Show Your Love for the San Luis

The citizens Group, Friends of the San Luis is holding a love-in on Valentines day at noon to show some love to our neglected beauty. Come out and show your love of buildings instead of surface parking lots.


WHAT: Valentine’s Day San Luis Love-In

WHEN: Saturday, February 14, 2009 @ 12:00 noon

WHERE: Northeast corner of Lindell & Taylor in the Central West End

WHO: Lovers everywhere – and anyone who is outraged by the notion of replacing unique, interesting buildings with parking lots.

WHY: Because we believe that St. Louis’s distinctive architecture is an asset, not a liability, and we love the San Luis!

Crown Square (14th St. Mall) Open House

From the fine folks at the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group:

You are cordially invited!

On December 23^rd from 3-6pm, the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group will hold a holiday open house and sneak peak of the Crown Square redevelopment in the former Parks Drug building at 2720 N 14^th Street at St. Louis Avenue. Light refreshments will be provided.

If you come while it’s still light outside, we’ll be offering hard-hat tours of the development, including our new office space, which is currently under construction. Everyone is invited and welcome to join us in celebrating an incredibly eventful and successful year. Feel free to bring along any others who might be interested in celebrating with us or seeing the progress.

This will be a great opportunity to check out the incredible progress on the buildings that are part of this project. Come over to the neighborhood and check it out if you have a bit of time. Check out the new Restoration Group website as well. It is completely redesigned and utilizes a content management system for easy updating by staff. The New Old North Blog is now integrated into the website as well.

If you can't make the open house, you can check out some of my pics from December 11.

Vote for Obama!

Please do exactly as the title says. America depends on it. Obama is the clear choice for urban interests as well as the future of our country.

This will be the first time I ever vote straight party for all offices.

I will be voting for Props B and C as well. I will be voting for Amendment 4, but against Amendment 1. Against Prop A as well. I always vote against every judge.

If you live in St. Louis County, please vote for Prop M.

I can't wait for the results tonight! I have faith in my fellow Missourians and Americans.

Meeting on San Luis Apartments Demolition

A group will be meeting this Sunday to discuss the demolition of the San Luis Apartments on Lindell. We are going to try to come up with an informational flier and discuss a protest. Here are the details:

Sunday, March 16
7:00pm
The Grind

Be there.

There will also be a public meeting on Saturday, march 29, at 9:00. This meeting will be held at the Schlaefly Library Branch at Lindell and Euclid.

Crown Square and Mullanphy Update

Yes, I am alive. I've been too busy to write here. If you haven't noticed, my blogging generally happens on the New Old North blog. which is the purpose of this post. If you haven't been paying attention to that blog, a lot is going on right now. The concrete block wall on the south end of the Mullanphy Emigrant Home is finally rising. The cold weather and abundant precipitation has really slowed the work down, but progress is being made. The first floor is now closed in. Find out more about the building and how you can help at SaveMullanphy.org.

The other major project in Old North is the complete reconstruction of the 14th St. Mall into Crown Square. Work is moving quickly these days, with buildings in all stages of construction. Some units will be ready for occupancy at the end of February. I have many blog posts on the New Old North Blog with updates on the progress, including one from tonight. There are also many picture on the Crown Square Flickr Page. If you are interested in being involved in generating ideas for the public space of the project, which includes 14th St., come to the Charrette on Saturday morning. More info can be found here. The more people, the better.

I may return to writing here this year. We'll see how much work I have to do this semester, which includes looking for a job with a developer or planning firm. If you happen to know of a job opportunity or are looking for an employee that is one semester into a master's degree in Urban Planning and Real Estate Development and has a years worth of intern experience at the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group, feel free to send me an email at mattnstl at gmail dot com. I also come with about 10 years worth of experience following development in St. Louis.

Meeting on Blairmont, Among Other Topics

This should make for some good theater. From what I understand there won't be a chance for much crowd interaction with Mr. McKee, but he will be there to make some kind of statement. Unfortunately, or maybe not, I will be in class and unable to attend.