Time To Rethink Aloe Plaza

Eighty-three years ago today a new urban plaza was opened across Market Street from Union Station. The decennial census taken the previous month would later show the city’s population had declined slightly.

St. Louisans of the 1930s removed the buildings, businesses, and activity from across Union Station. It was what people first saw upon arrival, they wanted beauty instead of what they viewed as clutter and illicit activity. Passive over bustling. They were successful…too successful.

For a good 70 years the west end of Aloe Plaza is what motorists saw as they exited the highway, ending up at 20th & Chestnut. Now with CITYPARK, our new MLS stadium replacing the on/off ramps, the situation west of Aloe Plaza is entirely different.

20th Street is closed for a block party before matches, porta-potties are lined up nearby. To the west is the start of the Brickline Greenway, a 2-way cycle track plus a wide pedestrian path. This needs to continue east and the two blocks of Aloe Plaza are next.

The space has some very large old trees. I’m not an arborist so I can’t say they’re worth keeping, or not. The ’Meeting of the Waters’ fountain by Carl Milles is certainly sacred, though in desperate need of a new basin.

I’d love to see something happen (charrette, competition, etc) to gather ideas on how to turn this passive two-block long public park into an exciting new public space that includes the fountain in the same or different place. Does the fountain need to be centered on Union Station? Must it be parallel to Market Street? Among many questions we should ask ourselves.

One thing I see as a must-have amenity is a public restroom. The entire region needs these where we expect tourists, people cycling/walking, and such. Not inside a nearby business — a highly visible kiosk structure that opens directly to the sidewalk. These can be self-cleaning, the ones I used in San Francisco last fall were wonderful.

I can also imagine a structure(s) for food, beverage, events, and such.

I’m not sure about the name Aloe Plaza. It made sense in 1940 as the former president of the board of aldermen, Louis B. Aloe, had died just over a decade before. Aloe was instrumental in a 1923 bond issue — a century ago. Aloe, the bond issue, the businesses displaced, etc should all be represented in the new space. I’m just not sure the name for the last 83 years should carry forward.

The entire two block park bounded by Market, 18th, Chestnut, and 20th needs to be rethought, reimagined for the 21st century.

— Steve
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St. Louis urban planning, policy, and politics @ UrbanReviewSTL since October 31, 2004. For additional content please consider following on Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, Threads, Bluesky, and/or X (Twitter).

Recent Book — “Tower Grove Park: Common Ground & Grateful Shade” by Amanda E Doyle

St. Louis has some wonderful parks, built at different times for different reasons. One of the more unique is Tower Grove Park. It wasn’t constructed by the city like so many of our parks — it was gifted to the city. It has always had a board to oversee the park — it’s not just one of many under the Park Dept. A recent hardcover book takes a deep dive into the park.

Following the success of his Missouri Botanical Garden, English transplant and enthusiastic philanthropist Henry Shaw turned his attention in the late 1860s to creating the first large park in St. Louis, a Victorian showplace full of verdant trees, shading pavilions, and music and cultural amenities. Above all, Tower Grove Park was “not created for the benefit of any particular class, but for the enjoyment of all classes—for the use of the city population in the aggregate.” Such a tranquil oasis served to uplift, refine, and refresh human beings whose lives were becoming increasingly mechanized, crowded, and complicated . . . and 150 years after its founding, Tower Grove Park continues to fill that role in the lives of St. Louisans and the rest of the region.

Step into the past with this richly illustrated history of the park, including descriptions of the people and pavilions that created its unique architectural identity; appreciations of its lush tree canopy and vast biodiversity in the heart of an urban setting; and stories of the many individuals, groups, organizations, and events that have brought recreation and renewal within its acres. And follow along to the thoroughly modern uses and future plans that keep this park for all seasons more relevant now than ever, a necessity for the health, hope, and well-being of St. Louis.
— Reedy Press

Author Amanda Doyle, a friend for over two decades, has lived near the park as long as I’ve known her. This coffee table book is well illustrated and informative. The “grateful shade” part of the subtitle is very true, many parks helped provide relief from the hear in the days prior to air conditioning.

Like many of you I’ve biked through, attended events at a pavilion, and shopped at the Tower Grove Farmers Market. Doyle has been holding many book signing events, she’d probably love it if you bought your copy directly from her.

— Steve
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St. Louis urban planning, policy, and politics @ UrbanReviewSTL since October 31, 2004. For additional content please consider following on Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, Threads, Bluesky, and/or X (Twitter).

Baer Plaza Now More A Dishonor Than An Honor, 25th Anniversary of Dedication Quickly Approaching

I never met Robert J. Baer, but I see the plaza named for him all the time. Baer Plaza, across Broadway from The Dome (map), was named in his honor a little more than 20 years before his death in 2017.

The 25th anniversary of the dedication is just 7 weeks from today, on Saturday August 13, 2022. I think it calls for recognition…and a little effort beforehand to improve the condition.

Improve condition? It looks nice, right?

First, read more about the man the plaza is named to honor.

 Mr. Baer retired in 2002 as president and chief operating officer of UniGroup, and its operating subsidiaries, which include household goods transportation companies United Van Lines, LLC and Mayflower Transit, LLC. He was a past chairman of the St. Louis Metropolitan Sewer District and a past president of the St. Louis Board of Police Commissioners, in addition to serving twice in area mass transit leadership positions. In the 1990s, he chaired the agency responsible for coordinating the expansion to America’s Center which included the domed stadium. Mr. Baer was born and raised in south St. Louis. He attended St. Francis de Sales High School, earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. Beginning his career working for the City of St. Louis Division of Recreation in 1957, he served as deputy director of the Metropolitan St. Louis Human Development Corporation from 1964 to 1970. He was then employed for four years as chief of staff for Lawrence K. Roos, the County Executive of St. Louis County. In 1974, he was named executive director of Bi-State Development (which now operates the Metro public transportation system), a position he held for three years.

        In 1977, Mr. Baer joined United Van Lines as vice president and general manager. He was named United’s president in 1982 and, in 1988, was appointed president and chief operating officer of UniGroup, a newly formed holding company with United its largest operating entity. During Mr. Baer’s 25 years with United and UniGroup, the enterprise grew into one of the largest transportation corporations in the United States with consolidated annual revenues of $2 billion. In 1995, UniGroup acquired a second household goods mover, Mayflower Transit of Carmel, Ind. Mr. Baer served as chief operating officer of United, Mayflower, and sister UniGroup companies Vanliner (Insurance) Group, Inc., Total Transportation Services, and UniGroup Worldwide, Inc.

        Following his retirement from UniGroup, Mr. Baer continued to serve UniGroup for several years as a member of the Vanliner board of directors. He also was on the boards of Stifel Financial Corp., U.S. Bank, and Drury Hotels.

        In addition to his UniGroup corporate responsibilities, Mr. Baer contributed his time and leadership abilities to a variety of community service organizations and agencies over a period of more than 20 years. From 1985 to 1989, he was president of the St. Louis Board of Police Commissioners, overseeing the activities of the Metropolitan St. Louis Police Department which included the construction of the first new police stations in decades. In 1990, he accepted the chairmanship of the St. Louis Regional Convention and Sports Complex Authority, which was responsible for a $300 million expansion of the city’s convention center and construction of the domed stadium. A park on Broadway east of the dome was designated “Baer Plaza” in recognition of Mr. Baer’s role in the project.

        Mr. Baer was chairman of the board of trustees of the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District from March 2003 until March 2005, and he remained on that board until April 2006. His previous experience leading Bi-State Development was instrumental in his appointment, in December 2007, as acting head of Metro Transit. The “temporary” job grew into a three-year assignment, concluding in 2010 after voter approval of a ballot proposition to ensure the ongoing financial sustainability of public transit in St. Louis.

      Among his other civic activities, Mr. Baer was founder of the Thomas Dunn Memorial Adult Education Program in the mid-1950s. He was an emeritus member of Civic Progress. He was the recipient of numerous awards for many achievements throughout his career. (Kutis Funeral Home)

Again, I never met him. I can’t speak to how he was personally, as a boss, as a civic leader.  I imagine getting the city, county, and state to work together to build a stadium in the hope of getting an expansion team takes a lot of skill.

Even if an event doesn’t acknowledge the 25th anniversary, or Baer’s contributions, the plaza should be cleaned up.

The biggest project is getting the drains cleared. This means hiring a company to provide this service. Once the drains are cleaned out, the entire circular plaza needs to be power washed. It’s all filthy and looks it. The concrete and bricks are in good condition, they just need a good cleaning. Again, this is a project to hire out, maybe the downtown Clean Team?

The sports commission that operates the Dome and this plaza recently came into a bit of money, I think unclogging drains and cleaning the hard materials would be a good investment. Especially since the XFL will be returning in 2023.

All the hard surfaces along Broadway north toward Cole Street also need cleaning. Additionally toward the north end a few tree wells need a little sprucing up.

Some of these northern tree wells could benefit from more liriope & lillies, like the others.

That’s it: unclog a few drains, power wash all pervious materials, a little dirt and a few plants.  If not done before the anniversary, perhaps the anniversary date is the day for a big project with volunteers.

— Steve Patterson

Renovated Kiener Plaza Reopened 5 Years Ago Today

Five years ago the trees at the renovated Kiener Plaza looked so new, provided no shade. Now they’ve matured nicely. Saturday we spent 2+ hours sitting in the shade.

It’s nice seeing Kiener Plaza be a space that can hold thousands of people and still function. Now if only we could do something about those two parking garages across Chestnut, to the north.

— Steve Patterson

New Nature Playscape In Forest Park Is Great For Unstructured Play, Nature Lovers

One hundred forty-five years ago (6/24/1876) Forest Park opened to the public, a very large natural area at the time. The Louisiana Purchase Exposition (aka World’s Fair) opened a little less than 28 years later on April 30, 1904.

As a result, Forest Park was no longer natural, with a few exceptions like Kennedy Forest. Still when it was announced a few years ago that a “nature playscape” was to be built in a park I kinda laughed. Uh, a park outdoors is in nature. Like I said, the park no longer resembled nature.

This isn’t a playground as we know them, with swings, slides, etc. Instead it is a natural landscape designed for unstructured play.

Unstructured play is a category of play (as opposed to a type of play) in which children engage in open-ended play that has no specific learning objective. Unlike structured play, unstructured play is not instructor-led, so parents, teachers, and other adults do not give directions. It also does not have a particular strategy behind it.

Unstructured play is often informally referred to as simply “letting kids be kids” or “just play.” At times, you may also hear it called “free play” or self-play.”

As a kid I spent hours playing outdoors with my friends, but that was the 1970s when parents didn’t hover. Today’s kids are kept on a very short leash.

This new space, one of only a few nationally, is worth a visit.

The Anne O’C. Albrecht Nature Playscape is a 17-acre experiential play space with natural landscapes that include native and diverse species. Featuring nine distinct activity distinct activity areas, the free destination includes sand play areas, willow tunnels, stump steppers, boulders and rocks, hand water pumps and much more. The goal: Encourage visitors — especially kids — to connect with nature as they engage their senses as they explore, discover and learn. (Forest Park Forever)

Before I begin to explain why it’s worth a visit, let’s talk about where it is and now to get there. This new space is just southeast of the World’s Fair Pavilion, see PDF map. Photo of the site with the activity areas labeled here.

It’s 17 acres so it’s huge, but don’t expect to see big fancy entrance gates. There are no fences or gates, it’s just a free part of the park open for everyone during park hours.

All entrances have nearby car parking, bike racks, a map on the post, etc. Don’t look for any printed maps because they didn’t want the waste/trash. Year-round restrooms are in the World’s Fair Comfort Station, just south of the World’s Fair Pavilion — close to the first two entrances. Seasonal restrooms are also inside the 17 acre space, near the 3rd entrance. There is potable water for refilling water bottles as well as non-drinkable water near some activity zones to help clean the kids up, to wash off all the nature.

Ok, let’s go inside.

As a huge fan of native perennials I love the space, so much more rewarding than a formal space. Reminded me of hiking at Shaw Nature Reserve years ago, except accessible by public transit and wheelchair friendly. Seating is frequent and varied, with space for strollers and/or wheelchairs out of the path.

I want to return with my husband, and meet friends and their kids here. On my one recent visit those using the space didn’t appear to represent the wide ethnic diversity 0f the region, hopefully that’ll change.

I saw couples without kids using this for their walk/exercise, so don’t think you need kids to show up. If you’ve got young kids, nieces/nephews, cousins, etc please bring them here for a visit. Happy 145th birthday to Forest Park!

— Steve Patterson