In the poll last week readers indicated they’re supportive of renovating Soulard Market. Read the original post and comments here.
Q: Support the Planned $14 Million Renovation of Soulard Market?
Yes! 57 [62.64%]
No! 14 [15.38%]
Don’t know enough to decide 10 [10.99%]
Unsure/no opinion 5 [5.49%]
Other: 5 [5.49%]
The five “other” answers were:
Let it be – OLD is OK…why is history such a crime in this City!
I would support it if the food was local and not the same crap from Schnucks
most underperforming venue
Support some of the improvements, but not all
what’s the vision?
The Soulard Market Master Plan can be downloaded here. I’ve not had an opportunity to study the plan so I’ll reserve any judgement. When I used to shop at Soulard I’d do a circle to see what looked good and would then return to the farmer vendors to buy from them — I rarely bought from those reselling produce row items. I’d like to see more farmers and fewer resellers.
Over the years there has been talk of giving Soulard Market a top to bottom facelift but it hasn’t happened. Such talk is happening again:
The master plan for Soulard Market proposes spending as much as $14 million on improvements over the next several years. The report suggests that funding could come from grants and donations, a parks bond issue or a future parks tax. (see stltoday for plan details)
Some are excited by the idea and others say the charm will be designed out in the process. You can view the full plan here.
Share your comments below and vote in the poll in the right sidebar. Poll closes a week from today and results will be published on Friday July 20th.
Voters in the region will go to the polls tomorrow. In St. Louis County voters will be asked to approve Proposition A to help fund local public transit.
ABOVE: The current Soulard Market building dates to the early 20th century
It was on this day in 1852 that voting led to a riot. From the book “St. Louis Day by Day” by Frances Hurd Stadler:
“This election day was filled with bloody rioting between recently enfranchised Germans and native-born Americans with the battlefield centered in the Soulard Market area. Early in the morning First Ward poll workers discouraged Whig voters from casting their ballots. The discouragement increased until some would-be voters barely escaped with their lives. When the rumor spread that Germans had taken over the First Ward polls, a large group of Americans moved in.”
In St. Louis, the burgeoning German immigrant population sided fervently with the abolitionist North, while most of the Americans and French were Southern sympathizers. During mayoral election day in April 1852, some German men began preventing, by the threat of bodily harm, the presumed opposition from voting at the Soulard Market polling place.
Word quickly spread of this action, which enraged the American population. A mob of 5,000 Americans moved through the streets that afternoon toward the market. They were greeted by firsts, rocks, brickbats, and even gunshots, but 200 or so of the Americans broke through and seized the Soulard Market poll with shouts of “Free suffrage!”. The violence lasted into the night; persons were killed and a nearby tavern was set ablaze.
Voting tomorrow should be less dramatic! If you are a registered voter in St. Louis County please support Prop A.
Last week Farm Aid announced, at Soulard Farmers’ Market, their 2009 concert will be held at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Maryland Heights Missouri (a St. Louis suburb) on Sunday October 4, 2009.
L to R: STL County Exec Charlie Dooley, STL Mayor Francis Slay, Farm Aid Exec Dir Carolyn Mugar, Rhonda Perry of Patchwork Family Farms
Farm Aid’s mission:
To build a vibrant, family farm-centered system of agriculture in America. Farm Aid artists and board members Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews host an annual concert to raise funds to support Farm Aid’s work with family farmers and to inspire people to choose family-farmed food. Since 1985, Farm Aid has raised nearly $35 million to support programs that help farmers thrive, expand the reach of the Good Food Movement, take action to change the dominant system of industrial agriculture and promote food from family farms.
Some interesting facts from the press kit:
St. Louis County has 276 farms sitting on 32,292 acres or almost 10 percent of the county’s land.
The average St. Louis County farm has average gross sales of $86,203, while the average net income per farm is $20,587.
With 107,825 farms, Missouri ranks second in the country for the state with the most farms. more than 96% are family-owned.
96% of the 691,235 farms in Missouri and neighbors (Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kentucky, & Tennessee) are family-owned and operated.
Basically we have many family-owned farms around us, more than I thought.
Online many noted that the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater is built on former farm land protected from flooding by levees. Not exactly a natural choice but I can’t think of another outdoor venue in the region that could host this annual fund raising concert.
The amphitheater is in the bottom right corner, Missouri River in upper left
Once rich farm land is now parking and casino. The proportion of parking to destination is shocking when viewed from above.
I welcome Farm Aid to the St. Louis region. Their message of strengthening the family farm and eating good food is needed.
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