Categories
Events Mid-Century Modern

Tomorrow: Raimist Lecture on Harris Armstrong at the Ethical Society

Summer Solstice talk

As Platform Speaker at the Ethical Society, Andrew Raimist will be speaking on “Architecture of the Sun” on Sunday 24 June 2007 at 11am. The audio-visual presentation will address climate, sustainability, and solar issues in the architectural designs of Saint Louis modern architect Harris Armstrong. In addition, refreshments, food, and other outdoor activities will follow the talk. The public is welcome to attend and enjoy an exhibit of architectural photographs by the speaker.

The Ethical Society is located at 9001 Clayton Road in St. Louis County.

Architectural Photography exhibit

An on-going exhibition will have its opening following the talk. Featuring architectural photography in color and black & white by Andrew Raimist, the exhibit will present interpretations of the work of Harris Armstrong, other modernist architects, and selected examples of architectural excellence from the Midwest. The exhibit will be on display through 15 August.

Raimist’s extensive writings on Harris Armstrong can be read online at Architectural Ruminations.

Categories
Historic Preservation Preservation Board

A New Job at St. Louis’ Cultural Resources Office

Today MayorSlay.com announced the creation of a new staff position at the city’s Cultural Resources Office. I can only applaud this wise move to create a permanent position funded from the city’s general revenue.

Our city’s local district ordinances deserve support and reasonable interpretation. The load of rehab and new construction in local districts is both high and steady, Consequently, the Cultural Resources Office has been greatly overwhelmed lately. One response to this welcome change could have been weakening the local district ordinances to be more lenient on design.

Instead, the mayor wisely went with another option — another staff member to process the myriad building permits under the review of the CRO.

On another level, the move is also welcome. The city could definitely use another full-time job in historic preservation. Potential applicants should wait for the forthcoming advertisement of the job before applying.

Categories
Media Midtown Northside Regeneration People

Blairmont, Locust Street Covered in Today’s RFT

by Michael R. Allen

There are two excellent articles in today’ Riverfront Times pertaining to controversial development matters:

Phantom of the Hood, Part 2 by Kathleen McLaughlin

The newest member of the RFT staff has written a great article on Paul McKee’s north side project. Some of the new information she dug up includes the fact that McKee’s attorney Steve Stone of Stone, Leyton & Gershman was involved in drafting the Distressed Areas Land Assemblage Act. McLaughlin includes a choice quote from State Sen. John Griesheimer, original sponsor of the tax credit: “My idea of redeveloping is taking a blighted area and bulldozing it, putting mixed-uses in.” The “bulldoze the ghetto” rhetoric gains some credibility. Kathleen McLaughlin’s byline is definitely one to watch; she is tenacious and smart.

Rebuilt to Suit by Randall Roberts

Randall Roberts’ last story for the RFT covers the tension between St. Louis University and the developers and businesspeople who are transforming Locust Street (as well as parts of Olive and Washington) east of Grand into a force that puts the “life” in that fables intersection Grand Center advertises. The last part chronicles the livery stable demolition, bringing to light SLU’s promise to demolish no more of its holdings north of Lindell. Roberts has a fine sense of public journalism, and of how an article like this one can make a difference for the better. While this article comes out too late to make a difference in the livery stable fight, its timing is still good since few know SLU’s next step on Locust Street. I’m confident that McLaughlin will continue Roberts’ legacy of providing critical coverage of development and preservation issues in the RFT.

Categories
Demolition Midtown

Livery Stable Demolition Permit Issued, Work Begins

by Michael R. Allen

This morning, the Building Division issued a demolition permit to St. Louis University for the historic livery stable at 3401 Locust Street. By mid-day, a wrecking crew from Bellon Wrecking & Salvage was at work stripping the building’s roof decking and guttering. Oddly, the crew did not have an on-site dumpster and did not have a copy of the demolition permit on display as is required by city law. The site is not secured, with several window and door openings easily accessible and not even so much as caution tape keeping pedestrians off of the sidewalks. Perhaps there was some haste on the university’s part to get work started.

At the end of the day, about one-third of the roof deck appeared to be removed, and there was minor damage to the top of the western wall where the gutter was located. Obviously, fatal damage will not come from a crew of six men — especially given how sound this building is.

Categories
Demolition Midtown

Electrical, Water Services Pulled on Locust Street Livery Stable

by Michael R. Allen

Workers have removed the water and electrical services to the historic livery stable at 3401 Locust Street owned by St. Louis University. A demolition permit has not yet been issued.

According to sources, two of the biggest development players in the “Automobile Row” area on Locust and Olive Streets have made offers to buy the livery stable in the past. The first came when the building was last offered for sale, and the second after the university purchased it.

The building is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places and for state and federal historic rehabilitation tax credits. Both potential developers were examining conversion to housing, office and retail spaces.

Meanwhile, north of the stable are large surface lots that could be sites for multi-level parking garages to serve both the St. Louis University arena and the Locust Street business district.

Categories
Media North St. Louis Northside Regeneration

McKee’s North St. Louis Project Makes Front Page of Sunday Post-Dispatch, Above the Fold

by Michael R. Allen

A tax-credit bill for one man? – Virginia Young and Jake Wagman (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 17) [DEFUNCT LINK]

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch makes up for its rather late coverage of Paul McKee’s acquisitions in north St. Louis with a well-written in-depth story that appears above the fold on the front page of Sunday’s paper. Online, there is additional material including a great Flash graphic showing the flow of campaign contributions and in-kind gifts from McKee to a host of Missouri politicians, from Matt Blunt to Lewis Reed.

Despite significant coverage from other media outlets ranging from the Riverfront Times (the first major media outlet to cover the story, thanks to reporter Randall Roberts), Pub Def, KWMU, KDHX’s “The Wire” program and KMOV Channel 4 TV news, this issue has not received the huge major publicity it deserves. Here it is, at long last — and before Governor Blunt’s decision on the economic development bill in which the tax credit program sought by McKee is embedded.

Categories
Demolition Historic Preservation Midtown

Livery Stable Catches Attention of KSDK News

by Michael R. Allen

Yesterday KSDK Channel 5 aired a story on St. Louis University’s demolition of the historic livery stable on Locust Street. Reporter Mike Owens did a great job laying out the potential for reuse of the building in light of the university’s claims that the building must be demolished for parking. Watch the story here.

Categories
Downtown Green Space Northside Regeneration

City Officials Making Best of Dirty Situation

by Harland Bartholomew, Jr.

ST. LOUIS — In an unexpected move, dirt for both the construction of the Mississippi River island and the mound at the western terminus of the Gateway Mall arrived early. Out of town crews trucked in more of the brown matter than St. Louis had seen in years, although construction of the new civic destinations is years away.

To deal with a possible dilemma, St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay ordered the dirt spread across 75 non-contiguous acres of north St. Louis for storage. Slay thinks that the dirt companies may be eligible for a proposed land assemblage tax credit designed to smother areas like north St. Louis.

“We’re a unique city, with unique problem — too much dirt,” quipped Slay. The mayor says that other cities have actually noted dirt shortages in recent years.

St. Louis Planning Director Rollin Stanley said that St. Louisans have nothing to fear from the new dirt.

“Other cities have recognized that dirt provides the sort of 24-hour excitement that creates destinations,” Stanley said. “Dirt is literally always around, even in the middle of the night.”

Stanley added that the dirt would only be temporarily stored in north St. Louis.

“The temperatures in Hades are lowering, indicating that construction of the island and the mound could start at any moment.”

One person unhappy with the move is developer Paul J. McKee, Jr., who expressed interest in being the only recipient of the state tax credit.

“We do not have enough dirt in north St. Louis to construct an island in the Mississippi River,” read a written statement from McKee. “However, we are interested in seeking other parties who own dirt so that we can partner on making things with our dirt. We regret that the nameless and faceless dirt movers have changed the nature of my project so I cannot continue as an assembler of dirt.”

Slay suggests that competition for the tax credit is a good thing.

“Every city in America would love to have two large-scale plans for spreading dirt over economically distressed areas. Think of this as a blessing.”

On a related front, Philadelphia is donating a Starbucks kiosk from a downtown park to the St. Louis Gateway Mall effort.

“The last newspaper article calling the kiosk innovative was published in 1999,” said Philadelphia Parks Director Sara Collins.

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Categories
Fire Midtown

If the Anarchists Did Not Exist, We Would Invent Them (Oh, Wait, We Did!)

by Michael R. Allen

In the wake of this week’s fire at the Villas of St. Louis site, many pundits are once again raising the tired claim that local anarchists may be responsible for the fires. (Another equally dubious strand of thought blames labor unions.) No doubt that the fire is an arson, like the fires that plagues job sites in the city last year. However, the notion that local anarchists are responsible for the fire is baseless.

Local anarchists have no history of perpetrating violence, and have so many different opinions about what anarchy looks like that it’s hard to even categorize the self-professed ones together. They are far more likely to hand one a ‘zine on the joys of polyamory than teach the lessons of making a bomb. Certainly some anarchists that I know romanticize violence. After all, the idea of abandoning civil government in its entirety is an indirect endorsement of force and competition. A few local anarchists may have found the arsons last summer warranted because they proved the ham-fisted theory that all private urban development is gentrification. However, beyond one infamous ‘zine and a handful of semi-anonymous comments left on the local Indymedia site, the public anarchist endorsement of the arsons was almost non-existent. Unless one has inside information — and I doubt that the commenters on Urban St. Louis have been to the latest Colibri solstice party — the claim that “the anarchists” endorsed or committed the arsons is reckless.

The St. Louis police department has issued no evidence suggesting that anarchists or other political dissidents were involved in the fire. No anarchists have taken credit for the fires, which is what a shrewd political movement would do after perpetrating a major arson. There is absolutely no public evidence supporting the claims being volleyed online. The worst offense committed by the anarchists is perhaps a facile stance on urban development, but otherwise there is nothing on “them.”

Perhaps there is a bit of romanticizing coming from the accusers. The idea of semi-secret “terrorists in our own midst” who hold fundamentalist (political) beliefs is not a new phenomenon nowadays. Narratives of heroic developers rebuilding a city being plagued by a strange internal enemy would make for good cinema — and good rhetoric for anyone who wants to ascribe to development a moral dimension. As philosopher Slavoj Zizek said in a 1994 interview, “You formulate your identity on the fantasy that the Other is the one who automatically wants to steal from you.”

Categories
Demolition Historic Preservation Midtown

St. Louis University Ready to Wreck Another Beautiful Building

by Michael R. Allen

The brick former livery stable at the northwest corner of Locust and Josephine Baker (formerly Channing) stands out as an expressive masonry building that serves as the western anchor of the commercial district on Locust Street that is typified by a streetscape of two-story commercial buildings. West of this building are the taller, more monumental buildings of Midtown. This building’s presence eases the harshness of the transition between the two architecturally distinct areas.

R.W. Crittenden built the first section of the two-story brick Romanesque Revival livery stable in 1885, with additions in 1888 and 1889 as well as a major remodeling in 1902 by architect Otto Wilhelmi. In 19th and early 20th century St. Louis, the livery stable was a place where horse owners boarded their horses for a fee to keep their boarding away from genteel residential streets or to store their horses while they enjoyed a day in the central city. (Another related and prevalent building type was the carriage repository.)

Located on the section of Locust Street known as “Automobile Row” because of its 20th century association with automobile distributorships, dealerships and repair shops, the building’s use by the 1920s as the salesroom of the Salisbury Motor Company comes as no surprise. In recent years, the building has been used for storage, with its windows filled in and its street elevations painted white. A spate of recent historic renovation projects on Automobile Row make it a likely candidate for reuse. Apparently, there have been many suitors in recent years although St. Louis University won out when the building was for sale in 2004.

The university plans to demolish the building for parking related to its new arena located four blocks south. On May 31, 2007, St. Louis University applied for a demolition permit. The old livery stable enjoys no protection, since it lacks both official landmark status and preservation review (the 19th Ward opts out of preservation review). Alderwoman Marlene Davis (D-19th) has introduced a bill to vacate the alley between the livery stable and a parking lot to the north.

In response to the proposed demolition, Landmarks Association of St. Louis included the building on its 2007 Eleven Most Endangered Buildings List. There is much to admire in the building’s robust form, adaptable interior and articulated brickwork. Surely a better future than demolition is possible.