Olympia Investments is Demolishing Dogtown 4:59 PM

A poster on the Urban St. Louis forum has alerted St. Louisans to an unnecessary and upsetting demolition in Dogtown--specifically the Franz Park section.

Olympia Investments, associated with the restaurant of the same name on McCausland, is tearing down two properties across the street from their establishment. As of right now, the reason can only be speculated. These two parcels border on an already existent parking lot. These freshly cleared lots will likely become more parking for the popular Greek restaurant.

These are the properties getting the axe:


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Both 1532 and 1536 McCausland have demolition permits dating to December of 2009. UrbanSTL forumer DogtownB&R reports that at least one of these homes is already down.

You might be asking yourself: what's the big deal about the demolition of two small frame houses in an otherwise stable neighborhood? If the demolition were occurring for some new cutting edge new construction, I'd agree that this would not be a big loss.

If the answer is parking, though, we have a familiar dilemma in St. Louis. A destination restaurant thinks it needs more and more parking to succeed. The surroundings become something entirely un-urban in the process. How many of your favorite restaurants in the St. Louis area have adjacent parking that hampers the urban experience? The unqualified answer is too many.

St. Louis will never be a walking city if people expect to find adjacent, free parking everywhere they go. Again, while the purpose of these demolitions is speculative at this point, I'll go out on a limb and still condemn Olympia for making Dogtown uglier and less walkable.

And I really condemn the City of St. Louis, whose urban design guidelines should prevent decisions like this...or at least give the neighborhood a chance to review such demolitions. This makes me wonder also: why didn't these demolitions go before the Preservation Board? The 24th Ward, in which the two structures lie, is a preservation review ward, which means that all proposed demolitions should go before the Board. Anyone have the answer?

I would recommend going on Yelp to "review" Olympia's neighborliness.

UPDATE (@ 5:04 PM EST): Just called Olympia. The person with whom I spoke confirmed that the homes are to become a parking lot.

Lose an Institution, (Re)Gain an Institution 12:33 PM

Sadly, Hamilton Jewelers downtown--in business for 72 years--will be closing.

If you're depressed, take in the joy of a local restaurant classic's return. That's right. Sauce Magazine's "Scoop" blog reports that Chuy Arzola's, AKA Chuy's, will be reopening.

No, not in Dogtown, but in Midtown--in the space that Joe Boccardi's will soon be vacating inside the Coronado.

-1 for Downtown
+1 for Midtown
? for Dogtown

Old Chuy's...

Photo Source

Meet New Chuy's!

Photo Source

Accolades you can believe in. 2:13 AM

It's that time of year again--Riverfront Times' Best of St. Louis.

Dogtown wins Best Place to Live.

Our under-appreciated City Hall, a.k.a. Sooty Hall, wins Best Old Building.

It's a no-brainer, but I nearly wept to see it actually recognized. Without a doubt, Cherokee Street is the Best Mile of St. Louis.

The whole "Best Of" is one big civic hug, especially to the battered central city, inured to a lack of authentic affection.

Take this feel-good comment for example, regarding the best neighborhood bar in the City:

Choosing the best neighborhood bar in the city is sort of like picking the cutest puppy in a basketful of golden retrievers. Not. Easy. That's because, to the delight of city dwellers and the despair of their livers, there are so many great bars in so many great neighborhoods. Cozy taverns tucked into brick buildings, elegant wine bars anchoring nightlife districts, beer-and-whiskey dives popping up in between fancy restaurants — which to choose? This year we've spun the wheel and landed on Riley's, in Tower Grove East.

Thank you, RFT. Somewhere, 675 miles away, you've reminded a man to turn a temporary blind eye to Blairmont, to the Century Building's demise, the McPheeters Warehouse demolition, the loss of the Switzer, the endless corporate flight, the big boxes anchoring prominent onetime urban intersections, et cetera.


They can take our urbanism, but there will always be several dozen different watering holes to drown the sorrows in.


I love you, St. Louis.

Good night.

P.S. Oh...and a begrudging congratulations to Angry Black Bitch and Urban Review for their Best Blog titles, Editor's Choice and Readers' Choice, respectively.