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.

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 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 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.