Boys, girls club seeks to expand
By Bill Smith
Of the Post-Dispatch
06/19/2005
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The St. Louis Forestry Department was busy picking up discarded furniture and tires in the lot behind the former Carter Carburetor plant at Grand Boulevard and Dodier Street on Friday afternoon. The Herbert Hoover Boys and Girls Club aims to expand after the plant is torn down.
With much of the region's attention focused on the progress of St. Louis' new downtown stadium, a group of local officials have quietly been making plans for the dramatic makeover of another of this city's historic baseball sites.
The Herbert Hoover Boys and Girls Club at Grand Boulevard and Dodier Street, built on land once occupied by old Sportsman's Park, is in the early stages of what club officials say is a plan to more than triple the size of the club's property and provide a critically needed spark for redevelopment in the area.
But for the expansion to move forward, city and club officials admit they must get past a mammoth obstacle that has stalled work in the area - the hulking, block-long former Carter Carburetor plant building and nearby vacant lot, both contaminated with cancer-causing polychlorinated biphenyls or PCBs.
The old warehouse building and adjacent asphalt lot have frustrated club officials and developers. Part of the building complex - considered more seriously contaminated - was torn down in 1997, but a large section remains.
"I know this kind of thing would not be tolerated in more affluent communities," said Flint Fowler, executive director of the boys and girls club.
"If we ever hope to improve our standing as a city, we have to be able to address these things in a timely manner."
Vernon J. Remiger is a Herbert Hoover board member and chief operating officer of the Arcturis architectural firm, which has been helping develop the expansion plan. He said he has been frustrated by what he sees as the slow pace of the Environmental Protection Agency and government officials, but says he remains hopeful.
If the club can gain control of a four-square-block area, it could change the face of the neighborhood in the next 15 to 20 years, he said.
"Right now, we have this big eyesore clunked down right in the middle of this area," he said of the Carter Carburetor building. "It is an incredible waste."
The old plant and warehouse building sit immediately south of the club property and effectively have blocked any hope of expanding the club across Dodier until the contamination has been reduced to safe levels. Carter Carburetor closed the plant in 1984 and later sold the building. In recent years portions of the structure have been used as warehouse space.
Jeff Weatherford, an on-scene coordinator for the EPA, says there has been some recent progress toward cleaning up the property.
Weatherford said ACF Industries, which operated the carburetor plant, has been surveying the area in advance of negotiating an "engineering evaluation cost analysis" agreement with the EPA. When both sides reach accord on that agreement, Weatherford says ACF will begin studying cleanup options and estimated costs.
Once that is done, Weatherford said ACF and the EPA would negotiate a second agreement for the cleanup work. Weatherford said the plan requires input from the public. He declined to estimate how long the process might take.
"It was always on our radar screen," Weatherford said of the PCB cleanup. "We were always planning on doing something."
He said Herbert Hoover's expansion interests have moved the cleanup "higher on our priority list."
The city currently owns the weed-choked asphalt lot, but has agreed to turn it over to the boys and girls club once the site has been cleaned. The PCBs at that site are largely contained to two underground storage tanks.
The Carter building is owned by a local businessman, but club officials say they are confident they can eventually take ownership of the site once the area is cleaned.
Otis Williams, deputy executive director of the St. Louis Development Corp., the city's development arm, said the mayor and Board of Aldermen hope the work can be done quickly.
"Everyone, at all levels, is supporting their efforts to expand," Williams said.
Williams said the city has no doubt that expansion of the club would boost development in the area.
"It would give that whole block a different look and a different feel," he said.
In recent months, the boys and girls club has taken ownership of several other pieces of property in the immediate area, including a 2 1/2-acre parcel on the southeast corner of Spring and St. Louis avenues and a similarly sized parcel just across Spring from the old carburetor building. The club plans to build a football practice field on the first parcel and a baseball field on the second, with the help of outside funding.
In addition, the club's long-range master plan, which was updated earlier this month, calls for a second baseball field, a soccer field, parking lots and space for future building expansion.
August A. Busch Jr., president of Anheuser-Busch Inc. and the baseball Cardinals, donated the ballpark site to the newly created Metropolitan St. Louis Boys Club in 1966, the Cardinals' last year at the old ballpark. The Metropolitan St. Louis Boys Club later became the Herbert Hoover Boys Club and, still later, the Herbert Hoover Boys and Girls Club.
A red, white and blue sign on the south side of the Herbert Hoover building shows a giant photograph of the old stadium. The elements have faded the field and stands to a ghostly gray.
The park was the site of 10 World Series and the sign lists several Hall of Famers who played there including Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Stan Musial, Bob Gibson and Lou Brock.
The boys and girls club currently serves some 2,600 young people in a variety of areas, including arts, athletics, leadership development. A dental clinic operates on the site.
Reporter Bill Smith
E-mail: billsmith@post-dispatch.com
Phone: 314-340-8125
By Bill Smith
Of the Post-Dispatch
06/19/2005
The St. Louis Forestry Department was busy picking up discarded furniture and tires in the lot behind the former Carter Carburetor plant at Grand Boulevard and Dodier Street on Friday afternoon. The Herbert Hoover Boys and Girls Club aims to expand after the plant is torn down.
With much of the region's attention focused on the progress of St. Louis' new downtown stadium, a group of local officials have quietly been making plans for the dramatic makeover of another of this city's historic baseball sites.
The Herbert Hoover Boys and Girls Club at Grand Boulevard and Dodier Street, built on land once occupied by old Sportsman's Park, is in the early stages of what club officials say is a plan to more than triple the size of the club's property and provide a critically needed spark for redevelopment in the area.
But for the expansion to move forward, city and club officials admit they must get past a mammoth obstacle that has stalled work in the area - the hulking, block-long former Carter Carburetor plant building and nearby vacant lot, both contaminated with cancer-causing polychlorinated biphenyls or PCBs.
The old warehouse building and adjacent asphalt lot have frustrated club officials and developers. Part of the building complex - considered more seriously contaminated - was torn down in 1997, but a large section remains.
"I know this kind of thing would not be tolerated in more affluent communities," said Flint Fowler, executive director of the boys and girls club.
"If we ever hope to improve our standing as a city, we have to be able to address these things in a timely manner."
Vernon J. Remiger is a Herbert Hoover board member and chief operating officer of the Arcturis architectural firm, which has been helping develop the expansion plan. He said he has been frustrated by what he sees as the slow pace of the Environmental Protection Agency and government officials, but says he remains hopeful.
If the club can gain control of a four-square-block area, it could change the face of the neighborhood in the next 15 to 20 years, he said.
"Right now, we have this big eyesore clunked down right in the middle of this area," he said of the Carter Carburetor building. "It is an incredible waste."
The old plant and warehouse building sit immediately south of the club property and effectively have blocked any hope of expanding the club across Dodier until the contamination has been reduced to safe levels. Carter Carburetor closed the plant in 1984 and later sold the building. In recent years portions of the structure have been used as warehouse space.
Jeff Weatherford, an on-scene coordinator for the EPA, says there has been some recent progress toward cleaning up the property.
Weatherford said ACF Industries, which operated the carburetor plant, has been surveying the area in advance of negotiating an "engineering evaluation cost analysis" agreement with the EPA. When both sides reach accord on that agreement, Weatherford says ACF will begin studying cleanup options and estimated costs.
Once that is done, Weatherford said ACF and the EPA would negotiate a second agreement for the cleanup work. Weatherford said the plan requires input from the public. He declined to estimate how long the process might take.
"It was always on our radar screen," Weatherford said of the PCB cleanup. "We were always planning on doing something."
He said Herbert Hoover's expansion interests have moved the cleanup "higher on our priority list."
The city currently owns the weed-choked asphalt lot, but has agreed to turn it over to the boys and girls club once the site has been cleaned. The PCBs at that site are largely contained to two underground storage tanks.
The Carter building is owned by a local businessman, but club officials say they are confident they can eventually take ownership of the site once the area is cleaned.
Otis Williams, deputy executive director of the St. Louis Development Corp., the city's development arm, said the mayor and Board of Aldermen hope the work can be done quickly.
"Everyone, at all levels, is supporting their efforts to expand," Williams said.
Williams said the city has no doubt that expansion of the club would boost development in the area.
"It would give that whole block a different look and a different feel," he said.
In recent months, the boys and girls club has taken ownership of several other pieces of property in the immediate area, including a 2 1/2-acre parcel on the southeast corner of Spring and St. Louis avenues and a similarly sized parcel just across Spring from the old carburetor building. The club plans to build a football practice field on the first parcel and a baseball field on the second, with the help of outside funding.
In addition, the club's long-range master plan, which was updated earlier this month, calls for a second baseball field, a soccer field, parking lots and space for future building expansion.
August A. Busch Jr., president of Anheuser-Busch Inc. and the baseball Cardinals, donated the ballpark site to the newly created Metropolitan St. Louis Boys Club in 1966, the Cardinals' last year at the old ballpark. The Metropolitan St. Louis Boys Club later became the Herbert Hoover Boys Club and, still later, the Herbert Hoover Boys and Girls Club.
A red, white and blue sign on the south side of the Herbert Hoover building shows a giant photograph of the old stadium. The elements have faded the field and stands to a ghostly gray.
The park was the site of 10 World Series and the sign lists several Hall of Famers who played there including Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Stan Musial, Bob Gibson and Lou Brock.
The boys and girls club currently serves some 2,600 young people in a variety of areas, including arts, athletics, leadership development. A dental clinic operates on the site.
Reporter Bill Smith
E-mail: billsmith@post-dispatch.com
Phone: 314-340-8125