^That damn scultpure park has certainly got to be top 3 on my list of crimes against out great city.
Edit: Ok, maybe top 10.
Edit: Ok, maybe top 10.
- 1,864
Don't you dare say that!!! If Biondi hears you he'll tear down the Met as well as the Fox and Powell Hall for more sculpture park...and the parking lot needed to support it.Alex Ihnen wrote:All I know is that the sculpture park on the corner could sure use some space to grow!
Who wants to start an satirical St. Louis blog?- 2,386
^First topic:
St. Charles Zoo and their brand new Larry the Cable Guy's Raccoon Cul-de-sac!
Mostly kidding.
St. Charles Zoo and their brand new Larry the Cable Guy's Raccoon Cul-de-sac!
Mostly kidding.
- 2,938
Slightly OT: Remember that the intent for that site originally for new construction of two high-rise modernist buildings, which would've included the destruction of the former State of Missouri Office Building directly east of the "sculpture garden". That hasn't gone forward because of the housing collapse, and SLU knows that property is ridiculously underutilized. When the funding emerges again, you can look to that site being built upon and including the former MO State building's footprint as well.newstl2020 wrote:^That damn scultpure park has certainly got to be top 3 on my list of crimes against out great city.
Edit: Ok, maybe top 10.
How much more could you hate it?
What if the MO State building next door was razed before the funding went away?
Imagine if that "sculpture park" was three times the size it is now.
Yup, could always be worse...
- 2,938
I sure do. Whether or not that ever gets built, it's shown as being on the footprint of what is currently the MO State Office Building that SLU acquired some time ago & is sitting there shuttered. While I'm not sure how much I prefer seeing a shuttered building right next to SLU's campus, I don't think I'd like it any more if it had a few crappy "statues" in its place on another open field in the middle of the City.Alex Ihnen wrote:You mean this thing?
For comparison, I'm thinking of the buildings torn asunder for the Skyhouse project, taking out 3 buildings on a prominent corner, running out of money, and leaving the remains in a tangled heap before the "improvement" into a grass field which serves mostly as ancillary parking for the "Sugar" club and a new option for pets or Larry's homeless people to go BM.
- 1,864
If you're referring to the brick building just east of the sculpture park, SLU has turned that into administrative offices. It is not shuttered or abandoned; it actually has lots of traffic now.
Metropolitan Building project gets a boost
BY TIM BRYANT • tbryant@post-dispatch.com > 314-340-8206 STLtoday.com | Posted: Thursday, May 12, 2011 4:44 pm
![]()
The effort to redo the vacant and deteroriated Metropolitan Building inched ahead today.
At its regular meeting this afternoon, members of the St. Louis Industrial Development Authority gave preliminary approval to issuance of $21 million in tax-exempt bonds to help convert the long-vacant Metropolitan Building into 72 one- and two-bedroom artists' apartments. The vote was unanimous.
Dominium Development, of Minneapolis, plans to complete within 60 to 90 days its purchase of the eight-story building at 500 North Grand Boulevard, company Vice President Jeff Huggett told the board. The $25 million project will take a year to complete, he said.
link: http://www.stltoday.com/business/column ... 0f31a.html
BY TIM BRYANT • tbryant@post-dispatch.com > 314-340-8206 STLtoday.com | Posted: Thursday, May 12, 2011 4:44 pm
The effort to redo the vacant and deteroriated Metropolitan Building inched ahead today.
At its regular meeting this afternoon, members of the St. Louis Industrial Development Authority gave preliminary approval to issuance of $21 million in tax-exempt bonds to help convert the long-vacant Metropolitan Building into 72 one- and two-bedroom artists' apartments. The vote was unanimous.
Dominium Development, of Minneapolis, plans to complete within 60 to 90 days its purchase of the eight-story building at 500 North Grand Boulevard, company Vice President Jeff Huggett told the board. The $25 million project will take a year to complete, he said.
link: http://www.stltoday.com/business/column ... 0f31a.html
I think it helps Grand Center in the long run that this building is going residential vs the original plan to develop it into a hotel.framer wrote:Awesome! This project is gonna make a huge difference in Grand Center.
I also believe the next project that will go forward in Grand Center is the Holiday Inn Express or is it Best Western on Forest Parkway. I don't think it adds just the right number of rooms a the moment, good location and will not compete against the mid town botique hotel that recently opened
Grand Center Inc. still expects the Hyatt project to move forward in the old Health Department (nee Missouri Theater) building at 634 N. Grand.
What do you think?framer wrote:Grand Center Inc. still expects the Hyatt project to move forward in the old Health Department (nee Missouri Theater) building at 634 N. Grand.
I just see more of a market for more hotel rooms near BJC/Wash U medical campus then in Grand Center. Thats why I think the smaller hotel with a cheaper roorm rate on FP going forward before Hyatt - I'm thinking parents who are already payting tutition bills. Maybe I'm missing something and I certainly don't have nubmers or even a good market study to back it up, but my guy feeling is Drury Inn on Kingshighway will happen before Hyatt in Grand Center.
^I agree; the one on Forest Park seems like a better bet. Still, the folks at Grand Center insist that the Hyatt is progressing (actually, it's a lower-level product that shares the Hyatt name).
- 30
Could the Metropolitan building support street level retail? I mean structurally, not in terms of economic demand.
- 30
Hopefully, street level retail will at least be considered for this building then. I realize that ANY development that takes place here will likely provide an improvement over its current state (and the apartments seem like a great idea), but it would be great for this to add to the street life on Grand as well.Alex Ihnen wrote:Yes.
Last I heard, there was 1800 sq. ft. of retail planned for the first floor. That was over a year ago, so things may have changed.
That sounds like a nice litter corner store. Which seems to be a good fit if their is access to parking involved.framer wrote:Last I heard, there was 1800 sq. ft. of retail planned for the first floor. That was over a year ago, so things may have changed.
I wonder if Olive & Grand or midtown in general is busy enough to support a Bread Co. I'm guessing it isn't. Maybe someday soon, as workers for KDHX and KWMU increase the lunch crowd, more residents and offices in Midtown Alley fill up, and another hotel or two opens up.
Also, I suppose they're well situated in the Busch Student Center, but this could be a good, higher profile location for a SLU bookstore.
Also, I suppose they're well situated in the Busch Student Center, but this could be a good, higher profile location for a SLU bookstore.
- 453
I love this excerpt from Tim Bryant's column:
Once the building is ready for residents, a panel will screen the applicants to make sure they are artists. This isn't to say the residents must be accomplished artists. Or as Huggett put it: "We don't look at the quality of your art. We look at your commitment to it."
I can picture a haven for bad artists.
Once the building is ready for residents, a panel will screen the applicants to make sure they are artists. This isn't to say the residents must be accomplished artists. Or as Huggett put it: "We don't look at the quality of your art. We look at your commitment to it."
I can picture a haven for bad artists.
- 6,775
Yep. Even bad artists are committed to what they do. Sometimes they don't realize they are bad.Roger Wyoming wrote:I love this excerpt from Tim Bryant's column:
Once the building is ready for residents, a panel will screen the applicants to make sure they are artists. This isn't to say the residents must be accomplished artists. Or as Huggett put it: "We don't look at the quality of your art. We look at your commitment to it."
I can picture a haven for bad artists.
Same for bad musicians. Like that guy that plays sax around the stadium. He only knows 2 songs (Take Me Out To The Ballgame and St. Louis Blues, IIRC), but he's there every game. That shows commitment!
More seriously, how does one measure this?
- 453
too bad Hitler didn't stick with bad art. Oh my, I just went Godwin!the central scrutinizer wrote:
Yep. Even bad artists are committed to what they do. Sometimes they don't realize they are bad.
More seriously, how does one measure this?
Yeah, really? Who will be the final judge?