The last occupant of the large home at 3262 Hawthorne was born on August 5, 1908. No, the home hasn’t been vacant for years, he died in January at the age of 104. The home was built in 1893. Here’s his obituary:
Bokern Sr., Eugene A. 104, Fortified with the Sacraments of Holy Mother Church on Thursday, January 17, 2013. Beloved husband of the late Lucille (nee Lynch); loving father of Robert F. (Joyce), Gene Jr, John F. (Shirley), Edward C. (Nina), and the late Karen Sue Watkins; 19 grandchildren, 30 great grandchildren, brother of the late Robert and Francis Bokern; dear cousin, uncle, and friend to many. Services: Visitation Monday, Jan. 21, 4-8pm. Funeral at HOFFMEISTER COLONIAL MORTUARY 6464 Chippewa at Watson, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 10am. Interment Calvary Cemetery. Friends may express condolences at: www.hoffmeistercolonial.com – (Source)
Stone facade of 3262 Hawthorne
Last Sunday the house was open to lookers even though an offer had just been accepted, see listing & many photos here. A friend I ran into at the open house said he saw the place shortly after the owner had died. It was “stacked high with papers”, he said. On Sunday all the stuff, including old carpets, had been removed. Ideally the original windows will be retained, appropriate reproductions would be very expensive and cheaper windows wouldn’t alter the look significantly.
Beautiful fall colors on Hawthorne Blvd just before the house
Apparently the owner had lived there since the 1940s, with few updates. Old boiler with radiators for heat, no central air conditioning. The kitchen and bathrooms were antiques. Fairly original houses like this are very rare, the buyers will have many decisions to make. Do they clean the stone exterior to look like it did in 1893? Or perhaps just a light cleaning so some of the old patina remains?
The last time I was at Third Degree Glass Factory, about six months ago, I tweeted the fact it lacked an ADA access route from the public sidewalk to the entry. The entry walkway led to the side parking lot. Pedestrians arriving on foot, by bus, or those parking on-street had to enter via the parking lot. I never got a response to my tweet, nor did I follow up.
Recently heading home on the #97 MetroBus, I spotted work being done to build a pedestrian access routeI I meant to return to check it out but it didn’t happen. Then yesterday I attended an event held at Third Degree. I’m pleased with the result. Like so many businesses, this isn’t something they naturally think of. Third Degree is great about teaching you glass blowing. If St. Louis had a law requiring such an access route their architect would’ve included it in their original project. We don’t, so it took a few years until I raised the issue.
The red arrow marks the entry as seen from the bus stop at the public sidewalkThe width of the new walk is minimal, but better than nothing. Had the city raised pedestrian access when planning something more generous & welcoming might have been built.The view from the entry shows the original walk leading to parkingTurning toward the street we see the new walkway to the public sidewalk. Circled in red is Metro long range planner Mark Phillips waiting for the #97 bus which showed up seconds later.The event I attended yesterday was a sustainability work session, my table focused on making St. Louis less car dependent. Click photo for information on the event.
Kudos to Third Degree for listening and taking concrete action, pun intended. Now if I can only get the city/region to require such access when buildings are built or substantially renovated….
The old Illinois capital building in downtown Springfield IL
Monday night on KDHX I announced that my boyfriend and I got engaged last month. We didn’t plan to go to any of the 14 states, or Washington D.C., to get married. We wanted to get married in Missouri (where we live) or Illinois (his state of residence until this past February). We knew that meant a possible long engagement but we also knew there had been talk of the Illinois General Assembly approving a same-sex marriage bill most of this year. As late as a week or two ago it didn’t look like a vote would happen this year but 2014 looked promising.
Then suddenly, Tuesday morning, we hear the vote will happen. By the end of the day both the chambers passed the bill, sending it to the governor! To pass the measure the sponsor removed the paragraph making the law effective in 30 days. The law becomes effective on June 1, 2014.
Gov. Pat Quinn (D) said in a statement Tuesday that he would sign the bill into law, although he did not specify a date. The House, which had adjourned in May without passing a Senate bill legalizing same-sex marriage, approved the measure Tuesday by a vote of 61 to 54.
“Today the Illinois House put our state on the right side of history,” said Quinn, who campaigned for the measure, which is scheduled to take effect in June. (Washington Post)
So Tuesday night we set a date in June and started a wedding website. Yesterday I began the process of confirming the location. Today we’re going to city hall to register as Domestic Partners.
When I came out 30 years ago I didn’t think marriage would ever be an option…
This year two competing outlet malls opened in the Chesterfield valley, not far from each other. I had a chance recently to visit both by car, a rental. I’d hoped to visit one or both via MetroBus so I could have my wheelchair. Before you question the idea, the #258 MetroBus stops in the valley every 20-60 minutes weekdays.
There was debate about St. Louis being able to support two outlet malls just 4+ miles apart, in addition to the existing St. Louis Outlet Mall in Hazelwood that opened in November 2003. For now I’ll focus on the two new outlets by Taubman and Simon Properties:
Both developers are publicly traded companies with impressive track records in the retail world. But Simon, the largest U.S. shopping mall owner, has been in the outlet business a lot longer.
Linda Humphers, who tracks the outlet mall industry for the International Council of Shopping Centers as editor of Value Retail News, noted that Simon has more than 60 outlet centers in the U.S. compared to basically two for Taubman. (Taubman and Simon both have many full-priced malls in their portfolios.) (stltoday.com)
Taubman, the underdog, opened first. Like many, I tend to lean in favor of the underdog. But I knew that many shoppers more impressed by Chesterfield’s second outlet mall. With all this background I visited both, in the order they opened, on Monday October 28th. Again, I drove a rental car we had for the weekend because both would require using the shoulder for the mile from the closest bus stop.
Similarities:
Highly visible from I-64
Site was underwater during the Flood of 1993
Primarily internally focused
Upscale/desirable retail outlets
Multiple entrance points from parking lot
One level, open air design
Indoor, centrally-located, food court
Green design elements like rain gardens to handle water runoff
For the differences many have focused on the number & importance of stores, but I’m not going to debate Ralph Lauren (Taubman) vs Coach (STL Premium). My focus is on the layout, approach, physical design, etc.
Signage is prominent at the several auto entrancesGreen storm water management is attractive, should be highly functionalThe white/light color scheme of the exterior doesn’t feel upscale to meA typical entry into the interior walkwayThe entrance points are wide and use nice materials, but they feel genericStanding at the center looking at the open west end
Looking east from the center
The food court building at the centerThe directory shows the linear design, parking is focused between the mall and highway outer drive
Crosswalks connect disabled parking to the mall entrances, but the angle was confusing for new construction
This mall is in the center of a much larger site that’ll eventually all be developed. The entrance signs have room for other projects besides the outlet mallOutlet Blvd approaching the mallAs you turn off of Outlet Blvd into the mall the signage gets specificBetween the entry drive and parking is a pedestrian access route connecting to future adjacent developmentWell marked crosswalks to the disabled parkingThe medium to dark color scheme looks richer to meEntrances are more interesting, false side windows relieve otherwise blank walls.A children’s playground is next to the food court in the centerThe directory shows this mall is more than a shingle corridor. The various colors represent different districts with local names like “Meramec River District”The corridors are not very interestingI got excited when I saw the bus plaza, but then I realized it’s for tourist buses, not public transportation
My Conclusions
Both malls will do fine initially, but the smaller Taubman mall will fade out quicker. It feels smaller, less generous, since it’s shoehorned in between the highway and a levee. It won’t close for many years, it’ll just be the less desirable outlet mall, though still ahead of Hazelwood’s decade-old St. Louis Outlet Mall.
The St. Louis Premium Outlets area will get built up over the next 5-10 years, hotels, restaurants and other retail will be added. They’ve planned ahead so as it gets built out it’ll be connected by a sidewalk network. Nothing you’d call super walkable, but minimally acceptable. The location is right as you enter from St. Charles County, so it’s convenient to many.
The poll question last week had nothing to do with individual parking meters versus pay stations, the goal was to see the payment options ranked:
Q: Assuming on-street parking rates will increase, what are your two preferred methods of payment?
Plastic (debit/credit) 46 [48.94%]
Coins 22 [23.4%]
Cell phone 16 [17.02%]
Bills 10 [10.64%]
Coins came in a distant second to debit/credit cards. Surprising to me is bills came in very last, but I rarely carry bills now either.
I haven’t tested the “Liberty Meters” being tested in the CWE yet, I should go see how easy they are to use:
Motorists parking in the City of St. Louis – you can stop searching your consoles for loose change! The City Treasurer’s Office is launching a pilot program called,”No Change, No Problem.” Starting May 10th, Sixty (60) new individual credit and debit card accepting parking meters will be installed in the Central West End neighborhood. The “No Change, No Problem” pilot program will run through summer and fall 2013. With this program, drivers can use coins, credit or debit cards to park at one of the new meters. Parking rates will not increase and no additional fees will be charged for using credit or debit cards. These new meters will function the same as coin-operated meters– just more conveniently.
We want to hear from you! Give us some feedback about the new meters. Click the survey button below or comment on the Treasurer’s Office Twitter (@stltreasurer | #stlparkingmeters) or Facebook (St. Louis Treasurer).
Your feedback will help determine whether or not to expand this program to other areas of the city. (Source: St. Louis Treasurer)
Has anyone paid the new test meters using plastic?
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