Blue was the favorite Plaza Square color picked by readers in the non-scientific Sunday Poll, with orange second. Readers were allowed to pick two. Blue & orange are also my top two favorites, though I prefer orange over blue.
Q: The six Plaza Square buildings were restored to their original colors, which are your TWO favorites?
#1 Blue with 18 votes (27.69%)#2 Orange with 14 votes (21.54%)#3 Teal Green with 12 votes (18.46%)#4 Light Blue with 9 votes (13.85%)#5 Yellow with 7 votes (10.77%)#6 Mustard with 5 votes (7.69%)
Yellow, which finished fifth, is a close third favorite of mine.
As I said on Sunday, I thought the colors were originally used on the North & South ends but the National Register listing says they were always white.
The white ends just do not look right to my eyes
Though I like a lot about these six buildings, they make no attempt to connect to Olive, Pine, or Chestnut. With Pine & Chestnut being a one-way couplet they’re horrible places for pedestrians, There is zero positive street activity.
Hopefully they’ll do better now that ownership, mission, etc are split up.
On March 9, 2015 CENTRAL PARKING SYSTEM OF MO, LLC sued TUCKER PARKING HOLDINGS LLC & TUCKER PARKING EQUITIES LLC, the two entities that own the garage, Case 1522-CC00532. That same day Tucker et al countersued.
Later that month the court issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) to prevent contractor Tarlton from removing the shoring and rented equipment with Tucker et al to pay invoices. “Rental, monitoring, and other shoring related expenses” for April 2015 through October 2015 totaled $894,479. Tucker et al didn’t pay and in November the exterior scaffolding was removed, the interior shoring remains to date.
December 2014
Last month the court issued a judgment against Tucker et al for the original amount plus an additional $11k in interest for a total of $905,507.05. It’s unclear to me if Tarlton has been fully paid for their more labor-intensive work from July 2014 through March 2015. Regardless, if paid, it was likely in excess of $2,000,000. Just before the judgment the city filed a motion to intervene, but withdrew it four days later.
Early this month a hearing for February 16th was cancelled. Court records & documents found at Missouri Court’s Case.net.
Late last month a bar owner filed suit to stop enforcement of the smoking ban following the expiration of a previous exemption, which expired on January 2nd. Judge Dowd grated a temporary restraining order (TRO) until a hearing could be conducted — that hearing is scheduled for 10am today.
The exemptions are expiring for bars that make 25 percent or less of their income from food, are no larger than 2,000 square feet and do not allow anyone under 21 inside. But exemptions exist indefinitely for casino gaming areas, private clubs with no employees and tobacco retail stores. Bar owners who participate in Missouri Lottery’s keno program claim they can be considered a casino gaming area. The game requires the bars to be licensed as such. (Post-Dispatch)
So the argument is because they have a Club Keno game from the Missouri Lottery they should be exempt — just like a casino. Judge Dowd will, no doubt, look at St. Louis ordinance and Missouri law. Let’s take a look ourselves.
The Trophy Room, 5099 Arsenal. Click image to view location in Google Maps
St. Louis’ Smoke Free Air Act, passed in 2009, can be found here. In the definitions we see:
3. “Casino gaming area” means the area of a state-licensed gambling facility where gaming is allowed for those 21 years of age or older, including any VIP lounge, accessible only through the game floor, whether or not gaming is allowed in the VIP lounge.
Casino gaming area, not lottery area.
Section 7 of the Smoke Free Act is where “smoking is not regulated”, in the list is:
6. Casino gaming areas as defined by this Ordinance.
The ordinance uses the word “casino”, not lottery. Missouri law for the lottery is under different sections than for casinos, the Gaming Commission is totally separate from the Lottery Commission.
As you may know, the number of casino licenses in Missouri is limited to 13, from December 2010:
The Missouri Gaming Commission gave the green light to Creve Coeur-based Isle of Capri Corp. to build the state’s 13th casino just north of downtown Cape. After hearing passionate pitches for months, the commission made its decision quickly, quietly and unanimously. (Post-Dispatch)
January 10, 2016Downtown, Featured, History/Preservation, Sunday PollComments Off on Sunday Poll: The Six Plaza Square Buildings Were Restored To Their Original Colors, Which Are Your Two Favorite Colors?
Please vote below
One of the earliest urban renewal projects in St. Louis was Plaza Square — six high rise apartment buildings. Four city blocks were razed — except two churches — to make room for the six buildings. Site selection was made in 1950, but the project wasn’t completed until 1962.
Over the years the ownership on the group has changed numerous times. One was converted to condo ownership a decade ago, the other five are now owned by 2-3 entities. All six have been, or are in process of, renovated. The group are listed as a district on the National Register of Historic Places. All six now sport their original color schemes, from the National Register listing:
Originally, each building’s enameled panels were painted a different solid color on the east and west elevations, with the panels on the north and south elevations painted white. Specifications and early color photographs are at odds, and conclusive assignments of original colors for three of the buildings have yet to be made. However, evidence shows that Building 20 has orange paint underneath the current coat, Building 30 has green and Building 60 was originally the same blue that it is today. The distinct colors differentiated the individual buildings from each other; this effect was an important balance to the uniform appearances of the buildings. (Section 7 page 6)
I was thinking the owners were too cheap to paint the North & South ends — but that’s how they were originally built!
Today’s poll is one I’ve wanted to do for a long time, I just had to wait until all six got repainted.
The six colors are presented in random order — please vote for TWO. This poll will close at 8pm.
Good communications is vital to the success of any organization — especially a municipal bureaucracy. But Saturday morning I observed a car that, based on the signage, was legally parked. It was also illegally parked within the right turn lane.
This Ford Escort is parked at a numbered spot and behind the ‘no parking to corner sign. It’s also blocking the right turn lane. WB Olive just East of Compton
It appears the road surface got reconfigured, but nobody bothered to inform the Treasurer’s office — the independent citywide elected position that’s also responsible for parking. Or maybe they were informed and the parking czar refused to give up the metered spot?
St. Louis Treasurer Tishaura Jones campaigned on the idea of changing Missouri law to return parking responsibility to a city department, most likely Streets. This is a good example of why the city should handle parking, not an independent banker. Of course, until folks think about what they’re doing problems like this will still happen — assigning blame would be easier if all within one department.
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