urban_dilettante wrote:^ i love the one, awkwardly inserted, completely out-of-context sentence about SLU law moving downtown. is it just me, or is SLU propaganda conveniently popping up all over the place since the PRB ruled against the Pevely demolition?
That's a tad paranoid. A major new development 12 blocks from the riverfront is perfectly in context for that article, which is (rightly or wrongly) positioning the Blues Museum as part of the overall effort to get Arch visitors to circulate downtown and/or to "reconnect downtown with the riverfront." We tend to think in microsubdivisions when we discuss downtown, but he's painting with a broader brush, in part because it's his job to write about broader trends in St. Louis.
Paranoia strikes deep, into your life it will creep.
Strong apartment leases are not the only good news coming out of the MX development. Harris said there is a lot of interest for the planned National Blues Museum at the MX and a number of supporters have shown interest in helping to raise the $6.5 million necessary to make the project a reality.
About half of the $23 million price tag for the museum has been secured in New Markets Tax Credits.
I really hope construction can start in early 2013, as the article states. Next year could be big for downtown, with this project, the Arcade Building, BPV, and possibly the Chemical Building...
Shame they can't get some of that highway ramp money they're going to spend a few blocks away. I suspect this museum will attract more activity than those ramps for a fraction of the cost.
kmurph42 wrote:I really hope construction can start in early 2013, as the article states. Next year could be big for downtown, with this project, the Arcade Building, BPV, and possibly the Chemical Building...
Should be exciting.
Arcade and Chemical won't start next year most likely but plans might roll out. I would at the SLU law school to that list.
Expected opening in last half of 2014. "With the tax credits and Pinnacle donation, planners have completed about three-fourths of the fundraising goal, says Dawne Massey, the museum’s project director."
Pretty impressive list of board members (so far) for the National Blues Museum:
Robert J. Endicott, Partner, Bryan Cave (Chairman)
Jeff Babinski, Vice President and General Manager of Lumiere Place Casino and Hotel
Bill Bayer, Vice President, US Bancorp Community Development Corporation;
Dr. Henry Givens, retired President, Harris-Stowe State University
Barbara Hammerman, President of Hammerman Philanthropic Partners
Sandra Moore, President of Urban Strategies, Inc.
Scott McCuaig, retired President, Stifel Nicolaus
Alexander Schoch, Executive VP & Chief Legal Officer, Peabody Energy Corp.
Soren Schroder, CEO, Bunge North America
Devon Allman, Musician
Anyone have the latest on this? The museum websites news page has their most recent article back in March 2013 stating that they are "on schedule" for a late 2014 opening
When the National Blues Museum is complete, does anyone know how much vacant space will be left on the ground floor of The Laurel? I thought there were a couple of spots left- one on Washington Avenue and one on Sixth Street- but I'm not sure.
I can't wait until this museum opens. I think it will be interesting, but more importantly, I think the best way to re-energize large buildings like former department stores, hospitals, etc. is to have several destinations on the main level. So this museum should energize this block even further- it already looks so much better! And hopefully something similar can be done with the Railway Exchange if another major retail tenant (cough- Target- cough) cannot be found for the main level space there.
Pardon potential tangent: I've been in Memphis now over a year with plans to return to STL next summer. I'm an avid blues musician (hobby) and throughout schooling, training, etc. have played a lot of places around the country and tried to get a pulse of the blues scene. While I can certainly empathize with Memphians regarding passivity on proactive efforts to "get things done" (see comments from Commercial Appeal article....sound familiar?), I can't quite say I understand Memphis' moniker as the "Home of the Blues." To me this has been masterful marketing. With the Blues Foundation and Hall of Fame presence here, there is every reason, however, to have a physical building to tout musicians' accomplishments. To my untrained observations, Memphis is truly the platform which launched some incredibly influential musicians that came from elsewhere and in many cases, moved on either physically or professionally (larger record labels). These musicians seem more in line with country and rock.
Beale Street is great, but again, I think marketing is more responsible for its association for "where blues live" than reality. I've seen just as much blues talent and volume in other places I've lived. BB King's association is another tool that has been well used for national and international marketing. I think STL has a similar cache of historical local figures; as mentioned, Berry, Turner, Miles Davis, Albert King) but has chosen to take a more laid back approach to touting them, or even touting them at all. As far as venues, Chicago, or Soulard and the near southside in STL could play host to the International Blues Challenge just as well in quiet frankly a more unique atmosphere than Beale Street, but the attachment to Memphis seems solidified.
Classic STLism witnessed last week while on Sun Studios and "Backbeat" Bus tour about the history of Memphis music (90% country and R&B and 10% blues, mind you). The tour guide on the bus was playing/singing applicable songs while stopping at famous sites and at one point mentioned STL has home of Chuck Berry and his monthly sessions at the "World Famous Duck Room" on Delmar. Most of the people around us were like...."really? Chuck Berry lives in St Louis AND still plays? While it was cool to confirm this to some folks on the tour and give some other recommendations if they made the trip, it was frustrating that there is basically no publicity for stuff like that. There were Europeans on the bus that were there to see Elvis stuff and were just as interested in Chuck Berry......marketing at work. Obviously, marketing sets a public perception of reality for better or worse. In our short attention span immediate information culture, it is more convenient to accept what's in your face over real research as to historical roots.
All in all, I'm excited that STL is launching this and hope that the result is an overall appreciation for a beautiful art form and a recognition that 1) STL has a noted place in history in the Blues' evolution and 2) It is alive and well and just one aspect of what makes the city diverse for locals and visitors in 2014. I would also love to see an exhibit all about WC Handy and the St Louis Blues complete with posted lyrics and back story, including the voting and naming process of the hockey team in the late 60s. I'm willing to bet many local sports and hockey fans are not aware that it's named after the tune, and not just "the blues" in St Louis...like all those jokers who call in the sports talk lines and moan about how they need to change the name because it's association with negativity. Are you kidding me? As Tony Kornheiser said in 2006: Best name in sports. Happy Saturday everyone.
It seems to me that Memphis claim as "home of the blues" is due more to being the closest big city to the Mississippi Delta towns where so many of the genre's musicians originated.
True blues fans know that to find the real deal blues you have to head an hour or so south of Beale Street to Clarksdale, MS.
It helps that the resurgence of Beale Street in the 80's coincided with Graceland becoming a major tourist destination.
St. Louis, while home to more authentic blues clubs IMO has lacked a central locale for tourists seeking the musical experience.
I'm glad to see that with the National Blues Museum this may change. STL has to say it loud--we got the blues and we're proud!
Our globally recognized design firm, Gallagher & Associates, continues its work on the interactive, technology and artifact Blues Museum experience. The delicate balance between technology and artifact, voices from the past and the present provides an exciting glimpse into the Museum's future.
Similarly, fundraising efforts to make the implementation of the design to the team's full vision are also underway. Through the generosity of many - including foundation, corporate, and individual donors - support is being garnered rapidly as we approach the start of construction, now just eight weeks away. Please consider a generous gift to support the National Blues Museum - your generous, tax-deductible contribution will allow an incredible vision to become a reality.
Channel 4 had a story last night that construction will definitely begin in July. $$ are in hand although they're still raising funds, of course. I think this will be a great and much-needed addition... probably not a line-out-the-door attraction but still a terrific enhancement for downtown.
Great news. Kudos to them. I'm sure it's been tough raising money given how much CityArchRiver has been sucking up the available philanthropic funds out there.
I've been to Sun and graceland a few times, and I've been to some of the remaining blues dive bars in the river delta area of mississippi and Arkansas. You'd be amazed at how International of an attraction delta blues history is, primarily among central and western Europeans. With the National Museum for blues being located in St. Louis i think we can expect to see an influx of German, English, and French tourists.
