Pevely Dairy Complex at Grand and Chouteau to be redeveloped

Kevin B · PostJan 24, 2013#3512013-01-24T06:58+00:00

framer wrote:Shouldn't SLU at least be required to clear away the huge mounds of demolition debris that have been languishing for weeks?

All part of the plan. They've already stripped the grounds of its historical/urban context. Now they just wait to claim blight/dangerous conditions due to the debris. Throw in some underhanded pressure on the owner of the neighboring Missouri Belting building, and SLU can end up with exactly what it wants...another massive vacant lot. But don't ask them what they're plan is; they might up and move to the county in a huff...

I said it before, the Review Board set a bad precedent when it allowed for the demolition of those buildings without requiring new building permits first. You're now seeing the results of that decision.

stlgasm · PostFeb 04, 2013#3522013-02-04T19:04+00:00

I think it's time to get outraged over this entire Pevely fiasco. Remember when SLU went before the board and assured everyone that they were "shovel-ready"? Bulls##t. This is infuriating. I think we need to call Elliot Davis.

urban_dilettante · PostFeb 04, 2013#3532013-02-04T19:26+00:00

^ not only are/were they not shovel ready, but it's been suggested that they never intended to build there. there was a comment on this blog a while back–left by someone who claimed to work for whoever drew up the renderings–saying that they were whipped up to facilitate demolition (not sure if this has been verified yet). either way, SLU has since been looking for alternative sites. hence Biondi blatantly lied, on record, that no other site could possibly work for their ambulatory center. oh, and he lied (or at least hyperbolized) about moving the entire hospital to the suburbs. sadly, it's unlikely that he'll ever be held accountable for his underhanded B.S. my hope is that the current turmoil over his ousting will somehow turn into a win for Pevely.

Alex Ihnen · PostFeb 04, 2013#3542013-02-04T22:10+00:00

stlgasm wrote:I think it's time to get outraged over this entire Pevely fiasco. Remember when SLU went before the board and assured everyone that they were "shovel-ready"? Bulls##t. This is infuriating. I think we need to call Elliot Davis.

Agreed. And who could have a real impact on Biondi? The 17th Ward alderman.

wabash · PostFeb 04, 2013#3552013-02-04T23:32+00:00

Alex Ihnen wrote:And who could have a real impact on Biondi? The 17th Ward alderman.

And the SLU Board of Trustees. The students and public should continue to light a fire under their a$$e$, even/especially when they try to hide behind Fleishman-Hillard.

Although after looking them up here, there are 52 Trustees. It's probably hard to change the status quo with that big of a board.

imran · PostFeb 05, 2013#3562013-02-05T00:10+00:00

I want to write to the Planning Commission and congratulate them for the mess at Grand and Choteau. Remember they went against public opinion and the Preservation Board's ruling to do this for Biondi. They should also be held accountable. Especially Ivy Pinkston who was representing Darleen Green (up for re-election as comptroller).

Presbyterian · PostFeb 05, 2013#3572013-02-05T01:58+00:00

I too was pretty unhappy with the Planning Commission's decision. In retrospect, though, I am glad they at least placed a building permit limitation on demolition of the main building—much to Biondi's chagrin. That final vote has meant that it will cost Biondi tens of millions of dollars in new construction to be able to bulldoze the building. That was money Biondi never had any intention of spending. That was February 2012—a year ago—and now he's stuck as an unpopular president with lessened credibility, limited financial resources and a Pevely building he can't bulldoze mocking him every time he passes by in his golf cart. Time may fix this one.

urban_dilettante · PostFeb 05, 2013#3582013-02-05T02:05+00:00

Presbyterian wrote:Time may fix this one.

The problem though is that SLU owns it now and likely has no intention of selling it or maintaining it. as long as Biondi is president you can be damn sure he'll just let it rot until he gets to tear it down. i'm afraid that the situation is even more dire than it was before they bought it.

Alex Ihnen · PostFeb 05, 2013#3592013-02-05T02:08+00:00

Presbyterian wrote:I too was pretty unhappy with the Planning Commission's decision. In retrospect, though, I am glad they at least placed a building permit limitation on demolition of the main building—much to Biondi's chagrin. That final vote has meant that it will cost Biondi tens of millions of dollars in new construction to be able to bulldoze the building. That was money Biondi never had any intention of spending. That was February 2012—a year ago—and now he's stuck as an unpopular president with lessened credibility, limited financial resources and a Pevely building he can't bulldoze mocking him every time he passes by in his golf cart. Time may fix this one.

I don't think that's right. Biondi will let the building deteriorate as quickly as he can. And if/when something is built, it will likely be 1/2 a block away, but Pevely will need to go for a fountain. That's what the fancy thrown-together crap that showed at the meeting was anyway.

Presbyterian · PostFeb 05, 2013#3602013-02-05T02:50+00:00

Let's not write the eulogy just yet. I see an honest window for hope for the Pevely.

If Biondi can pull together plans and funding for an ambulatory center at the south end of the site, then he can bulldoze the Pevely. But I'm not convinced he has the will or resources to build an ambulatory center on that site. (He had promised to begin construction in 2012.) In the meantime, there are some legal protections in place.

Could he just let the Pevely rot? Yes. But Biondi turns 75 this year. If it's a question of seeing which holds out the longest—Biondi or Pevely—I think my money might be on the Pevely. That building has very good bones.

Furthermore, Biondi has embarrassed his board members. They are now having to answer probing questions from their friends and associates. In a respect-based system, public shame means death. Think Manoj Pantakar, law school dean, letters leaked to the press, votes of no confidence. Once Biondi is gone (in a face-saving way—"elevated" to some symbolic role with no real power after the public furor has died down—then a new president will be seeking to improve the school's reputation, build consensus and quickly resolve ongoing conflicts. At that point, if the Pevely is still standing, SLU won't try to demolish it.

I may be wrong about this. But my hunch is that we're writing off the Pevely prematurely.

PostFeb 05, 2013#3612013-02-05T03:28+00:00

From the SLU Dept. of Internal Medicine's Chairman's Summary of 2012, file dated January 28, 2013:

"We end the year with some questions still unanswered. One of them is the fate of a much discussed new ambulatory care center. During the last year, a very large tract of land immediately north of Saint Louis University Hospital was cleared in preparation for the possible construction of a new ambulatory care center. At the time of this writing, no plans have been finalized with regard to the exact location of the building, who will occupy it, or how it might be financed. Nonetheless, this initiative remains very important to the future of SLUCare and the University Medical Group."

http://internalmed.slu.edu/uploads/fy12/chair.pdf

Note: "...unanswered ... possible construction ... no plans haven been finalized ... location ... who ... how it might be financed."

stlgasm · PostFeb 05, 2013#3622013-02-05T13:27+00:00

^ Thanks for the update. The planning commission should be publicly called out on this fiasco. Sam Levin of the RFT is asking for news tips (go to riverfront times.com and read the article). I say we flood his inbox pitching this for a story. His email is: Sam.Levin@riverfronttimes.com

olvidarte · PostFeb 05, 2013#3632013-02-05T14:43+00:00

Note: "...unanswered ... possible construction ... no plans haven been finalized ... location ... who ... how it might be financed."

It's interesting how some of these things were set in stone while they fighting to demolish Pevely.

moorlander · PostFeb 05, 2013#3642013-02-05T14:46+00:00

urban_dilettante wrote:^ Biondi blatantly lied, on record, that no other site could possibly work for their ambulatory center. oh, and he lied (or at least hyperbolized) about moving the entire hospital to the suburbs. sadly, it's unlikely that he'll ever be held accountable for his underhanded B.S. my hope is that the current turmoil over his ousting will somehow turn into a win for Pevely.

Biondi is in direct violation of the HONOR CODE & ACADEMIC INTEGRITY PLEDGE.

Or is Honesty and Integrity not THAT important at a Jesuit University?

Honor Code and Academic Integrity Pledge
http://www.slu.edu/Documents/public-hea ... 080511.pdf

imran · PostFeb 05, 2013#3652013-02-05T21:19+00:00

One e-mail on its way to Sam Levin. Thanks for the tip STLgasm !

stlgasm · PostFeb 06, 2013#3662013-02-06T01:55+00:00

imran wrote:One e-mail on its way to Sam Levin. Thanks for the tip STLgasm !

Thanks, Imran! I actually talked to Sam on the phone today. Hopefully he can shed some light on this subject.

RuskiSTL · PostFeb 18, 2013#3672013-02-18T19:39+00:00

Some pics I took on Saturday

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quincunx · PostFeb 18, 2013#3682013-02-18T20:05+00:00

Check out the Google Maps of the area (the not 45 degree angle ones are newer). Empty!

bigreid74 · PostFeb 18, 2013#3692013-02-18T21:25+00:00

I recently received a response to my complaints about the current state of this corner from Alderman Roddy. He indicated that he has met with SLU to express his disappointment and that it is a complex issue. He also anticipates that the problem to persist for some time. He said their were confidential issues involved that he was unable to discuss.

This part of the response made think of a quote from The Big Lebowski:

The Dude

look, man, I've got certain information, all right? Certain things have come to light. And, you know, has it ever occurred to you, that, instead of, uh, you know, running around, uh, uh, blaming me, you know, given the nature of all this new sh*t, you know, I-I-I-I... this could be a-a-a-a lot more, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, complex, I mean, it's not just, it might not be just such a simple... uh, you know?

I have also submitted complaints through the CSB, but I don't anticipate that changing anything.

wabash · PostFeb 18, 2013#3702013-02-18T21:38+00:00

Thanks for the background and for the Lebowski.

Perusing Father Biondi's Wikipedia page I came across this little factoid:

SLU-owned Buildings 62 (1987) 131 (2009)
SLU-owned acres in Midtown St. Louis 113 (1987) 286 (2009)

So for each building they've added since 1987, they've also added 2.5 acres.

I guess they're presenting this as an accomplishment, but it really just shows how he's suburbanized the campus and Midtown in general during his tenure.

olvidarte · PostFeb 18, 2013#3712013-02-18T21:49+00:00

This is how the Business School is marketed

stlgasm · PostFeb 19, 2013#3722013-02-19T17:52+00:00

In today's RFT: http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyr ... ndmark.php

Presbyterian · PostFeb 19, 2013#3732013-02-19T18:21+00:00

Great article.

I hate to be negative, but after reading this again, it's hard to come to any conclusion other than that Father Biondi deliberately deceived the city's Planning Commission. I would think that sort of thing could have consequences.

I'm not casting stones or anything — I've told more than a few fibs in my life. But one has to wonder...

stlgasm · PostFeb 19, 2013#3742013-02-19T20:46+00:00

Presbyterian wrote:Great article.

I hate to be negative, but after reading this again, it's hard to come to any conclusion other than that Father Biondi deliberately deceived the city's Planning Commission. I would think that sort of thing could have consequences.

I'm not casting stones or anything — I've told more than a few fibs in my life. But one has to wonder...

That is precisely why the Planning Commission needs to be called on the carpet and held accountable for this utter failure to confirm that SLU actually had the intention and financial capacity to follow through.

Mark Groth · PostFeb 19, 2013#3752013-02-19T20:49+00:00

stlgasm wrote:that is precisely why the Planning Commission needs to be called on the carpet and held accountable for this utter failure to confirm that SLU actually had the intention and financial capacity to follow through.

I was hoping the RFT article would have reported the names of the people on the Planning Commission. Who is that group of people? It's worth submitting it as a comment to the RFT story.

Pevely Dairy Complex at Grand and Chouteau to be redeveloped

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