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.

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.

14th St. Mall Construction Begins

Construction on the 14th St Mall in Old North St. Louis has officially begun. Financing for the residential portion closed on Friday, and E.M. Harris wasted no time getting started. Two buildings are now being gutted, with more to start very soon. The commercial component will close within the next few weeks, allowing full scale construction to start. Check out pics of the first day of work from my post over at the New Old North Blog.

Land Assmbly Tax Credit

I'm taking one from the PubDef book. I'll be reporting from Jefferson City tomorrow, where a special session hearing will be held on HB 1. The bill contains the controversial Distressed Areas Land Assemblage Tax Credit, created solely for Paul McKee's "Blairmont." I'll have an update tomorrow. Hopefully some changes will be made to the bill to allow many more developers to qualify, such as removing the size requirement for starters.

Sometimes It's The Little Things

In my time at the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group, I've had the opportunity to do a lot of different things. I have some big projects under my belt by this point. However, when you work at a neighborhood CDC that is also the neighborhood association in an area that has been neglected for half a century, it's not just big projects all the time. One of my projects in the last week has had the most impact of any other, and it is one of the smallest.

Old North gets a lot of outside visitors due almost entirely to Crown Candy. Unfortunately, most of the people coming in from just about everywhere have no idea of the great things happening in the neighborhood, and the city as a whole. They see the blight while driving in on I-70, then they get out of their cars and SUV's and see the abandoned 14th St. Mall right across from Crown. It's not really a pretty picture, but just a couple of blocks north or south one can find blocks of brand new, and spectacularly rehabbed houses and apartments. Of course, the 14th St. mall will be under complete reconstruction very soon. The patrons of Crown don't know to explore a little, so they miss out.

That's where my little project comes in. The Old North St. Louis Restoration Group office is right across 14th St. from Crown Candy. About half the customers for Crown walk directly by the windows. The windows have always featured news stories from the past couple of years, some pictures, and promotion for North Market Place. However, all of this wasn't very organized, and the materials had taken quite a beating from the sun. By this point in time, I had been walking by all of this myself for over 6 months. While talking about the office one day with one of the other interns we decided the windows needed to be redone because they were probably giving people a bad impression about the organization, and by extension the neighborhood. The next day I took everything down to start fresh.

I started with the window that looks directly into the office. New signs promoting the website and blog were printed. Signs and pictures promoting the North Market Place development were made up. I went through all of the pics of the neighborhood that I have taken and printed a bunch of the good ones to display. The preservation campaign for the Mullanphy Emigrant Home also got a spot. To finish the window, I put one of our Coming soon signs up for the 14th St. Mall redevelopment. Stay tuned soon for the launch of the rebranding of the Mall area

Today I redid the windows in the conference room. These windows are actually in a storefront doorway, and had become incredibly dirty inside and out. I had to clean the windows first. I then put up website and blog signs, filled up a strip with old house tour posters, and printed some more pictures of the neighborhood. I also readied the windows to display posters when the 14th St. Mall rebranding launched very soon.

I went through all that just to say that my simple work in rebuilding the windows has led to many new looks. Before the new materials, people didn't often stop to look at what was displayed. After watching people for a week, many of the people walking by now stop, even if just for a moment. The office windows have almost become a microcosm of the neighborhood as a whole. People are rediscovering the city around them, renewing, rebuilding, returning.

This little project of mine, more than any other that I have done, could make a difference in the neighborhood, even if it just means many changed attitudes. Super projects don't make a difference if no one know about them.

Then I made this blog post to promote the neighborhood even more.

And since I mentioned it, here's a rendering of the renovated 14th St. It may have changed a little since May. The website and marketing campaign will launch very soon.

Mullanphy Timeline

Yes, I am simply reposting an image from the New Old North Blog, but it's my image. Click on it to make it larger.

Summer In Old North

Just a quick update here since I haven't had much time to post anything lately. I happen to have an internship this summer at the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group. You may remember I have actually been here since January. I'm doing a series on the New Old North blog featuring various scenes from throughout the neighborhood. I'm putting new pics up several times a week, and they are just random shots from around the neighborhood. Check out the pictures, and other news from the neighborhood at newoldnorth.blogspot.com.

Mullanphy benefit Concert Wednesday

Another major Mullanphy event is this Wednesday. This time it is a concert featuring Lydia Ruffin and the Flying Mules. Never heard either, but I hear it should be a good show. Come out and be entertained for a good cause.

The details:
Wednesday, May 16
7:30 PM (Doors at 7:00 PM)
Christ Church Cathedral, 1210 Locust Street
$25 at the door; $20 in advance (call 231-5031)

What A View

I was able to take look today at the pics from inside the Mullanphy Emigrant Home from my tour on Monday. I saw it in person obviously, but they reminded me how awesome the view is from the second and third floors. I have always thought that the best view of the skyline came from the north, and the pictures definitely confirm this. The density just seems to cover the whole horizon from east to west. I would love to wake up to the view out the third floor every morning. The views to the other directions, while not quite the same, show the urban character of the city as well as anywhere. St. Louis is a pretty impressive city from the Mullanphy vantage point. Just imagine a Metrolink line coming up the street below, and all of the empty lots infilled with high density urban buildings full of new residents and retail. With some time and commitment, St. Louis will be known worldwide for it's comeback to status of one of the greats. Everything is there just waiting for those of us with visions of grandeur to take the initiative.

There's something about standing in that crumbling building that just shot my optimism through the roof (which would not be a good thing to happen while standing in a building that is open on three sides). I don't know if it is just me living in a dream world, but I have this sense that everything will turn out beyond anything anyone could have imagined just a year ago.

A few pictures are included in this post, many more can be viewed here.

Downtown as seen from Mullanphy

We can't explain it either

Old electrical equipment

Yours truly

I'm Legal

I've finally made it to 21, and I gotta say that it really doesn't feel any different. I didn't even get asked for my ID at lunch. I guess I get to enjoy the little bit of time I have left in college with the above 21 crowd. 1 month to party it up legally. Should be fun.

I got my interior "tour" of the Mullanphy Building today. The views are truly incredible. My camera decided to stop functioning correctly after 2 pics (from the outside no less), so I will post pics on Wednesday when I can get copies of Sean Thomas' pics. There are a couple with me up against the edge of the south wall and the Arch and skyline behind. I would love to wake up to that every morning. E.M. Harris will be working on stabilization again this week. A boom lift and lumber has already been dropped off, and more shoring for the sagging floor joists will be provided. The last two weeks have been very successful for fundraising, but a lot more is still needed. Head over to SaveMullanphy.org to find out more about how you can help out.

Off to have a bit of fun. Hopefully I'm still alive tomorrow.

New (Old) Photo of Mullanphy

A quick update before I pass out (plus I wanted to make a Friday the 13th posting). If you haven't noticed yet, Sean Thomas, Executive Director of the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group, has been making daily updates for the last 13 days on the New old North Blog as part of his "45 days in Old North." He has had many various postings about the neighborhood such as the upcoming house tour or highlighting some of the new construction, with the most recent being on the Mullanphy Emigrant Home. It's partially a post promoting the fundrasier tomorrow at the Schlafly Bottleworks, but it also contains a previously undiscovered picture. One of the tasks for us interns at the office on Wednesday was to contact the St. Louis Public Schools to see if they had any info concerning the Building from when it was known as Douglas School, and apparently Mullanphy School as well. Turns out that there was some info, including a picture from 1890. SLPS was gracious enough to share the photo with the Restoration Group. They have asked that it not be reproduced or republished without permission, but you can take a look at the New Old North Blog. The photo is from a different angle as well. It is oriented towards the south east, an angle previously unseen in historical photos.

My 21st birthday present from the Restoration Group is an interior tour on Monday, so a post with lots of pics from inside will be coming next week once I sober up...

The Mullanphy Challenge

I would like to challenge every reader of this blog right now. By now you have probably seen at least a small blurb about the effort to raise the necessary funds to stabilize and ultimately redevelop the Mullanphy Emigrant Home in Old North St. Louis. This is an effort that needs to involve all of St. Louis. Make a small (or large) tax deductible donation. Tell all of your friends about the effort. Ask your rich relatives to consider making a contribution. Just get the word out. I want to see every urban blog from St. Louis and beyond with a post about the Mullanphy preservation effort and how others can help. Have an idea for a fundraiser? Let the Old North St. Louis Restoration group know about it and start planning. The opportunities for you to become involved are endless. The $350,000 goal may seem out of reach, but if everyone works together we can reach the goal before we lose the Mullanphy Emigrant Home forever.

Among the upcoming events are an emergency fundraiser on April 14 at the Schlafly Bottleworks (see flier below), a benefit concert sponsored by Landmarks at Christ Church Cathedral on May 16, and more to be announced. Stay tuned for more information about the concert and other events. For now, here is the information on the fundraiser for next Saturday.

To be held at: Schlafly Bottleworks

7260 Southwest Ave. Maplewood, MO 63143

Google Map Link: http://tinyurl.com/2qvdeu

Saturday, April 14th, 5-7:30 PM

Donation range: $50...$500...$350,000

If you need more information send an email to info@onsl.org or give the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group a call at 314-241-5031.


We may not have big media attention yet, but a grassroots effort is what this is all about. This is more than this one building. This is people taking a stake in our own community, working together to preserve our past, and build a bright future. Something like this may never have been attempted before, but we have a chance to do something great. Will we seize the moment, or will we let another piece of our collective history fade into oblivion?


More Info:

Website: http://www.savemullanphy.org

ONSL blog: http://www.newoldnorth.blogspot.com

More Pics: http://flickr.com/photos/oldnorthstlouis

Another Mullanphy Update

The New Old North Blog has a post updating the status of the Mullanphy Building. Read it here. Your help is still greatly needed, and quickly.

Another Storm Strikes the Mullanphy

As reported by Michael Allen of Ecology Of Absence, The Mullanphy Emigrant Home sustained major additional damage in the storms that moved through the area. Part of the eastern facade collapsed, and a section of the north wall collapsed as well. More will likely be known after a more thorough survey of the damage can be done in the coming days.

You can view some photos of the storm damage on the Ecology of Absence Blog.

This is a major set back in the efforts to preserve the Mullanphy. Costs to rebuild the already damaged south wall were set at $150,000+. The additional costs from tonights collapse will likely add significantly to that total. Please consider making a donation to the Mullanphy Preservation Fund. To find out more about the effort and how you can become involved visit the What's new in Old North Blog. To make a credit card donation right now through PayPal just click on the PayPal icon below.

Mullanphy Update

Your help is still needed in the effort to stabilize the historic Mullanphy Emigrant Home. Click here to find out more. Click on the image for a larger version.

Mullanphy Progress

As one of my tasks today I took some pics of the work now occurring to stabilize the Mullanphy Emigrant Home. The roof is now secured from collapse. The south wall is still completely exposed to the elements, and hopefully the workers can get that closed in soon.