protects neighborhoods for invested residents.

    One of the shortcomings of a local district ordinance is that it will not provide for any regular education of new residents about the provisions of the code. The Cultural Resources Office does not have the means to provide field education, and no advocacy group is providing that service either. However, that’s where a group like the McKinley Heights Housing Corporation needs to step in and make sure that old and new residents know the code and know to apply for permits for exterior work. Again, most code violations occur when people don’t know the rules or don’t know to apply for a permit. Education is key to an effective local code and for support.

    Hopefully, proponents of a McKinley Heights local district ordinance will continue to educate and build support for it so that the naysayer’s misinterpretations of the code don’t become widespread opposition.