People need to be reminded that BJC still has over 40 YEARS LEFT on their existing lease. If this proposal is killed, the parking garage will remain. It's not going to be magically turned into parkland.
^ and the lease payment would stay at ~140,000 not-to-be-adjusted-for-inflation dollars per year. Please, someone convince me THAT'S a good deal for the city.
Doug wrote:I am against the deal because we are selling public park land to a private corporation. If the park needs more money then taxes should be raised.
I can't wait till all the free market people read that.
I doubt most people even knew this was park land. I personally always assumed it was part of BJC's campus, since its garage is underneath the entire "park". I have said this before, but I would like to see where else BJC can expand on its campus. Could land be put together to the east? If not, then the ability for BJC to expand and continue to grow is a FAR bigger priorty for me than a piece of the "park" on the EAST side of Kingshighway. In the past I heard that they wanted to put a garage on the WEST side of Kingshighway across from Childrens, which is incredibily ridiculous. I do enjoy the anti-corporate attitude against BJC from a few members in here. Why people have the "in your face" attitude against the largest employer in the entire REGION (not only city) I don't understand . It is also, ironically, one of the few hospitals that didn't migrate farther west. Does everyone know that the Smiley on Delmar was St. Luke's as recently as 25 years ago, before it moved to Chesterfield? It would be interesting to see how strong the city and the CWE would have been if BJC had decided to move farther west...
^I don't remember a garage proposal. but in the 70's Children's Hospital proposed building a 10 - 15 story structure literally above the traffic lanes of Kingshighway. The idea was quickly shouted down.
For those "against selling public park land to a private corporation," they're not only mistaken about selling verses leasing (and I'll even buy the argument that long-term leasing is defacto selling), but they're also some thirty years too late, since Barnes long ago leased this comparative sliver, which has been severed even longer from the rest of our 1,000-plus acre jewel.
And sometimes increasing taxes is the solution. But in this situation, we have a perfectly viable alternative. And I'd personally like to see our largest employer increase their lease payments, which they are more than willing to do for an amended lease, along with a willingness to relocate recreational facilities to more accessible neighborhood locations.
St. Louis Business Journal - 11:29 AM CST Wednesday
Comptroller Darlene Green's vote against BJC HealthCare's plan to extend its lease for a portion of Forest Park land for future expansion ends the hospital's pursuit.
"BJC will look elsewhere for its expansion needs," BJC spokeswoman June Fowler said. "We see this as unfortunate for Forest Park."
Green, one of three members of the city's board of estimate and apportionment, had not previously voiced her stance on the issue. The board voted opposed BJC's proposal at a 10 a.m. meeting Wednesday. The other two members of the board of E&A are St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay and Board of Aldermen President Jim Shrewsbury.
BJC currently leases 9.4 acres of Forest Park land from the city for $150,000 annually for use as an underground parking facility. The property is east of Kingshighway, across the street from the main portion of Forest Park.
BJC's current lease expires in 45 years. The new lease would have extended that time period an additional 45 years.
Had the proposal been approved, Hudlin Park's tennis and handball courts and playground equipment, used by the public, would have been relocated to the south side of Clayton Avenue.
The Business Journal initially reported in March that BJC was eyeing the property long term. The deal received preliminary approval in September from the city's Planning Commission but met with opposition from local residents.
Barnes-Jewish Hospital is part of St. Louis-based BJC HealthCare, the area's largest employer with more than 21,000 employees.
This is rediculous. I just hope that the ballot description gets updated and all of the reasonable people will vote it through as a city. That would be a very powerful statement.
I agree. The money that BJC was willing to pay to extend the lease would be a big help to the city parks.
Someone please explain to me why they were against this? The land is already leased to BJC until 2052 and would extend the lease until 2097. The land is cut off from the rest of the park and is mostly a parking garage.
Some people have to learn to take the blinders off every once and a while.
Against my own better judgement, I moseyed on over to the discussion on STLToday (which I had previously sworn off after the Morgan Quitno rankings came out due to the amount of yahoos who post there). Anyway, I was surprised to see that most of the posters there were in favor of the lease.
Then again, there were also some posts like these:
I cannot condone the “lease” of public lands to a private institution when this so-called “lease” really amounts to an outright sale; which would forever separate park lands from the domain of public ownership. Such forfeiture of public lands would be very short-sighted on our part; and would deprive future generations of St. Louisans of the full magnificence that is Forest Park. Further, has anyone in this City ever heard of the “snowball effect?” If we allow BJC to takeover pubic lands, what is to stop institutions like Washington University or businesses like the Chase from deciding that they too need a back-doored, under-the-table deal to expand into park lands for “the greater public good?” This, for me, is completely unacceptable.
Is nothing sacred? Not even our prime parklands?
For those people who don’t even know where this piece of land is, I am disheartened for your unawareness and lack of sympathy. Please don’t let BJC take this vital piece of our parkland away from us and future generations. There are plenty of other desolate properties in close proximity to BJC that pillaging our parkland is not a reasonable option.
In NO WAY should this part of Forest Park be sold or leased. My friends and I use this part of the park every week in reasonable weather. For one, there is no other place in Forest Park to play free tennis. Plus, a good bit of money was just spent to resurface the courts. The playground and racquetball courts are also used by families every day who can walk there due to the convenient location. It is disgraceful that the Board of Alderman have pushed through this proposal in a last minute attempt to cowardly evade the will of the people in the April ballot.
Taxes anyone? We don't need to sell off land for revenue. If we want the Park to be maintained then we pay for it. Do you sell off parts of your car when you need to get a repair? As stuff ages the cost of maintenance increases. Its called entropy. If we want this historical park then we have to buck up the revenue, not sell off parts of the land.
I am sure BJC could build another hospital on the 1000 acres which Paul McKee owns.
