Shallow Liner Building Needed To Mask Parking Garage

The University Heights Loft Apartments faces Laclede Ave.  The associated parking garage, located behind, faces Forest Park Ave.

I’m not sure if this was part of the plan, but there is room to build a shallow liner building between the garage structure and the public sidewalk.

Most liner buildings are around 12 meters (40 feet) in depth. Liner buildings are typically simple and work well with “loft” or “industrial” architectural expression. Liner buildings may be up to five stories tall, but should be as tall as is required to serve their purpose of screening. Liner buildings must be constructed at grade if the ground floor is designed for commercial use. They should be slightly elevated above grade if the ground floor is designed for residential uses.(Source: PlanningWiki)

I’d like to see storefront spaces on the main level with residential above. With many students in the immediate area there would be a demand for nearby businesses.

Realistically only one large or two small businesses could fit into the space. The number of residential units would obviously depend upon the size of the units and the number of floors.

The improvement to Forest Park Ave would be immediate, reinforcing the other establishments at Spring Ave.  Hopefully this was the plan when the garage was set back from the property line.  Even a single story structure with storefronts would do great things for this area.  align the front with the loft building and have a wider sidewalk with cafe seating.  New trees in the tree-lawn between the sidewalk & curb would shade patrons.

With so many students, faculty & staff in the area the available on-street parking is more than adequate.

– Steve Patterson

The Two Dog Runs Within Lucas Park

In 2008 the Downtown Children’s Center moved to a new location, leaving behind their fenced/gated playground area within Lucas Park.  Later that year downtown residents began to clean up the fenced space to use it as a place to let their dogs run off-leash.

The problem was the playground didn’t meet the city’s standards for a dog run — the fence was too short, there was no double gate entry and no access to water. The dog run would need to be rebuilt.  When Lucas Park was designed it was symmetrical in both directions. With the east end fenced it was no longer symmetrical on the main library across Locust to the south. That, and the fact residents would be without any dog run during reconstruction, let me to suggest at a charrette in November 2008 that a new dog run be built in a different location, removing the old fencing once the new run was open.

In April of this year the new dog run opened.  Nearly six months later, the old playground improvised as a temporary dog run is still in use.  City officials said they had no plans to remove the old fencing.

Viewing the park as four areas around a fifth center section there is even less open park space than before!  The old playground fencing needs to be removed with the east section of the park.  This would, unfortunately, force residents to pay the fees to use the new dog run.

– Steve Patterson

Poll: Do You Agree The Highway Lanes Cutting Through Downtown Should Be Replaced With A Boulevard?

The City+Arch+River competition has me thinking more and more about the future of St. Louis without the poorly placed highway slicing through downtown.  I’m so thankful the planned downtown highway loop at 22nd Street never got built, but we still have to address the one that did get built.

If you are at the Old Courthouse and you want to get to the Arch the crossing of Memorial Drive and the highway lanes in a ditch are not that bad.  But that is only one spot along a 1.4 mile stretch of highway City to River wants to replace with a boulevard.

Four out of five competition finalists mention highway removal in their narratives, noting a boulevard was not included into their designs because of the October 2015 deadline. The 50th anniversary of the Gateway Arch is Wednesday October 28, 2015.   So the question of timing is important.

There are several possible times to rip up the old depressed & elevated highway lanes.

1. The day after the opening of the new I-70 bridge, you could call the press back for a ground breaking on the removal of the existing highway.
2. The same event/week as the 50th anniversary of the Gateway Arch would also work well
3. Years after the 50th anniversary

Spring 2014:

Tearing out the highway in the Spring of 2014 makes a lot of sense. When the new I-70 bridge is built the interchange could be designed to transition from interstate to boulevard. Work on the connection to Tucker will be done along with the new bridge. The removal of the old I-70 lanes could be phased — part before the anniversary celebration and part after.  For example, the elevated section and section at grade up to Cass could be done by the 10/2015 deadline and used with the existing depressed section.  Or the reverse.  Either way the opening of the new I-70 bridge is the perfect timing to go right into removing the old I-70.

Fall 2015:

This option waits until after the 50th anniversary celebration on October 28, 2015. Like the year before, everyone will be gathered together — this would be a great time to break ground on a new boulevard.

Either way, the traffic study needs to get started immediately. Various people and organizations have already agreed to fund the necessary traffic study but they were waiting to see what happened with the competition.  I’d have started it months ago, but they were concerned the teams might be against highway removal.  Well we know now they are not against removal.  Why wait for the final selection, get the consultants busy figuring out how to best manage the flow of cars once the new I-70 bridge opens.

The poll is in the upper right hand corner.  Please vote and add any additional thoughts you may have in the comments below.

– Steve Patterson

Metro Transit Agency Fills In Gaps In St. Louis’ Sidewalks

Transit needs to meet the needs of its customers.  One need is to be able to reach the transit vehicle. In many parts of the city the sidewalk network is incomplete or so poor it is no longer passable. Metro, our local transit agency, has stepped up to do what it can do to fill in gaps here and there.

Ideally this intersection, N 14th & O’Fallon, would get new sidewalks when a new urban building is constructed. But that is years away, if ever.  We can’t wait for new structures to get new sidewalks.

– Steve Patterson

Team Presentations To The Jury & Viewing Designs

Yesterday I posted my initial thoughts on the Arch Design Competition.Today I want to go over some of the upcoming dates & places you need to know about.

• Monday August 23rd: The last day the National Park Service will accept public comment, you can do so here.
• Thursday August 26th: Each of the five teams will present their concept to the jury, 8am-6:30pm.  Note the location has changed — it is now the Ferrara Theater inside America’s Center.  View the schedule for the day.  Transit access via the Convention Center MetroLink stop or the #99 MetroBus.
• Friday September 24th: Winning team to be announced.  Time & location not yet known.

Two identical sets of boards exist.  One will remain under the arch through September 26th. The other will travel to venues on both sides of the river through September 26th. For the details click here.

– Steve Patterson