The long-desired “lid” over the depressed section of the highway is now taking shape.
Lid over the highway underway, July 18, 2014
Once completed you’ll enter the museum on the opposite side, through an opening in the grass mound. See the drawing below:
This should be the view in October 2015
Orienting the museum toward the city is the correct thing to do, just as making the highway a boulevard in the future. The lid will allow visitors to cross a boulevard at the center, my primary objective is to remove the elevated section north of Washington Ave/Eads Bridge. This stretch was known as I-70 for decades, but once the new Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge opened it was renumbered I-44.
This elevated highway divides the historic Laclede’s Landing from downtown.
Though many of us would’ve like this to have been concurrently planned, we’ll just need to keep pushing.
Fair Saint Louis begins today in Forest Park. The event is usually held on the Arch grounds but will be relocated to Forest Park this year and next year due to City+Arch+River construction.
For weeks now we’ve been hearing complaints about having to pay $30/car to park in Forest Park. I’m glad such a premium is placed on parking, this has hopefully forced people to consider transit, carpooling, etc.
Layout of the fairgrounds within Forest Park
For those who have mobility issues, there is is a substantial walk just to reach a gate. If you’re taking a friend or family member that has difficulty walking distances please consider taking their manual wheelchair along, no wheelchairs will be available in the park. The best view of the stage will be from the top of Art Hill, which is accessible using the trail & sidewalk network.
Five years ago today Citygarden was officially opened to the public. I want to talk about five big design flaws, but first some background and a few of the many positives.
The two blocks of Citygarden were cleared of some historic buildings in the early 90s to create “passive space.” They were too passive! Photo date: May 12, 2006Both blocks were fenced off for more than a year as workers built Citygarden. Photo date May 17, 2008.Mayor Slay at the opening on June 30, 2009. Instead of cutting a ribbon Slay called the mechanical room to have the splash fountains turned on.Splash fountains at night, October 2011Lighting is part of what makes Citygarden so special, September 2011A friend’s grandsons love ringing the bells. This photo is from June 2011, they’re much bigger now and they have a younger sister.
I’ve spent a lot of time in Citygarden in the last five years, observing the good & bad. Here are the five biggest flaws at Citygarden:
Didn’t plan for continuation of Gateway Mall “Hallway” to the east & west
Lack of curb bulbs on perimeter streets (8th, Market, 10th, Chestnut) — see map
Keeping 9th Street closed
No public restroom
Restaurant space
Let’s take a look at each:
1) Didn’t plan for continuation of Gateway Mall “Hallway” to the east & west
One the best things about the Gateway Mall Master Plan was the idea of a wide “hallway” running the length of the mall, Citygarden got things going with the first two blocks. Had they built the east & west ends of these two blocks, at 8th & 10th, with continuation we might have be wen able to add another block or two to the Hallway by now. In the center, at 9th, they built the prototype for how the hallway would cross streets.
The line of sight matches the path you take on the hallway, imagine this from Broadway to 20th.At 8th Street the hallway comes to an terminus, to continue east the Citygarden end will need to be busted out and rebuilt how it should’ve been done originally. The fire hydrant will also need to be moved, a rather simple task when the project was being built from scratch in 2008-09.The same problem exists at the 10th Street end of the 2-block hallway, the finished side will need to be busted out and rebuilt correctly to continue west of 10th Street.
Had the ends at 8th & 10th been designed to match how the hallway crosses 9th Street it would be so much easier (cheaper) to continue. Either continuation wasn’t considered or the decision was made to not make it easy. The previous version of these two blocks (1994-2008) had a similar scheme of a wide walkway through an allée of trees with the hope of it extending. Never happened in its 14 years.
2) Lack of curb bulbs on perimeter streets (8th, Market, 10th, Chestnut)
At the south and north ends of 9th, Market & Chestnut, respectively, 9th was narrowed by “bulbing” the curb out to cap the parking lane, reducing the crossing distance. This is also mentioned in the Master Plan. Sadly, it was only done on 9th.
Looking east from 9th a rain garden/ bulb to cap the parking lane would’ve helped shorten the walk across Market
Had they done it at 10th and 8th too they could’ve extended the hallway mentioned above. This also would’ve helped crossing the too-wide Market Street and Chestnut. The master plan called for a 20-direction bike lane along the north side of Market, but the planners could never describe how that would work with signals, entry/exit, etc.
3) Keeping 9th Street closed
Initially 9th Street was supposed to be reopened the vehicles once Citygarden was completed, 9th is one-way northbound. But some wanted to closed permanently.
Colorful barricades close off 9th Street to vehicles, the old fire ice cream truck is allowed in to vend
Initially they’d move the barricades late at night to allow traffic through, not sure if they still do that. One-way couplets only work if streets remain open in opposite directions, 8th & 10th are both one-way southbound. Except that now, because of Ballpark Village, 8th is two-way south of Market. We have a poorly functioning downtown grid of one-way & two-way streets, each with random blocks closed to traffic. Maddening.
I think part of the reason they wanted 9th kept closed is they quickly realized nobody had considered pedestrian signals at the hallway crossing 9th (nor at Chestnut). Oops. Once again pedestrians weren’t given proper consideration.
4) No public restroom
The Gateway Foundation spent tens of millions of dollars building Citygarden, and for the most part it is a world-class facility.
Half the year twi port potties are on the 10th street sidewalk on the west end of Citygarden — classy!
Really? All that money but no place to use the bathroom? The simplest fix now is to extend the hallway one block west to incorporate the Twain block, adding a modern restroom structure off of the hallway in that block. I suggested as much in 2010.
5) Restaurant space
The third restaurant opened recently in the restaurant space in the northeast corner (8th & Chestnut. Architecturally the building is a looker, the main reasons the first two places failed were poor service (The Terrace View) and food & service (Joe’s Chili Bowl). I ate at both more than once, because of the ambiance. I met a friend for lunch at Death in the Afternoon on Friday, I was impressed with both the food & service. Others seemed to be impressed too as the place quickly filled for lunch.
Interior of the restaurant on FridayOutside tables were also busy
The previous problems were service (2) and food (1), so why is the building a flaw? The problems are on the Chestnut side.
This cool-looking overhang onto the Chestnut sidewalk can’t be ADA-compliant, a visually impaired person could walk right into the building.The facade to the public street (Chestnut) isn’t welcoming. I know, it’s designed to face the garden. They could’ve grown vines over this side or done something to soften it. Mount menu boards so passersby could read the menu to see if they wanted to go around to the front.The previous modern sink in the unisex bathroom I used has been replaced by a traditional-looking non-ADA compliant pedestal.
These five flaws need to be addressed. A 6th, a poorly-built ADA ramp at 10th & Chestnut, got replaced a couple of years ago after I finally made a formal complaint with the city. The City of St. Louis owns the land but the Gateway Foundation funded, designed, built and manages Citygarden.
St. Louis is rich with history from many immigrant groups over the last 250 years, including Germans. A century ago they unveiled a sculpture in the Compton Hill Reservoir Park:
The statue called “The Naked Truth,” designated a city landmark in 1969, was controversial before it was even built. It is a memorial to Dr. Emil Preetorius, Carl Schurz and Carl Daenzer, German-American editors of the St. Louis Westliche Post. Adolphus Busch was the major donor, giving $20,000 of the $31,000 cost.
A jury selected a design by sculptor Wilhelm Wandschneider of Berlin. Busch was appalled by the jury’s selection and the controversy over the nudity in the statue prompted great debates. The sculptor refused Busch’s request that the figure be draped.
The jury voted 14 to 12 to accept the original design but said the nude figure should be made of a material other than white marble, to de-emphasize the nudity. The figure is made of bronze.
The statue is a nude figure of a woman seated on a stone bench with arms outstretched, holding torches. The figure symbolizes “Truth” and the torches are for the “enlightenment of Germany and the United States.” The figure of Truth is of bronze in heroic size. The eyes are painted as in some bronze figures of the Greeks and as in many modern German statues. The inscription on the back of the shaft in incised lettering expressing the devotion of German-American citizens to the country of their adoption. This inscription is repeated in German.
The memorial was a gift to St Louis by the German-American Alliance and was unveiled on May 27, 1914.
On the right is “The Naked Truth” sculpture, unveiled 100 years ago today. Photo date May 19, 2012
Behind the sculpture is the water tower, one of three in St. Louis, one of seven in the county. The tower is open for tours ($5) on the following dates:
2014 Saturday Openings are scheduled:
Open from Noon to 4pm
Recently a friend posted the following status on Facebook:
I discovered that there are 111 parks in the city of St. Louis–112 when you include Tower Grove Park which is privately owned. I decided that I will visit each of them this summer. Serendipitously, there are 112 days from today to Labor Day. So each day I will post a few pics from one of my visits. #112parks112days
A few hours later he posted three images from the first park he visited.
His text read “Lyon Park is across the street from the Budweiser plant. Nice paths, a well-used baseball diamond and a statue of General Lyon who kept the St. Louis Arsenal from falling into the hands of secessionists during the Civil War. #112parks112days” Photo by Jeff Wunrow
This prompted a discussion about the role of St. Louis & Missouri in the Civil War, including learning more about the park namesake, Nathaniel Lyon:
In February of 1861, Lyon was made commander of the Union arsenal in St. Louis, Missouri, where tensions grew between the Union soldiers stationed there and the secessionist governor of the state, Claiborne Jackson. When the Civil War broke out, Jackson refused to send volunteers from the state to fight for Abraham Lincoln. Instead, Jackson had the militia muster outside the city to begin training in preparation to join Confederate forces. On May 10, 1861, Lyon and his troops surrounded the pro-Confederate Missouri militia under General D. M. Frost, and forced their surrender. While marching his captured prisoners through St. Louis, many citizens began to riot, and provoked the Camp Jackson Affair, during which Lyon ordered his troops to fire into the rioters. On May 17, 1861, Lyon was promoted to brigadier general and was given command of Union troops in Missouri.
On August 10, 1861 the Union forces met a combined force of the Missouri Militia and Confederate troops under the command of Ben McCulloch near Springfield, Missouri, during the battle of Wilson’s Creek. Nathaniel Lyon was killed during the battle while trying to rally his outnumbered soldiers. Although the Confederate forces would win the Battle of Wilson’s Creek, Lyon’s efforts prevented the State of Missouri from joining the Confederacy.
Here is the list of parks he’s visited so far, in order:
Lyon Park
Cherokee Park
Benton Park
Minniewood Park
Laclede Park
Marquette Park
Gravois Park
Amberg Park
Joseph Leisure Park
Christy Park
Sherman Park
Marie Fowler Park
For privacy reasons his Facebook posts aren’t public. What’s great about Jeff’s project is he’s getting out everyday, seeing a new park. You might not want to do the same, but it’s appealing. Jeff’s project will last over three and a half month. At one park per week it would take someone over two years to visit them all. I hope to convince Jeff to turn this project into a blog, visible to everyone.
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