by Michael R. Allen
McEagle Land Acquisitions, LLC was chartered on February 16. Will the sundry LC’s and LLC’s involved in the “Blairmont” project begin selling to this company once the Distressed Area Land Assemblage Tax Credit Act is passed?
Remember the USS Inaugural that was moored on the St. Louis wharf to serve as a museum? During the 1993 flood, the former Navy minesweeper was swept away itself. However, it did not get very far. As “Memory_machine” tells us in his blog entry “Undergroundozarks goes to the Library / The Wreck of the Inaugural”, the wreck of the ship is just south of the MacArthur Bridge, and readily visible.
Categories
Blairmont in the ACC
There is a good article by Matt Murphy about the “Blairmont” project in the current print edition of Arch City Chronicle.
by Michael R. Allen
According to a post on MayorSlay.com, the $100 million airport terminal reconstruction project will “carefully rehab” airport’s landmark main terminal by Minoru Yamasaki. As the region’s most widely used modernist building, the integrity of the terminal is an extremely important expression of local stewardship of mid-century design. Alongside rehab, the terminal could be enhanced by removal of some of the intrusive canopies in front and other later alterations. While full restoration is unlikely, a sympathetic rehabilitation could restore much of the modern character of the terminal that is a worldwide gateway to the city (just like another modernist icon).
The Brecht Butcher Supply Company Buildings on February 26.
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.
by Michael R. Allen
The Preservation Board meeting yesterday was short and pretty sweet. Credit is due to the current board members, who are a very thoughtful group on the whole who take their decisions seriously. The new members — David Richardson and Mike Killeen — are good fits for the board, and frequently make excellent points. Chairman Richard Callow continues to enrage haters by running the meetings effectively and efficiently while respecting the input of community members and applicants who testify. This is a good mix and creates the city’s only regular forum for the public discussion of urban design policy. Attendance from bloggers, architects and activists is steady. Now, if only the board could increase the scope of its powers and solidify its decisions against the trump card of aldermanic blighting ordinances!
Here are some of the highlights of yesterday’s meeting:
#5 Washington Terrace: Preliminary review of a plan to build a new house on one of the city’s finest private streets. The discussion on design was interesting, although it fell along predictable lines. Many residents turned out to testify because the local district ordinance stipulates that the trustees of Washington Terrace must approve plans before construction. That’s well and good, but not an appropriate covenant for the Preservation Board to uphold. There are courts of law for those fortunate enough to live on streets with restrictive covenants; the Preservation Board’s enabling ordinance does not allow it mediation powers in such instances, as Commissioner John Burse pointed out during the discussion. Deferring decision in this instance would set a bad precedent for future ambiguity. Fortunately, the Board voted 5-1 (with Anthony Robinson abstaining) to approve preliminary review so that the builder can begin to work with staff at the Cultural Resources Office on design details. While more difficult, the trustees will have to enforce their own restrictive covenants without using a design review board to do so. If the approval covenant is important to most residents, they will enforce it. Perhaps the local district ordinance for Washington Terrace should be amended to remove the separately-enforceable covenant clause, since there is no way the Preservation Board should be in the business of upholding anything other than municipal design ordinances.
2352 S. 11th: Your typical already-installed glass block basement window case. However, the appellant got in a good line when told that historically his basement windows would have had bars. “Historically, my house was boarded up,” he said. The Board voted 5-1 to uphold staff denial of his permit for glass block.
6811 and 6815 Magnolia: The owner of these two small frame cottages, contractor Joe Pauk, supposedly purchased them for rehab in December 2006 but quickly decided they were too far deteriorated for repairs. The houses are condemned by the city’s Building Division, but Pauk has not had a structural assessment save his own. The appeal was denied by a unanimous vote.
2605 and 2619-21 Hadley: Haven of Grace took a big step by agreeing to retain 2619-21 Hadley and motball it for future use. Executive Director Diane Berry announced this during her presentation; chairman Callow wisely asked her to state on the record her intention to also rehab the building. Citizen testimony from myself and Claire Nowak-Boyd followed, although the news of the compromise changed the direction. However, along with other residents we are still concerned about the long-term integrity of the Murphy-Blair National Historic District into which much of Old North falls. That district has lost around 60% of contributing resources since listed in January 1984, which comes down to roughly 370 historic buildings lost in less than 25 years. I still think that 2605 Hadley is savable, but I think that the good new design and density that Haven on Grace brings is important for the neighborhood. Under these circumstances, the compromise is fair.
Petition to designate the McKinley Heights neighborhood as a local historic district: Approved unanimously. The “opposition” that turned a previous public meeting on the matter into a circus did not show.
A concerned reader who lives in St. Louis Place created a Google Earth map of Paul J. McKee Jr.’s holdings in north St. Louis, and sent it in for publication on Ecology of Absence. The map, showing 500 parcels, seems to be short a few parcels (a closer number may be 540). However, seeing the satellite image of the landscape is much more vivid than any of our prior attempts to document the extent of the holdings. It’s linked here.
by Michael R. Allen
On February 22, the Committee on Economic Development, Tourism and Local Government of the Missouri Senate reported the Quality Job Act (SB 282) to the full senate. The bill is scheduled for perfection this week.
The Quality Jobs Act now contains the text known as the “Distressed Areas Land Assemblage Tax Credit Act” proposed by Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder and Sen. John Griesheimer (R-26th). That section creates a $100 million subsidy for super-scale urban land acquisition, and its backers have had no reservations in stating that its intended use is north St. Louis and one if not its only beneficiary is developer Paul J. McKee, Jr.
The full text of the reported bill is available here. The “Distressed Areas Land Assemblage Tax Credit Act” comes first in the bill, starting on page one.
by Michael R. Allen
Every morning comes one of the many internal negotiations of the day: Do I pass by the Brecht Butcher Supply Company buildings on my way to work?
I have a few choices for routes to work, so passing by the buildings is not necessary. However, as wrecking work progresses, I have to deal with the innate curiosity. How much further have the wreckers progressed? What does the column on that floor of that section look like now that it’s exposed? And so forth. These are questions that I consider not only for my own curiosity but because I’m bound to get a few (and I mean very few in this case, given what side of Delmar these buildings are on) questions.
Most days, I take the hard route and pass by. Sometimes, I linger for awhile. The smiling workers are busy putting bricks up on pallets, knocking wall sections down. I watch, but only once have I photographed the scene. Usually, I am compelled to take a few photographs of demolitions, because the recorded details are useful for later research. This time, I have been slow to record what has to be one of the greatest buildings to be demolished in St. Louis since the Century Building.
Perhaps my lack of urgency comes from my deep personal disgust at this senseless loss — one I haven’t felt much before. Perhaps it comes from the fact that these buildings never received the preservation battle that they deserved. (Has any building in recent years?) Most likely, both. In the face of business as usual, investment in observing great loss alone can seem pointless. I suppose that I will take the camera with me tomorrow, though.