Moderne No More: Industrial Building's Renovation Begs Question about Mid Century Modern Preservation 4:32 PM

What do you think of this building, located in the southern reaches of Tower Grove South, at 4110 Beck Avenue?

The picture above, showing the long and deep structure's two public elevations, is from a Cultural Resources Office staff report dating to September 2009. 4110 Beck is something of a classic industrial "Art Moderne" building. Built in 1951, it displays a bold, yet repetitive modern spirit as it emphasizes its horizontal sprawl. A rounded corner entry allows it some visual prominence and breaks up two very long and identical facades. Back in 2009, the party that had recently purchased the building decided to use it as storage. In the process, they proposed a renovation that they felt would make the structure less visually monotonous.

Because 4110 Beck is located within a Preservation Review district, and because the new owners sought to build projecting elements off of the building into the public right of way, the Cultural Resources Office had to first review the proposal. Click here for the staff report. Ultimately, it was decided that the Cultural Resources Office had no purview over the design of alterations in the case of 4110 Beck (the purpose of Preservation Review districts, after all, is to review proposed demolitions, not alterations). This case was a Board of Public Safety referral and, apparently, adding brick pilasters to a building does not create an immediate safety hazard to pedestrians. While Cultural Resources declared the proposed alterations "unfortunate", it is clear now that the owner's plans were not derailed on account of a design that compromised the industrial minimalism of the building.

Walking by the site earlier today, I snapped a cell phone picture of the ongoing work:

The pale tan bricks of the original structure have been painted over with a cool green. The proposed brick pilasters have been added at equal intervals, as have new entrances and lighting. The domineering corner remains, at present, untouched, but that is all.

The alterations to 4110 Beck make us examine our collective attitude about buildings built within the modern era (roughly defined as 1945-1975). Was the Swing-A-Way Manufacturing Company building above a repetitive bore of a building--one whose renovation/makeover as shown above is probably a good sign for the neighborhood? Or was this a considerable loss to our city's mid-century modern architectural heritage?

I suppose, in order to answer this question, we have to generate yet more questions. How visible is this building to the traveling public? Beck (and its intersecting street, Holt) are fairly quiet streets here, but there is a surrounding residential context to the north. Was the building National Register eligible? The Cultural Resources Office believed it to be so. Do the changes make the building look better? In this blogger's opinion, the structure now has an un-charmingly awkward look to it.

As our city continues to age, our modern era buildings will likely continue to see such attempts at making them more "personable". I, for one, hope we can develop an appreciation for the best of our well-designed mid-century housing and commercial stock--and I think 4110 Beck is, or was, a member of that club.

What do you think? Who cares--the building is still there? Like the alterations?

Oak Hill Area of Tower Grove South - Now Historic 4:18 PM

I am jumping the gun just a bit, as Monday's Preservation Board meeting will see this National Register of Historic Places nomination approved, but I'm okay with that. The beautiful Oak Hill sub-neighborhood of Tower Grove South will soon be officially designated as historic. Some might scratch their heads and say, "well of course this neighborhood is historic," but in the eyes of the federal and state government, who issue lucrative historic rehabilitation tax credits, your property must be "officially" designated historic either individually or within an approved district.

Oak Hill will be the city's latest historic district. All over St. Louis, these fairly sizable districts are opening new parts of the city to investment in historic properties. Old McRee Town, Grand-Bates, St. Cecelia, the old Wellston shopping district along Martin Luther King, Marine Villa, and more have all been added to the Register recently. Oak Hill is 32 blocks containing 1,261 contributing buildings. Here is a map of the proposed Oak Hill district, from the Cultural Resources Office staff report for the April Preservation Board meeting:

The Oak Hill district extends from Gustine on the west to Portis Avenue on the east; Arsenal on the north to an irregular boundary on the south that includes Humphrey and Utah.

It is notable, to me, for its concentration of historic frame structures mixed in with classic red brick apartment buildings. It also includes the revitalizing Morgan Ford Strip, also known as Skinnytown, which may be the most immediate beneficiary of the historic rehabilitation tax credit. West of Morgan Ford, the architectural diversity increases, with some lightly detailed Queen Anne buildings and even some small Second Empire buildings. Below is a picture of Juniata at Alfred, one block west of Morgan Ford (courtesy of Google Streetview):

A brown brick four-family with St. Louis-style white baker's brick adorns the corner. It neighbors a nice red brick simply-detailed front-entry vernacular building. Next door to that are two Second Empire micro-mansions, followed by a series of simple frame front gable structures. There are a lot of styles working over here. When you throw in lushly planted streetscapes, the result is a beautiful, if understated urban environment.

I'm happy to see Oak Hill gets it due attention!

Preliminary April Preservation Board Agenda Includes Demolition of a Row of Buildings on Chouteau; Several National Register Nominations 5:00 PM

You may access the preliminary agenda here.

Four buildings on Chouteau in the Gate District are proposed for demolition: 2612; 2614-16, 2618-22, and 2626-30 Chouteau are all on the chopping block. The owner is listed as "Crown 40 Inc.". As with all preliminary agendas, there is no reason stated for these proposed demolitions. A Google Streetview capture is shown below.

While none of these buildings appear to be of extreme historic significance, they'd be sorely missed from an urban design standpoint if parking, for instance, is to replace them. I'll report any further information as it becomes available.

In other Preservation Board news, several buildings are to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places, including a new historic district surveyed by Lynn Josse--the Oak Hill District in Tower Grove South. A full list is below:

Address:   St. Louis News Company -1008-1010 Locust St.
Project Description:  Nomination to the National Register of Historic Places
Preparer:   Lafser & Associates - Julie Ann LaMouria 
Owner:   Alverne Association

Address:   Chippewa Trust Co. Bldg. – 3801-05 S. Broadway
Project Description:  Nomination to the National Register of Historic Places
Preparer:   Karen Bode Baxter, Ruth Kenney & Tim Maloney
Owner:   SCD Investments III LLC – Steve Roberts

Address:   Father Dunne’s News Boys Home & Protectorate
    aka Harbor Light Center – 3010 Washington Ave
Project Description:  Nomination to the National Register of Historic Places
Preparer:   Karen Bode Baxter, Ruth Kenney & Tim Maloney
Owner:   The Salvation Army – Major Lonneal Richardson

Address:   Berry Motor Car Service Bldg. – 2220 Washington Ave.
Project Description:  Nomination to the National Register of Historic Places
Preparer:   Landmarks Assoc. of St. Louis – Ruth Keenoy
Owner:   Sheralee Properties

Address:   Oak Hill Historic District 
(Roughly bounded by Gustine, Arsenal, alley west of
Portis Ave. and Humphrey St.)
Project Description:  Nomination to the National Register of Historic Places
Preparer:   Lynn Josse
Owner:   Various (see nomination)

Stay tuned for more information.

A Neighborhood Changes (in Name) Across Time 9:48 PM

Above is a Google Streetview capture of the 3400 block of Grace Avenue. True to its name, the quiet street retains beautiful, graceful brick pavers. It's located in the southeastern quadrant of today's Tower Grove South neighborhood.

In 1947, according to the city's then-brand-new Comprehensive Plan, this was the Fanning District, named after the school of the same name located just a stone's throw from this photo. The Fanning District was bounded by Utah on the north, Bent on the west, Grand on the east, and Gravois on the south. (See a map here).

In the 1970s, neighborhood historian Norbury Wayman called this area--and a much larger area extending from Arsenal on the north, Kingshighway on the west, Grand on the east, and Gravois and Bates on the south--the Oak Hill neighborhood.

If you live in the southern end of what we now officially call "Tower Grove South", what do you call your neighborhood?

South Grand Searching for Artists 11:50 AM

According to a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) released yesterday, the City of St. Louis Board of Public Service is searching for an artist or artists to create two-dimensional artwork to be embedded in the reconstructed sidewalks of South Grand. The call for art is a result of a major streetscape overhaul now underway thanks to the East West Gateway Council of Government's Great Streets Initiative.

I love the idea of sidewalk art for South Grand! The RFQ notes:

The selected artist team may include, but is not limited to, visual artists, graphic designers, writers, and poets. Prior public art experience is helpful, but not required.

The artwork will need to fit into discrete sections of the reconstructed sidewalk. The size, location and dimensions of these sections can be determined by the artist, and will need to be coordinated and finalized prior to construction. The artist will be responsible for the final design, fabrication and installation of the artwork into these discrete sections. Final design specifications will be reviewed by members of the project design team and/or City officials.

The new sidewalks will be constructed with pervious concrete. The artwork inserts can be a non-pervious material, but must be durable and approved by the project team. Possible materials may include colored and/or textured concrete, lithocrete, lithomosaic, mosaic, stone, brick, metal, terrazzo or other materials. The inserts could include imagery, text, poetry and/or designs that reflect life on South Grand.

The project budget is $30,000 and the deadline is April 9, 2010. If you're an artist reading this blog, please apply! South Grand needs you!

Here are some examples of sidewalk art I came across:

Village of Rochester Hills, Michigan...sidewalk insets would be the most common form of sidewalk art. What would you recommend for insets along South Grand?

SOURCE

Okay...so this is faux-3-D chalk art, which I assume can't be permanent. But it's nevertheless something to think about.

SOURCE

Tile mosaic sidewalk

SOURCE

Text-based art. If you stand from a certain angle, it looks as if the word "DOWN" is floating. Sure this is inside a parking garage, but since the RFQ allows for text-based art, there seem to be many possibilities here.

SOURCE

As I said, if you're an artist or poet, get to work for South Grand! But send your plans to this blog first.

Full RFQ here.

Who Wants to Live by Free-Standing Fast Food Restaurants? 1:44 PM

I'm not sure there's anyone in St. Louis City government asking this question.

I'm also not sure if anyone has suggested the obvious: why not force fast food restaurants to reuse old storefronts in mixed use buildings?

Of course, I know the answer to both questions. Surely some consumers of fast food wouldn't mind living near a Burger King, McDonalds, or Wendy's. They may even relish such "amenities". But to live across the street or next to one? With their lights, their constant stream of trash, their late night traffic, their plastic buildings and oil-stained parking lots, their regular truck deliveries? Well, I at least know that I don't want to live adjacent to one!

To the second point: obviously, fast food restaurants make more money when they have a drive through attached. Unfortunately, this often requires a specialized building that subsumes several urban parcels and includes at least two curb cuts and plenty of parking spaces as well.

But these two questions are clearly related. If fast food restaurants are such a drag on their surroundings, yet they "must" have drive-throughs to compete, then we have to make a value judgment. Do we want attractive urban main streets or profitable suburban strips? Unfortunately, St. Louis has chosen--and continues to choose--the latter in nearly all cases.

The latest example is the new Wendy's on Gravois in the completely pedestrian-hostile Gravois Plaza development. Instead of correcting the many mistakes of that strip center, we're about to add to them.

A new Wendy's restaurant will be located on the former site of Cuddles Daycare and, previous to that, a Shoney's restaurant. I presume it will be the standard store, with drive-through, curb cuts, etc.

This is a shame to me, making an already compromised area less livable. In urban environments, land values rise when amenities are nearby, attractive, and walkable. A grocery store, for example, should be a huge value added to an urban neighborhood, but the Shop N Save is practically a fortress inside Gravois Plaza. Now Wendy's will be its moat.

Above, a fine row of apartment buildings faces Gravois Plaza and the future Wendy's site. Gravois Avenue itself is already too high-speed and has little in the way of pedestrian amenities. Adding more vehicular traffic, car-scaled lighting, and trash to the area will be further detrimental to these surrounding residential and mixed use properties.

St. Louis has so many great old urban commercial buildings that are vacant or underutilized. It would be nice to see Wendy's open inside one of the storefronts in the area, examples of which can be seen in this photograph. In spite of the rather quiet look of the street shown above by Google Streetview, this stretch is usually heavily walked by St. Louis standards. A pedestrian-oriented Wendy's could work in this portion of the city, though I know it would be less successful than what is currently being built. Again, though, choices present themselves: urban or suburban format, pedestrians or vehicles, attractive or ugly?

St. Louis's main roads (Kingshighway, Hampton, Natural Bridge, Gravois, etc.) are too often the city's least attractive streets to live on. This should not be so! Concentrating residential density on these main roads turns the retail/restaurants present into salable amenities, but the streets must be attractive and mitigate, not exacerbate, the effects of busy traffic and intense use. A revised zoning ordinance or well-crafted zoning overlay district for St. Louis should address these problems and make our main streets beautiful and convenient places to live.

Off the Grid, Ignorance Equals Bliss 12:11 AM

I had an excellent time in St. Louis, racking up bar and restaurant tabs at some of my favorite places like the Cabin Inn, Mango, Foam, the Buttery, Local Harvest Cafe, Novak's, etc.

Despite the cold, I spent very little of my time inside the house, even spending some time walking around downtown, Grand Center, the Central West End, and Bevo (sadly, I didn't have my camera on me).

While back home, I saw St. Louis Hills and other neighborhoods lit up splendidly for the holidays, a sure sign of neighborhood pride. I saw a narrower Grand Boulevard with traffic moving more slowly. I got to introduce some suburban relatives to the wonderment of the pizza at Black Thorn Pub. Somehow, my mother had never been to the Art Museum, Old Courthouse, or the Fox, so I was able to get reacquainted with some of St. Louis's most treasured historic resources. On the snow-covered ground, St. Louis was looking and feeling good to me.

My Twitter account was abandoned, as was this blog. Visits to stltoday.com were few and far in between. I was basically off the radar during my visit, unable to observe and absorb all of the streaming news that comes to me from afar.

I'm glad, now. Finally situated in my new home, I read on the thankfully restored Urbanstl.com that the Roberts Tower project downtown has come to a halt, even though nearly complete. There was a murder on Morgan Ford in its popular Tower Grove South stretch, not to mention that horrible workplace massacre on the North Side (that news item I did catch while in town!). Demolition requests continue to be heard by the Preservation Board; this month's temporary agenda includes a request to tear down a property on stately Bartmer Avenue in the West End as well as a demolition proposal at 4125 Turner in the 21st Ward on an otherwise intact block. Why must crime and demolition, fear and emptiness plague my city?

I hope getting readjusted to my constant news stream will bring me some promising tidings for St. Louis soon in this new year. Anyone got some good news to share about our city?

What Would You Do to Improve the Morgan Ford Strip? 5:28 PM

The unusually active folks behind the Morgan Ford Strip revitalization in Tower Grove South are soliciting ideas of events to hold on the street that will pull people to its growing repertoire of attractions.

Got any? Send them directly to the Strip via this Facebook link, or comment here.

I suggested a bike-in movie theater. For the cost of a projection screen and some creative signage, this would be a major neighborhood attraction that would get more people biking and walking. No cars allowed! (I yanked this idea from an awesome New Orleans Main Street Program street, O.C. Haley Boulevard in Central City. Great idea, guys!) I think it would work well on Morgan Ford. How about this spot below? I can't think of a better use of an otherwise unused parking lot at night.


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Project on the side of the commercial building; bike parking along the fence or at one of several cool bike racks on the Strip, and, voila, a neighborhood bike-in movie theater!

Fall Festivals Show Neighborhoods on the Rise 3:26 PM

Three fall street festivals are putting burgeoning business districts on display. Weather permitting, they're bound to show St. Louisans a trio of amazingly transformed neighborhoods.

Grove Fest
Saturday, September 19, 2009
4:00 - 10ish
Website
Now in its fourth year, Grove Fest is a multi-block showing of the food, culture, and nightlife of the revived Grove District along Manchester in Forest Park Southeast. The course of this neighborhood over the past four years has been incredible. Anyone who has followed the Twitter updates of the Washington University Medical Center Redevelopment Corp. (WUMCRC) knows that crime has decreased for nine consecutive years in this onetime no-man's-land and that major infrastructural improvements are on the way (new streetscapes, some mysterious but apparently groundbreaking lighting experiment in the neighborhood [again, see Twitter], replaced planters). I was surprised at the turnout at the first year's festival, in 2005, when I lived in the neighborhood. I'm sure the festival has only grown since then.

Street Fest (Midtown Alley)
Saturday, September 26, 2009
4:00 - 11:00
Website
As a lowly SLU student unwilling (and unable--let's be honest) to purchase a semester parking pass, Locust Street and its free-to-park intersecting streets were no strangers to me. Even though I observed a relatively intact business district along the old Automotive Row, I would never have predicted the quick rise of this once quiet stretch (which also includes Olive Street). "Midtown Alley", the new name for the area, is now home to a clothing store (Anatomy of Style), an art deco ice cream parlor (Fountain on Locust), and numerous eateries and nightlife options.

Street Fest is in its first year, so make sure you show up to support it. According to the website:

The Midtown Alley is not an “average” neighborhood … and this will not be an “average” street fair. The event is being styled as part street-party / part music fest/ part art extravaganza, with an urban/industrial theme; a direct nod to the history and location of Midtown Alley.

Sounds cool to me!

Morgan Ford in Motion
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Noon - 9:00
Website

Another inaugural event, Morgan Ford in Motion celebrates the progress of this human-scaled business district in Tower Grove South. It's hard to believe that a decade ago, A&M Cyclery at Arsenal and Morgan Ford seemed a strange holdout on a strip known only for its busy 7-11. Now, the strip is being declared "the New South Grand" by neighborhood residents. With its own independent grocery store, locavore cafe, furniture store, and cool bike rack/sculptures (in addition to some notable watering holes), who's to doubt that claim? The Post-Dispatch agrees, calling it one of St. Louis's "Hip 'Hoods".

As with Street Fest, make sure you show up to make sure this fledgling festival earns enough moolah to make next year's even better!

And, with all three, make sure to enjoy and return to the local businesses that lend these neighborhoods so much character and identity!

Skinnytown Sculptures / South Grand Road Diet 11:53 PM

I am in love with the new Morganford--AKA Skinnytown--sculptures that have arisen along the funkified stretch over the past couple weeks. I first learned out these little pieces of whimsy through St. Louis Brick's post entitled "Morganford is the new South Grand", but St. Louis Investment Realty's Matt Kastner has snapped photos of still more sculptures here. From that very blog comes the photo below. Its legginess makes it the perfect tease photo to get you to follow the link to see nine (9!) others (This doesn't even include the giraffe sculpture staring across the street at the Three Monkeys). These appendages strut their stuff outside Vintage Haberdashery, an homage to the legs suspended from their second story window.

In other Tower Grove South news, South Grand is going on a road diet and you, St. Louis, can vote on the resulting slimmer design at an upcoming public meeting. I hear high-tech touch pads will be used for the voting process. Here's a cut-and-paste of the meeting announcement from the Tower Grove South website:

GREAT STREETS INITIATIVE SOUTH GRAND: Public Meeting and Design Charrette Announcement
Good Evening Everyone,
Please accept the attached postcard as an invitation to participate in the Public Meetings and Design Charrette scheduled for Monday, August 10, 2009 – Wednesday, August 12, 2009 from 4:00PM to 7:00PM. Also, please share the postcard flyer with your constituents so that they may have the opportunity to participate in the meetings as well. Should you have any comments or question, please give us a call at (314) 436-3311. We appreciate your immediate attention to this matter, and we look forward to meeting you.
Bridgett S. Willis
Hudson and Associates, LLC
1204 Washington Ave., Ste. 402
St. Louis, MO 63103
Office: 314-436-3311
Fax: 314-436-3503
Cell: 618-560-3225

Maybe a slimmed down South Grand will be able to compete with the charming, wacky Skinnytown along Morganford?

A Case Study of Anti-Urban Design 3:24 AM

Photo Source: Geo St. Louis

Forget the terrible series of one-story commercial buildings not even visible from the street they "front".

Forget the ridiculous contrast between early 20th Century red brick homes and the boring-as-could-be tan hue of the shopping center.

Forget that these homes face an unsightly commercial rear end.

Forget the ugly light poles; the lack of sidewalks; the perpetually unused parking spaces.

Forgetting even all of that, what do you have at so-called Gravois Plaza?

A design that spits in the face of urbanism--and environmentalism. This expanse of impermeable asphalt is so unneeded and so treeless it practically begs for a schlocky New Urbanist development to clean it up.

Where are the trees, at least? Seriously, this is not an ordinance? No wonder urban runoff and combined sewer overflows keep St. Louis polluting its natural resources.

St. Louis's Local Dining Options Expand 11:01 AM

From Sauce Magazine's online foodie "gossip" column:

Now open
Café Osage, the new eatery from the folks at Bowood Farms nursery in the Central West End we told you about back in June, is now open. Stop by 4605 Olive St. to sample the fare prepared by chefs David Guempel and David Kirkland (which uses many ingredients grown at the nursery or its Clarksville farm).

Awesome addition to the Central West End and to the city at large! Well...I've not been of course, but I'm speaking of the concept: healthy foods from local and regional farms. St. Louis has too few of these.

Don't forget about Local Harvest on Morganford's latest venture either: the Local Harvest Cafe (see the Commonspace Blog for hours and more information).

Someone, please, report to Cafe Osage immediately so I can read the full pre-restaurant critic review!

What's with that House? 1:39 AM

As a sort of sister post to the previous, I have to ask, what's with that house (on the 40xx block of Juniata in Tower Grove South):


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St. Louis CIN says it was built in 2004.

I've never seen another house like it.

Anyone have a clue as to what stylistic influence this house can claim?

That's the Spirit! An impromptu and unofficial "City Walk" occurs in Tower Grove South. 11:43 AM

In response to the recent and totally random shooting of postal worker Terry Dean Marcrum in Tower Grove South, neighbors and friends marched to the site of the shooting to announce a presence of a neighborhood that cares. Read the Suburban Journals article here.

Last week, I learned of a program called "City Walks" started here in New Orleans to fight violent crime via sponsored walks through neighborhoods troubled with crime. It seemed an excellent way to unite neighbors behind the cause of securing and feeling pride in their neighborhoods. I asserted that this program would be extremely beneficial to St. Louis.

I am happy to see that one neighborhood did not need any non-profit group to introduce the concept! Congratulations go to Tower Grove South. The article is very uplifting and the fact that these residents took their concern for the neighborhood as a call to action and involvement rather than "voting with their feet" and leaving the neighborhood is commendable.


Again, good job, TGS! Efforts like these seem small, but go a long way toward making St. Louis even more safe, livable, and appreciated by others. The image is from the Suburban Journals story, linked above. And does this make me feel a bit guilty about what I said about the Post-Dispatch in the previous post? I don't know--do the Suburban Journals count as the P-D?